Americans Say Jews Are the Coolest - The Atlantic - 0 views
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Maybe it's Seinfeld, or the ubiquitous appeal of bagels. It could be all the Jews in Hollywood, or the YouTube a capella sensations known as the Maccabeats, who flip their latkes with undeniable verve. Whatever the cause, at some point during the last 100 years, America developed a little crush on the chosen people: Jews are officially cool.
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Despite making up only two percent of the country's population, despite having only 100 representatives in this 3,000-person poll, Jews were at the top. For Jews like me, this feels like the statistically impossible triumph of Hanukkah, only better.
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These feelings of warmth toward Jews aren't just fond personal memories of Mrs. Rosenberg from down the street, who makes an excellent kugel; they're a sign of a broad acceptance and appreciation of Jewish culture. Outside of New York City, Jews are generally rare in terms of numbers. Yet in spite of this, they've become seen as normal—and popular—by the population at large.
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Still, despite the home-team advantage of the Christians in the survey, who made up more than two-thirds of the sample, Jews got the highest overall ratings.
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A century ago, when Jewish emigration from Central and Eastern Europe was at its peak, American anti-Semitism was common and fierce.
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The world at large is full of anti-Semites and Holocaust deniers. Jews, it seems, are not universally accepted; their cool-kid status is unique to America. So why is it different here? Why, despite the anti-Semitism that still exists in the United States, are Americans mostly down with the Jews?