Summary of "A Different Glass" and "HOw Jews became white folk.".

I am going to summarize in this weeks blog two things that I have read. The first one is called “A Different Glass”. The glass that is being referred to in the title is history and what it means is that history is not just one point of perspective it is shared by many people of many ethnicities and races. The same story experienced by two different groups is often experienced and told over in two very different ways. This article discussed different types of immigrants that came to the United States and each one of these groups has contributed to our culture in one way or another and they all experienced trials and tribulations whether it be racism or a sense that you are not one of “us” but rather you are one of them and that makes you the outsider. Whether it be blacks who were brought here forcibly and turned into slaves that set the stage for many crises that would happen as a result in the future or the Chinese who came here seeking opportunity for a better life only to be turned away by a new law against immigration. The article goes on to list several others including Jews,Irish,and Mexicans who became strangers in their own land as a result of boundary shift due to the war with America.

If you take any one of these stories and read it by itself you have a incomplete view of the United States. But take all these stories along with what the uniqueness of each one and how they contributed to society and you get a large diverse nation which despite its various backgrounds and the being plagued by racism has been trying constantly to make the land more equal and to ensure the equality of all men. But as important as it is to recognize that we are all equal it is equally important to recognize our uniqueness in where we come from. Which is why it is very important to pass over stories about our ancestors and our history that makes us all who we are as individuals so at the same time as we are also aware how different we are and how we all contribute something new through being unique to the betterment of mankind.

My summary of “How did Jews become white folks” is that the author says that they take credit for their accomplishments by pulling themselves up by their bootstraps and getting education and getting themselves to where they are through their own hard work and perseverance. However the author begs to differ in this opinion saying that while this is indeed a factor the main reason is because of affirmative actions such as the GI bills which provided a opportunity to veterans for a college education and thereby a chance to become professionals. He gives the example of 1 percent of Bostons Jewish population being doctors to 14 percent which is what it shot up to after the bill was passed. So education as well as economic opportunities contributed to Jews being able to more accepted in society and being able to advance despite the previous antisemitism which was illustrated in such articles which call them unclean and uncouth and unrefined and if they had a disease they would spread out and spread it like a sower. And at that time it a widely accepted piece.

So if the reason for the Jews becoming more accepted and being raised in society is because of affirmative action is because of this bill what about women and blacks who served as well and should have had benefits? For women the reason is because many of them were part of the auxiliary and when they were re-mobilized many of them made a mistake in what was happening and went home. The blacks were not able to get it because they were given dishonorable discharges whether deserving or not the latter being the case most of the time. They also faced discrimination at colleges which did not want to accept black students and the black colleges at the time faced overcrowding leaving a staggering 15,000 blacks who tried could not attend their college either.