The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1878-12-12
JEWISH EXCLUSIvENEsS.
A self-Imposed Ostracism Which should
He Removed.

A self-Imposed Ostraeism Which Should
He Removed.
From the Jewish Tines
We are in receipt Of several communi
cations on the subject of our editorial en-
titled who is Ashamed to Be a Jew?'
One lady writes TO us, at is all very well
for men to deny the existence of an anti.
Jewish prejudice, they may not feel it, but
we ladies find it at the watering-place no.
tells and In the society We meet. A Jew.
ess is rarely treated by Christian like a
Christian is" Our fair correspondent i.
not entirely wrong. No doubt Jew
esses are treated somewhat differently
from Christians IN Christian society. But
whose fault Is this; is it due to an anti
Jewish prejudice? We believe not.
The time mas come for enlightened Isra-
elites to decide for themselves. once for
all. If they will form part of modern soci-
ETY., or If they will continue to be socially.
as well as religiously, q peculiar people
There can be no halting half way. There
is, we know. disposition on the part Of
some Jewesses to tolerate the society OF
some Christian ladies and gentlemen
whom they meet at summer resorts, as
long as they are there, and to drop them.
as the phrase goes, when they return to
town. Christian men and women are
god enough for them in the country,
yante de mieur. hut they can not, or will
not, invite them 30 their houses. And be-
cause sslf-respecting Christians resent this
apparent assumption of social exclusive
ness, they are accused of being prejudiced
against the Jews forsooth.
Either Jews must form part Of general
society, or they must avoid it altogether.
They caa not play fast and loose with
Christian acquaintance. They cannot be
intimate with Christian women, and re-
fuse to invite their male relatives to their
homes. This has been tried, and has
failed. Our readers well know that we
are in favor of the most unrestricted inter-
course between Jews and Gentiles. Both
would be gamers by 1t. But such unre-
stricted intercourse can only exist whN
perfect con idence has been established.
There may be among some people feel
ing against Jews, just as there exists
among others feeling against Catholics,
and among many prejudice against the
Irish. Bat all the weight of evidence is
against any deep-rooted, anti-JewIsh pref
udice on the part of the American people.
For the most part the difficulties IN the
way of complete social emancipation Of
the Jews are the results of the
course that the Jews themselves have
pursued Either from fear of inter-mar-
riages with Christians, or from feeling
of timidity begotten Of European persecu-
tons. or from fear of effect of Christian
associations upon the religion of their
children, the American Jews certainly
have, BY their own acts, reared artificial
barriers between themselves and Christian
society, and replaced the enforced social
exile that their fathers complained Of by a
system of social self-ostracisIn. which Is
none the less hurdensome because it is
self-imposed.
One Of the results Of this has been that
Jewish young women sometimes have
Christian acluaintanccs, unknown to their
parents, because they know their parents
OBJECT to entertaining Christian men at
their honses. This Is selfevidently wrong;
no girl should have any male acquaintance
without the knowledge and approval of
her family. Then, again, Christian young
men, finding themselves excluded from
Jewish houses, black-ball Jews in their
clubs, and sometimes mistake the lowest
type of Jews for type of the best class.
simply because they know no better. and
because the Jews themselves prevent them
from learning better.
All tins should stop. As soon as jew
ish houses are open to Christians, Chris
tian houses will be open to Jews-and in
deed they are already. If there exists in
New York society any prejudice against
the best classes of Jews. it would take
the lanterns of ten Diogeneses TO discover
1t. Our brethren must not seek to
excuse their own cowardice by preferrIng
false accusations against Christian society.
1t is as much cowardice as anything else
that makes the Jew continue his self-ostra-
cism and the social exile Of his children.
As we have repeatedly said, it is only nee
essary to acquaint the Gentle world with
the real character of the Jew to remove
from intelligent minds the last vestige of
prejudice that exists. When Jews and
Christians cease to be strangers, We shall
have no more Of anti-Jewish prejudices.