In the Almost Promised Land: American Jews and Blacks, 1915-1935 - Paperback

by Hasia R. Diner (Author)

Seeking the reasons behind Jewish altruism toward African Americans, Hasis Finer shows how-in the wake of the Leo Frank trial and lynching in Atlanta-Jews came to see that their relative prosperity wa sno protection against the same social forces that threatened blacks. Jewish leaders and organizations genuinely believed in the cause of black civil rights, Diner suggests, but they also used that cause as a way of advancing their own interests-launching a vicarious attack on the nation that they felt had not lived up to its own ideals of freedom and equality.

Back Jacket

Seeking the reasons behind Jewish altruism toward African Americans, Hasia Diner shows how - in the wake of the Leo Frank trial and lynching in Atlanta - Jews came to see that their relative prosperity was no protection against the same social forces that threatened blacks. Jewish leaders and organizations genuinely believed in the cause of black civil rights, Diner suggests, but they also used that cause as a way of advancing their own interests - launching a vicarious attack on the nation that they felt had not lived up to its own ideals of freedom and equality.

Author Biography

Hasia Diner is professor of American Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is the author of Erin's Daughters in America and A Time for Gathering: The Second Migration, 1820-1880 (Volume II in the series The Jewish People in America), both available from Johns Hopkins.