Antisemitic hate crimes are on the rise in the United States and around the globe, with Jewish people once again finding themselves being targeted by extremists and vigilante mobs eager to conflate Jewish identity with Israeli policy. The Jewish people, however, are far from the only ethnic or religious minority to have survived such waves of xenophobia and ethnic violence.
Straight Arrow News contributor Ruben Navarrette looks at another such group, Mexican Americans, and compares their history and shared experiences with those of Jewish Americans. Navarrette details a wide range of similarities between these groups, encourages them to always have each other’s back, and reaffirms to both of them: “America is our country.”
Well, I was already feeling like Mexicans and Jews were sympaticos, you know, birds of a feather, two peas in a pod, brothers from another set of mothers. But then as a Mexican American, I heard something about our premise and the tribe that sealed the deal, and proved to me that we really understand each other. I’ll get there. But first, let’s quickly run through some of the common threads between Mexicans and Jews.
Both groups have a strong immigrant history and more than their share of wanderers, exiles, migrants and refugees. Both were the targets of hateful legislation aimed at keeping them out of the United States: The 1924 Immigration Act for Jews, and just about every other immigration law since then for Mexicans. In the U.S., both Mexican Americans and Jewish Americans suffered discrimination from those who were threatened by their culture, language or religion. Both have been accused of harboring divided loyalties and having allegiance to foreign countries, i.e. Mexico and Israel.
In the 20th century, both groups were barred from colleges, country clubs and certain residential communities in the United States. Both groups have trouble fitting into [the] Black-and-white paradigm. They treat us white one minute and non-white the next. And both have the same tormentors. White supremacists have committed hate crimes, including mass shootings, that target Jews and Latinos.
