Millions of Americans harbor an ugly secret — they’re suspicious of the Jews.
A nationwide survey released Thursday by the Anti-Defamation League found that 15% of the country holds deeply anti-Semitic views — and as the economy worsens that number appears to be growing.
“It is disturbing that with all of the strides we have made in becoming a more tolerant society, anti-Semitic beliefs continue to hold a vise-grip on a small but not insubstantial segment of the American public,” the ADL’s Abraham Foxman said.
Old stereotypes about Jews being pushy and controlling the economy are festering — especially among the least-educated Americans, the survey found.
Among other things:
n 19% answered “probably true” to the statement “Jews have too much control/influence on Wall Street,” a five percentage point increase since 2009.
n 14% agreed with the statement that "Jews have too much power in the U.S. today," an increase from 13% in 2009.
n 15% agreed Jews are "more willing to use shady practices."
n 16% agreed that Jewish "business people are so shrewd, others don't have a chance."
Other anti-Jewish canards continue to be believed by millions of Americans.
Some 31% believe the Jews were responsible for crucifying Christ. And 30% — a percentage that has stayed steady since 1964 — insist Jews are “more loyal to Israel than to America.”
Nearly half of all respondents agreed with the statement that Jews "stick together more than other Americans.” And a quarter of the country says Jews “still talk too much about what happened to them in the Holocaust.”
The survey found that the most-educated Americans were the least prejudiced and foreign-born Hispanics were more likely to hate Jews than U.S. born Hispanics.
Some 29% of the African-Americans surveyed expressed strong anti-Semitic views.
On the plus side, even the anti-Semites gave Jews credit for their strong faith in God (79%), being big on family (84%), and for contributing to American cultural (64%).
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