America's Jewish Population: Miscegenation Law Effects

Anti-miscegenation laws are laws that enforce racial segregation at the level of marriage and intimate relationships by criminalising interracial marriage and, sometimes, sex between members of different races. In the United States, these laws were first introduced in the late 17th century and remained in force in many states until 1967, when they were ruled unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court. While these laws targeted interracial relationships between whites and non-white groups, primarily black people, they also often applied to Native Americans and Asian Americans.

Although Jews could legally be discriminated against in housing and employment, and hotels openly discriminated against them, there were no US laws that prevented intermarriage with Jews. However, this does not mean that Jewish-non-Jewish relationships were socially accepted. Many Jews in Israel and the diaspora frown upon the idea of their children marrying outside of the faith, and some even go as far as cutting them out of their wills and mourning them as though they had died.

In Israel, the issue of intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews, particularly Arabs, has led to the emergence of modesty squads or anti-miscegenation squads, which are ultra-orthodox vigilante groups that hound and intimidate Jewish-Arab couples. These groups are supported by the police and Israeli lawmakers, despite the fact that their activities contravene the basic human rights of Israeli citizens.

While there were no US laws preventing intermarriage with Jews, anti-miscegenation laws were enforced in Nazi Germany as part of the Nuremberg Laws passed in 1935. These laws criminalised sexual relations and marriages between Germans classified as 'Aryans' and Jews, as well as between 'Aryans' and Gypsies, Negroes, and their bastard offspring.

Did anti-miscegenation laws in the US apply to Jews?

Anti-miscegenation laws in the US were state-level laws that prohibited interracial marriage and, in some states, criminalised cohabitation and sexual relations between people of different races. While these laws were primarily directed at marriages between white people and black people, they also often applied to marriages between white people and Native Americans, Asian Americans, and, in some states, Filipinos.

Although Jews could be discriminated against in housing and employment, and hotels openly discriminated against Jews, there is no evidence that anti-miscegenation laws applied to marriages between Jews and non-Jews in the US. However, the theoretical basis for anti-miscegenation laws—the monogenist theory that all humans descended from Adam and Eve—could have been used to justify applying these laws to Jews.

In Israel, however, there is evidence of state-sanctioned anti-miscegenation programmes aimed at preventing Jewish women from marrying or dating Arab men. These programmes have been described as "anti-miscegenation squads" or "modesty squads" and have been linked to the rise of ultra-orthodox "vigilante police" in the country.

Were Jews discriminated against in other ways?

While there were no laws in the US that prevented Jews from marrying non-Jewish people, they did face discrimination in other areas of life.

Jews could legally be discriminated against in housing and employment, and hotels openly discriminated against them.

Jewish Americans generally perceive a rise in antisemitism. A survey by the Pew Research Center found that 93% of Jewish Americans say there is at least some antisemitism in the US today, with 75% saying there is more antisemitism in the country than there was five years ago.

Six in ten Jews report having had a direct, personal experience with antisemitism in the past 12 months, such as seeing antisemitic graffiti or vandalism, experiencing online harassment, or hearing someone repeat an antisemitic trope. Just over half also say they feel less safe as Jews in America than they did five years ago.

Despite these negative experiences, a third of US Jews also received recent expressions of support from someone who is not Jewish.

What was the Nazi stance on Jewish-non-Jewish relationships?

The Nazi Party Platform, presented by Hitler in 1920, publicly declared the intention to segregate Jews from "Aryan" society and revoke their political, legal, and civil rights. This included the right to marry, which was stripped from Jews with the passing of the Nuremberg Laws in 1935.

The Nuremberg Laws were comprised of two distinct laws. The first, the Reich Citizenship Law, defined Jews as "subjects" of the state, a second-class status. The second law, the Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour, forbade marriage and any intimate extramarital relations between Jews and non-Jewish German citizens. While the law left existing marriages between non-Jewish and Jewish spouses unaffected, it banned future marriages and invalidated marriages between a non-Jewish German and a Jewish spouse of any nationality contracted outside of Germany.

The Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour also forbade Jews from employing non-Jewish German women or women of equivalent racist ranking under the age of 45. Jews were also forbidden from raising the German flag.

The Nazi regime's anti-Jewish stance was underpinned by propaganda that portrayed Jews as an "alien race" that fed off the host nation, poisoned its culture, seized its economy, and enslaved its workers and farmers. It was claimed that "race mixing" through marriage weakened Germany.

The Nazis considered the Jews to be a race bound by close genetic ties that formed a unit one could neither join nor leave. To be spared persecution, one had to prove "Aryan" descent, usually by obtaining an Aryan certificate. Individuals were considered non-'Aryan' if at least three of their four grandparents had been enrolled as members of a Jewish congregation.

The Nuremberg Laws were created in response to Hitler's demands for broadened citizenship laws that could "underpin the more specifically racial-biological anti-Jewish legislation". They were also a response to Hitler's desire to repay a debt of gratitude to the Nazi movement, which he believed had restored freedom to Germany.

How did US anti-miscegenation laws affect other ethnic groups?

The anti-miscegenation laws in the US, which were in force in many states until 1967, affected several ethnic groups. These laws, which were first introduced in the late 17th century, prohibited interracial marriage and, in some states, criminalised interracial sexual relations.

All anti-miscegenation laws banned marriage between whites and non-white groups, primarily black people, but often also Native Americans and Asian Americans. In 1908, Oklahoma banned marriage "between a person of African descent" and "any person not of African descent". In 1920, Louisiana banned marriage between Native Americans and African Americans. In 1935, Maryland banned marriages between black people and Filipinos.

In addition to these laws, some states also criminalised cohabitation between whites and non-whites. For example, in 1958, an interracial couple, Richard and Mildred Loving, were arrested in their bedroom for living together, on the basis that "any white person [who] intermarry [ied] with a coloured person" was guilty of a felony.

While these laws are often associated with the Southern states, most states in the Western US and the Great Plains also enacted them. By the late 1800s, 38 US states had anti-miscegenation statutes. By 1924, 29 states still had these laws in force.

In addition to affecting African Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans, the anti-miscegenation laws also had an impact on other ethnic groups. For example, South Asian immigrants were affected by these laws as early as the 17th century. In 1680, a Eurasian daughter born to an Indian father and an Irish mother in Maryland was classified as a "mulatto" and sold into slavery. In the 20th century, the Bengali revolutionary Tarak Nath Das's white American wife, Mary Keatinge Morse, was stripped of her American citizenship for her marriage to an "alien ineligible for citizenship."

Furthermore, anti-miscegenation laws also affected Hispanics/Mexicans, who were sometimes treated as a separate racial category from "Caucasian" or white. In State v. Pass, the Supreme Court of Arizona ruled that persons of mixed racial heritage, including those of Mexican descent, could not legally marry anyone.

Finally, while there were no laws specifically preventing Jews from marrying non-Jewish people in the US, they were discriminated against in other areas such as housing and employment. Additionally, the "theory" behind the anti-miscegenation laws, which categorised races into Hamitic, Shemitic, and Japhethitic groups, could have been used to justify applying these laws to Jews.

What was the global context of anti-miscegenation laws?

Anti-miscegenation laws are laws that enforce racial segregation at the level of marriage and intimate relationships by criminalizing interracial marriage and, in some cases, sex between members of different races. The term "miscegenation" was first used in 1863 during the American Civil War. These laws have a long history, dating back to ancient times, and have been enforced in various parts of the world, including the United States, Nazi Germany, South Africa, and colonial empires.

In the United States, anti-miscegenation laws were first introduced in the late 17th century by several of the Thirteen Colonies and later by many U.S. states and territories. These laws prohibited interracial marriage and, in some states, criminalized cohabitation and sexual relations between whites and non-whites. While nine states never enacted such laws, they were widespread in the South and the Western United States. By the late 19th century, 38 U.S. states had anti-miscegenation statutes. These laws were often justified using religious arguments and a literal interpretation of the Bible, particularly the Old Testament. While the laws primarily targeted marriages between whites and blacks, they also affected marriages with Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Filipinos.

In Nazi Germany, anti-miscegenation laws were enacted as part of the Nuremberg Laws in 1935. These laws prohibited marriages and sexual relations between Germans classified as "Aryans" and "non-Aryans," which included Jews, Romani, and Black people. The Nazis considered Jews as a distinct racial group rather than a religious group. This led to discrimination, persecution, and the requirement to prove "Aryan" descent to avoid punishment.

In South Africa, anti-miscegenation laws were enforced as part of the apartheid system introduced in 1948. The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act of 1949 forbade marriages between whites and non-whites, and the Population Registration Act of 1950 classified all residents into white, coloured, or native categories, later adding Indians under the "Asian" category in 1959. Similar laws were also enacted in German colonies and other colonial empires, such as French Louisiana and British India.

The global context of anti-miscegenation laws reveals a history of racial segregation and discrimination enforced through legal means. These laws have been used to uphold notions of racial purity, white supremacy, and the belief in the superiority of certain racial groups over others. The United States played a significant role in influencing other countries, with its race laws fascinating the Nazis and contributing to the development of their own racist ideologies and legislation.

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