A racial re-framing of Modernity and the Jews

Goldberg presents a nicely argued examination that demonstrates how sociology’s foundational thinkers used the experience of Jews to make sense of the transition from traditional to modern societies. While major European theorists were either negative or ambivalent about the Jewish community, US scholars were more likely to see Jews as pointing the way toward a more modern, diverse America. The US story, however, is more complex, and Goldberg’s analysis would benefit from a deeper, more careful discussion of race and racialization. Jews’ eventual incorporation in the United States required a careful process of de-racialization that culminated in their revaluation as white. But this process was never complete. The periodic resurfacing of race-inflected, anti-Jewish acts testifies to this. If Jews, who have been admitted to whiteness, are still subject to periodic racialization and stigmatization, this strongly suggests that their experience in the United States may represent the limits of full incorporation. If so, there is little hope for other racial outsiders to ever be fully accepted into the US mainstream.