8 Comments

I'm not sure if its because I was raised Catholic or something, and I suppose I can understand politically why they do this, but I find it so odd how many American antisemites (and offshoots of Christianity) root their views in "actually, my descendants were the real Israelites / Chosen People / Lost Tribe, etc"

Expand full comment

"...the belief that the Anglo-Saxons were the real Israelites of the bible."

Good god. The amount of willful ignorance in these people.

It's like they've never even *heard* Desmond Dekker.

Expand full comment

"where Anglo-Israelites, migrant fundamentalist preachers from the South, and former members of William Dudley Pelley’s failed fascist Silvershirts, combined to create Christian Identity"

This is the part that I had not connected personally. I didn't know that the Christian Identity crowd was rooted so early. So thanks, John.

elm

everyone wants to be an israelite, no one wants to be a jew

Expand full comment

Bradley Hart's book "Hitler's American Friends" (2018) won't teach you a whole lot you don't already know, but it is a good read on just how popular Ford's worldview was for a time in the Interwar era. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250148957/hitlersamericanfriends

Expand full comment

And yet, Ford growing up in Dearborn had never met a Jew. His antisemitism rose out of no personal experience. The real eliminationist antisemites crowded around when they realized his attitudes.

Expand full comment

Why would that make a difference?

Expand full comment

It makes no difference in dealing with the impacts of antisemitism. It does say something about the chain of transmission of antisemitism. The fact that Ford’s antisemitism seemingly rose ex nihilo suggests the difficulties in combating it.

Anyways, as an ex-Detroiter, I’m always interested in posts about Henry Ford. Thanks for that.

Expand full comment

Ford's Midwestern rural background (late 19th century) could have provided a basis for the antisemitism. There was in that milieu considerable suspicion and hostility towards bankers and Wall Street and a tendency to associate finance with Jews.

Expand full comment