'Who Is American?' Exploring the complicated history of Jewish citizenship in the US - review

A review of Prof. Lila Corwin Berman's book 'Who Is American?', which challenges the assumption that US Jews were granted citizenship without controversy. The book examines legal battles over Jewish racial classification, dual citizenship after Israel's founding, Sunday closing laws, and contemporary debates over whether Jews are a protected class under civil rights law.

A review of Prof. Lila Corwin Berman's new book 'Who Is American? Belonging and the Question of Jewish Citizenship' challenges the widely held assumption that Jews in the United States were granted citizenship routinely and without controversy. The review, written by Glenn C. Altschuler, details how Berman demonstrates that judges, legislators, and litigants often revisited classifications of Jews as 'a race,' 'nationality,' and 'religion' to determine their status. Key historical episodes include a 1909 federal judge's ruling that granted Jews an 'extraordinary exception' for citizenship, the impact of Zionism and Israel's founding on dual citizenship debates, and Orthodox Jewish challenges to Sunday closing laws. The book concludes with analysis of contemporary debates: whether Jews are a 'protected class' under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which addresses discrimination based on 'race, color, or national origin' but does not mention religion, and whether Jews should accept race as a legal definition of Jewishness. Berman warns of the danger in 'moving law from principle to weapon.'