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91-541: The idea for an American Jewish congress was first proposed on August 30, 1914, by Bernard G. Richards . Leaders within the American Jewish community, consisting of Jewish, Zionist , and immigrant community organizations, convened the first AJCongress in Philadelphia 's Independence Hall . Rabbi Stephen Samuel Wise , Felix Frankfurter , U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis , and others joined to lay

182-528: A "looseleaf form and expanding its distribution" in 1993. Stern served as assistant executive director of AJCongress and subsequently became general counsel of the AJC Bernard G. Richards Bernard Gerson Richards (BGR) (b. March 9, 1877 Dov-Gershon Rabinovich in Keidan , Lithuania – d. June 25, 1971), was a Jewish author and a leader. His career spanned over 50 years. When he came to

273-533: A "mix" of or of "vague" Germanic Northwestern European heritages. Historically, the early Anglo-Protestant settlers in the seventeenth century were the most successful group, culturally, economically, and politically, and they maintained their dominance until the late twentieth century at the earliest. Numbers of the most wealthy and affluent American families , such as Boston Brahmin , First Families of Virginia , Old Philadelphians , Tidewater , and Lowcountry gentry or old money , were WASPs. Commitment to

364-573: A 2014 study by the Pew Research Center , Episcopalians ranked as the third wealthiest religious group in the United States, with 35% of Episcopalians living in households with incomes of at least $ 100,000. Presbyterians ranked as the fourth most financially successful religious group in the United States, with 32% of Presbyterians living in households with incomes of at least $ 100,000. The Boston Brahmins , who were regarded as

455-677: A WASP, in his 1964 book The Protestant Establishment: Aristocracy and Caste in America . Baltzell stressed the closed or caste-like characteristic of the group by arguing that "There is a crisis in American leadership in the middle of the twentieth century that is partly due, I think, to the declining authority of an establishment which is now based on an increasingly castelike White-Anglo Saxon-Protestant (WASP) upper class." Citing Gallup polling data from 1976, Kit and Frederica Konolige wrote in their 1978 book The Power of Their Glory , "As befits

546-810: A church that belongs to the worldwide Anglican Communion , Episcopalianism has the United Kingdom to thank for the ancestors of fully 49 percent of its members. ... The stereotype of the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) finds its fullest expression in the Episcopal Church." WASP is also used in Australia and Canada for similar elites. WASPs traditionally have been associated with Episcopal (or Anglican ), Presbyterian , United Methodist , Congregationalist , and other mainline Protestant denominations; however,

637-477: A pressure group in 1928 under the leadership of Rabbi Stephen Samuel Wise, who remained president and chief spokesperson until his death in 1949. Throughout the 1930s, Wise was vocal in his warnings about the dangers of Nazism . When Adolf Hitler was named Chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933, Wise organized a mass protest rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City despite strong opposition by

728-596: A style of understated quiet leadership. A common practice of WASP families is presenting their daughters of marriageable age (traditionally at the age of 17 or 18 years old) at a débutante ball , such as the International Debutante Ball at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. America's social elite was a small, closed group. The leadership was well-known to the readers of newspaper society pages, but in larger cities it

819-580: Is not only a struggle against anti-Israel activities, but a human rights issue as well. To make decision makers more accessible to the Jewish community , the organization created the 500 Club and executive briefing meetings and conference calls with the decision makers and members of the Jewish community. In May 2019, the AJCongress launched the "Jewish Guide to U.S Politics" , a virtual resource summarizing

910-570: The British Isles ; less exacting analysts are willing to throw in Scandinavians, Netherlanders and Germans." The sociologist Charles H. Anderson writes, "Scandinavians are second-class WASPs" but know it is "better to be a second-class WASP than a non-WASP". Sociologists William Thompson and Joseph Hickey described the further expansion of the term's meaning: The term WASP has many meanings. In sociology it reflects that segment of

1001-595: The Ivy League , the Little Ivies , and the Seven Sisters colleges are particularly intertwined with the culture. Until roughly World War II, Ivy League universities were composed largely of white Protestants. While admission to these schools is generally based upon merit, many of these universities give a legacy preference for the children of alumni in order to link elite families (and their wealth) with

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1092-533: The Mainline Protestant elite . Historically or most consistently, WASPs are of British descent , though the definition of WASP varies in this respect. It was seen to be in exclusionary contrast to Catholics, Jews, Irish, immigrants, southern or eastern Europeans, and the non-White. WASPs have dominated American society, culture, and politics for most of the history of the United States. Critics have disparaged them as " The Establishment ". Although

1183-653: The New York City Bar Association ; and others to a weeklong discussion on women's accomplishment and success. Carole E. Handler was the CWE's most recent chair. Fear of being accused of Communism led the AJCongress to dissociate themselves from Jewish Communists and leftists during the Second Red Scare . The major Jewish organizations at the time advocated their expulsion from the Jewish community, collaborated with security agencies, supported

1274-815: The Paris Peace Conference in 1919 . More militant and confrontational than other Jewish defense organizations such as the American Jewish Committee , it represented a populist counterbalance to the American Jewish Committee, dominated by the wealthy and conservative German-Jewish establishment. It has established a "reputation for being politically liberal." It protested the Nazi regime. Post World War II , it made "its mark as an active litigant on church-state issues and civil rights". AJCongress became effective as

1365-586: The United States Supreme Court . Brown v. Board of Education gave the AJCongress its public entrée into the field of Constitutional defense agencies. The group advocates for removing religious symbols from public life, and thus filed a brief against allowing public displays of the menorah during Hanukkah in County of Allegheny v. ACLU . The AJC founded its Women's Division in 1933. It operated for approximately fifty years before it

1456-538: The Upper East Side in Manhattan has been dominated by wealthy White Anglo-Saxon Protestant families. David Brooks , a columnist for The New York Times who attended an Episcopal prep school, writes that WASPs took pride in "good posture, genteel manners, personal hygiene, pointless discipline, the ability to sit still for long periods of time." According to the essayist Joseph Epstein , WASPs developed

1547-818: The WJC representative in Switzerland. Riegner reported that the Nazis had planned, and were implementing, a policy to exterminate all of European Jewry; the cable also referred specifically to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp . After the U.S. State Department confirmed the accuracy of the information in the cable, now known as the Riegner Telegram , the AJCongress convened a Joint Emergency Committee. The AJCongress supported Zionism and cultural pluralism . Its leadership overlapped with that of

1638-790: The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA). As a result, the two organizations agreed to concentrate on different tasks during the war. The AJCongress dedicated itself to rescuing European Jews, while the ZOA worked to establish a Jewish state in Palestine . This arrangement continued after the war, although its significance decreased after the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. After World War II , middle-class Jews of Eastern European descent with socialist-labor and professional civil rights backgrounds began to take over leadership roles in

1729-585: The mainline Protestant denominations of Christianity , chiefly the Presbyterian , Episcopalian , and Congregationalist traditions. Citing Gallup polling data from 1976, Kit and Frederica Konolige wrote in their 1978 book The Power of Their Glory , "As befits a church that belongs to the worldwide Anglican Communion , Episcopalianism has the United Kingdom to thank for the ancestors of fully 49 percent of its members. ... The stereotype of

1820-473: The 152 religious institutions that received Pell Grants were Jewish, the data shows. The Jewish schools received 53% of the $ 84.5 million in Pell Grant money that went to religious schools in 2010. Of the top ten Pell Grant recipients in dollar terms in 2010, six were yeshivas. In 2013, the board restructured the organization; since then, it has been working on incorporating new missions that are relevant to

1911-554: The 1978 Regents of the University of California v. Bakke case, the AJCongress opposed racial quota systems and exclusive consideration of race in college admissions. The AJCongress celebrated Supreme Court's decision in the case to strike down racial quotas in university admissions, seeing it as a vindication of their view that racial quotas were unconstitutional. By 2003, the organization's opposition to affirmative action had tempered. The AJCongress's legal director Marc Stern said at

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2002-468: The 1980s, brands such as Lacoste and Ralph Lauren and their logos became associated with the preppy fashion style which was associated with WASP culture. The term WASP became associated with an upper class in the United States due to over-representation of WASPs in the upper echelons of society. Until the mid–20th century, industries such as banks, insurance, railroads, utilities, and manufacturing were dominated by WASPs. The Founding Fathers of

2093-783: The AJC along with the Anti Defamation League launched a campaign demanding that the IRS revoke the tax-exempt status of the Holy Land Foundation (HLF). In December 2001, when President George Bush designated the HLF as a domestic terror organization, the HLF was the largest Muslim charity in the United States. The AJCongress has since regrouped and is actively engaged in constitutional issues domestically and supporting Israel and challenging anti-Semitism abroad. In 2004,

2184-491: The AJCongress and its programs. The endowments supported about one quarter of the AJCongress' budget, which was $ 6.2 million in 2006. The AJCongress had connected with Madoff through Martin and Lillian Steinberg, supporters of AJCongress and friends of Madoff who invested with him, and Madoff became a trusted advisor of AJCongress on financial matters. The AJCongress increased its investments with Madoff in 2004, after it sold its New York headquarters for $ 18 million in 2003, and when

2275-440: The AJCongress had a long history of fighting aid to religious schools, the effort proved to be in conflict with Orthodox Jewish communities that were very successful in attracting government funds for students. An investigation by The Jewish Daily Forward showed that each year, tens of millions of dollars in federal Pell Grants go to yeshivas , which typically focus on Talmud study rather than secular subjects. For 2010, 63 of

2366-696: The AJCongress had become too conservative, members of the Los Angeles chapter, for instance, created the Progressive Jewish Alliance (PJA) in 1999. They sought to assert a Jewish interest in the campaigns for social justice in Southern California , which has the United States' second largest Jewish population. The Progressive Jewish Alliance expanded in February 2005 by opening a San Francisco Bay Area chapter. In 1994

2457-525: The AJCongress led a successful effort to keep federal funds out of Catholic schools. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler sided with the AJCongress, which argued that federal funds were being used to pay for the teaching of Catholic values through programs such as the University of Notre Dame 's Alliance for Catholic Education. AmeriCorps argued that its funding was based on a program's secular activities, not religious teachings. But Judge Kessler ruled that

2548-599: The AJCongress released an official statement critical of Ms. magazine 's refusal to accept a full-page advertisement honoring three prominent Israeli women: Dorit Beinisch (then-president of the Supreme Court of Israel ), Tzipi Livni (then- minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel ), and Dalia Itzik (then-speaker of the Knesset ). The AJCongress press release states: " 'What other conclusion can we reach,' asked Richard Gordon , President of AJCongress, 'except that

2639-548: The AJCongress was instrumental in establishing the World Jewish Congress (WJC). Maintaining his position as president of the AJCongress, Rabbi Wise was also elected president of the WJC. During World War II, the AJCongress acted as a liaison between the U.S. government and the WJC on issues relating to rescue attempts made on behalf of European Jews. In August 1942, Rabbi Wise received a cable from Gerhart Riegner ,

2730-556: The African-American newspaper The New York Amsterdam News in 1948, when author Stetson Kennedy wrote: In America, we find the WASPs (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants) ganging up to take their frustrations out on whatever minority group happens to be handy — whether Negro, Catholic, Jewish, Japanese or whatnot. The term was later popularized by sociologist and University of Pennsylvania professor E. Digby Baltzell , himself

2821-679: The Commission on Law and Social Action (CLSA). The CCI worked to use psychology and social engineering to combat prejudice and developed psychological studies to bolster anti-discrimination legislation. The CLSA, chaired by Shad Polier , was the legal arm of the AJCongress and was modeled after the Legal Defense Fund of the NAACP . The mission of CLSA was "to defend civil liberties and fight discrimination against all minority groups, based on an understanding that prejudice against any group

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2912-761: The Detroit area, WASPs predominantly possessed the wealth that came from the new automotive industry. After the 1967 Detroit riot , they tended to congregate in the Grosse Pointe suburbs. In the Chicago metropolitan area , white Protestants primarily reside in the North Shore suburbs , the Barrington area in the northwest suburbs, and in Oak Park and DuPage County in the western suburbs. Traditionally,

3003-549: The Federal Education Act and deem its provisions to be consonant with the principle of church-state separation." Among their most important actions was their participation on the touristic boycott by American Jews against Mexico in 1975, while Naomi B. Levine led the lawsuit when she was executive director of the American Jewish Congress. This was a response to the impulse of Arab countries,

3094-460: The German government, the U.S. State Department , and conservative Jewish organizations such as the AJC and B'nai B'rith . The AJCongress continued to organize protest rallies throughout the 1930s and 1940s. In August 1933, the AJCongress led a general boycott of German goods. In 1934, Daniel Marks was named head of the AJCongress. He traveled to Germany and brought 5,000 Jews to America. In 1936,

3185-518: The Jewish community. In contrast to the previous approach to placate the WASP elite in America, these leaders were eager and willing to join the public battle for Jewish civil rights. Unlike other Jewish organizations such as the American Jewish Committee and the ADL, AJC preferred a more direct approach to addressing antisemitism through litigation and lobbying for legal change. Rabbi Joachim Prinz (1902–88)

3276-976: The Soviet bloc, and Non-Aligned Movement countries to consider Zionism as racism in the context of World Conference on Women in Mexico City, and the following UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 which equated it with South Africa's Apartheid and was supported by the Mexican government at the time. Joint with other Jewish American organizations, the AJCongress announced the suspension of all their trips to Mexico on 28 November 1975, after 30 unanimous votes during an executive committee reunion. In late 1978 New York State's prison system reached an agreement, brokered in part by AJCongress's then-assistant executive director Marc D. Stern, "to arrange ... TV dinners ... along with packaged breakfasts and disposable utensils" to those requesting kosher food while in prison. In

3367-726: The Steinbergs died they left approximately $ 17 million to the organization, which was also invested with Madoff. While the financial losses of the endowment were crippling, others noted that the AJCongress had long been in the shadow of larger American Jewish organizations such as the AJC and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). While the AJCongress focused on religious freedom in America, free speech, and women's rights, donors showed more interest in Israel and anti-Semitism. While

3458-559: The U.S. and the UK and complaints about perceived "Anglo-Saxon" cultural or political dominance. In December 1918, after victory in the World War, President Woodrow Wilson told a British official in London: "You must not speak of us who come over here as cousins, still less as brothers; we are neither. Neither must you think of us as Anglo-Saxons, for that term can no longer be rightly applied to

3549-546: The U.S. population that founded the nation and traced their heritages to...Northwestern Europe. The term...has become more inclusive. To many people, WASP now includes most 'white' people who are not ... members of any minority group. Apart from Protestant English, British, German, Dutch, and Scandinavian Americans, other ethnic groups frequently included under the label WASP include Americans of French Huguenot descent, Protestant Americans of Germanic European descent in general, and established Protestant American families of

3640-630: The United Parents Associations, and the United Federation of Teachers in filing suit against provisions of the Federal Education Act , which would provide support to religious schools. Jewish day school educators and leaders in over 30 states and over 100 communities representing 330 Hebrew day schools insisted that the AJCongress did not speak for American Jews on religious or educational issues, and

3731-754: The United States by Harriet Zuckerman , between 1901 and 1972, 72% of American Nobel Prize laureates have come from a Protestant background, mostly from Episcopalian, Presbyterian or Lutheran background, while Protestants made up roughly 67% of the US population during that period. Of Nobel prizes awarded to Americans between 1901 and 1972, 84.2% of those in Chemistry , 60% in Medicine , and 58.6% in Physics were awarded to Protestants. The White Anglo-Saxon Protestant upper class has largely held church membership in

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3822-459: The United States were mostly educated, well-to-do, of British ancestry , and Protestants. According to a study of the biographies of signers of the Declaration of Independence by Caroline Robbins : The Signers came for the most part from an educated elite, were residents of older settlements, and belonged with a few exceptions to a moderately well-to-do class representing only a fraction of

3913-580: The United States (1886 ), he furthered his education through self-study . He supported himself as peddler, clerk in a dry goods store. He began his journalistic career as a reporter on the  Boston Post , and wrote for several Boston and New York papers, as well as for Yiddish newspapers in New York, Denver, and Boston  and other Jewish journals, including the American Hebrew  and  The New Palestine . He also edited New Era Illustrated Magazine till 1911. Richards

4004-515: The United States was typically associated with WASP status, particularly with the Episcopal and Presbyterian Church. Some of the wealthiest and most affluent American families such as the Vanderbilts , Astors , Rockefellers , Du Ponts , Roosevelts , Forbes , Fords , Mellons , Whitneys , Morgans , and Harrimans are white primarily mainline Protestant families. According to

4095-521: The White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) finds its fullest expression in the Episcopal Church." From 1854 until about 1964, white Protestants were predominantly Republicans . More recently, the group is split more evenly between the Republican and Democratic parties. Episcopalians and Presbyterians are among the wealthiest religious groups and were formerly disproportionately represented in American business, law, and politics. Old money in

4186-403: The ad implied that women in Israel hold equal positions of power with men." Spillar stated that the magazine had "covered the Israeli feminist movement and women leaders in Israel ... eleven times" in the last four years. The AJCongress, which had already been publishing Religion and the Public Schools: A Summary of the Law with the name of attorney Marc D. Stern on the cover, adapted it to

4277-474: The center of the social season, the organizing committees are studded with luminaries from publishing, Hollywood and Wall Street and family lineage is almost irrelevant. In 2007, The New York Times reported that there was a rising interest in the WASP culture. In their review of Susanna Salk's A Privileged Life: Celebrating WASP Style , they stated that Salk "is serious about defending the virtues of WASP values, and their contribution to American culture." By

4368-431: The class of Americans that held "national power in its economic, political, and social aspects", Hacker wrote: These 'old' Americans possess, for the most part, some common characteristics. First of all, they are 'WASPs'—in the cocktail party jargon of the sociologists. That is, they are wealthy, they are Anglo-Saxon in origin, and they are Protestants (and disproportionately Episcopalian ). An earlier usage appeared in

4459-476: The combined impact of Britain and the United States on European affairs. Charles de Gaulle repeatedly sought to "rid France of Anglo-Saxon influence". The term is used with more nuance in discussions by French writers on French decline, especially as an alternative model to which France should aspire, how France should adjust to its two most prominent global competitors, and how it should deal with social and economic modernization. Outside of Anglophone countries,

4550-419: The cultural scene. American values bore the stamp of this Anglo-Saxon Protestant ascendancy. The political, cultural, religious, and intellectual leaders of the nation were largely of a Northern European Protestant stock, and they propagated public morals compatible with their background. Before WASP came into use in the 1960s, the term Anglo-Saxon served some of the same purposes. Like the newer term WASP ,

4641-456: The early Middle Ages Anglian and Saxon kingdoms were established over most of England, ('land of the Angles'). After the Norman conquest in 1066, Anglo-Saxon refers to the pre-invasion English people. Political scientist Andrew Hacker used the term WASP in 1957, with W standing for 'wealthy' rather than ' white '. The P formed a humorous epithet to imply " waspishness " or someone likely to make sharp, slightly cruel remarks. Describing

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4732-428: The execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg , and discouraged other Jewish organizations from supporting the Rosenberg Committee . In 1953, the National Community Relations Advisory Council , which included the AJCongress, released a statement criticizing the Rosenberg Committee for allegedly causing public panic over antisemitism within the Jewish community. Stuart Svonkin, author of Jews Against Prejudice , argued that

4823-433: The fall of 2007, the AJCongress announced that it had retained the services of Rabbi Israel Singer , the former secretary-general of the World Jewish Congress – who left the agency after claims of financial irregularities were levied following an investigation by New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and followed up by accusations from then-WJC President Edgar Bronfman about alleged theft. On January 10, 2008,

4914-425: The forefront of the Women's Movement that led to the creation of Ms. Magazine. ' " Katherine Spillar , executive editor of Ms. magazine, responded to the AJCongress on Ms. magazine's website, denying an anti-Israel bias, stating that: "Ms. Magazine has been criticized for not running an ad submitted by the American Jewish Congress (AJCongress) featuring the photographs of three prominent Israeli women leaders with

5005-425: The groundwork for a national democratic organization of Jewish leaders from all over the country, to rally for equal rights for all Americans regardless of race, religion, or national ancestry. The American Jewish Congress (AJCongress) was officially founded in November 1918. In addition to its goal of equal rights for all, it was founded to broaden Jewish leadership and to present a unified American Jewish position at

5096-453: The heyday of WASP dominance, the Social Register delineated high society. According to The New York Times , its influence had faded by the late 20th century: Once, the Social Register was a juggernaut in New York social circles... Nowadays, however, with the waning of the WASP elite as a social and political force, the register's role as an arbiter of who counts and who doesn't is almost an anachronism. In Manhattan, where charity galas are at

5187-437: The high tide of WASP control". In 1965, Canadian sociologist John Porter, in The Vertical Mosaic , argued that British origins were disproportionately represented in the higher echelons of Canadian class, income, political power, the clergy, the media, etc. However, more recently, Canadian scholars have traced the decline of the WASP elite. According to Ralph E. Pyle: A number of analysts have suggested that WASP dominance of

5278-415: The ideals of the Enlightenment meant that they sought to assimilate newcomers from outside of the British Isles , but few were interested in adopting a Pan-European identity for the nation, much less turning it into a global melting pot. However, in the early 1900s, liberal progressives and modernists began promoting more inclusive ideals for what the national identity of the United States should be. While

5369-411: The institutional order has become a thing of the past. The accepted wisdom is that after World War II, the selection of individuals for leadership positions was increasingly based on factors such as motivation and training rather than ethnicity and social lineage. Many reasons have been given for the decline of WASP power, and books have been written detailing it. Self-imposed diversity incentives opened

5460-471: The involvement of the AJCongress and other Jewish groups with McCarthyism undermined these groups' otherwise support for civil liberties. However, the AJCongress cooperated with McCarthyism to a lesser extent than the AJC and the ADL. During the 1940s, the AJCongress strongly urged the Jewish establishment to distance itself from Jewish People's Fraternal Order and the American Jewish Labor Council. The AJCongress voted to expel both groups on June 7, 1949. In

5551-778: The more traditionalist segments of society continued to maintain their Anglo-Protestant ethnocultural traditions, universalism and cosmopolitanism started gaining favor among the elites. These ideals became institutionalized after the Second World War, and ethnic minorities started moving towards institutional parity with the once dominant Anglo-Protestants. Some of the first colleges and universities in America, including Harvard , Yale , Princeton , Rutgers , Columbia , Dartmouth , Pennsylvania , Duke , Boston University , Williams , Bowdoin , Middlebury , and Amherst , all were founded by mainline Protestant denominations. Expensive, private prep schools and universities have historically been associated with WASPs. Colleges such as

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5642-407: The nation's social and cultural elites, were often associated with the American upper class , Harvard University , and the Episcopal Church. Like other sociological groups, WASPs tend to concentrate within close proximity of each other. These areas are often exclusive and associated with top schools, high incomes, well-established church communities, and high real-estate values. For example, in

5733-408: The nineteenth century, Anglo-Saxons was often used as a synonym for all people of English descent and sometimes more generally, for all the English-speaking peoples of the world. It was often used in implying superiority, much to the annoyance of outsiders. For example, American clergyman Josiah Strong boasted in 1890: In 1700 this race numbered less than 6,000,000 souls. In 1800, Anglo-Saxons (I use

5824-428: The older term Anglo-Saxon was used derisively by writers hostile to an informal alliance between Britain and the U.S. The negative connotation was especially common among Irish Americans and writers in France. Anglo-Saxon , meaning in effect the whole Anglosphere , remains a term favored by the French, used disapprovingly in contexts such as criticism of the Special Relationship of close diplomatic relations between

5915-414: The organization brings over 30 mayors from around the world to promote Israel back in their cities. Past participants include Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio , President of Argentina Mauricio Macri , Premier of Taiwan William Lai , and former Prime Minister of Italy Matteo Renzi . The organization opposes the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement and asserts that fighting BDS

6006-475: The people of the United States....There are only two things which can establish and maintain closer relations between your country and mine: they are community of ideals and of interests." The term remains in use in Ireland as a term for the British or English, and sometimes in Scottish Nationalist discourse. Irish-American humorist Finley Peter Dunne popularized the ridicule of "Anglo-Saxons", even calling President Theodore Roosevelt one. Roosevelt insisted he

6097-482: The population. Native or born overseas, they were of British stock and of the Protestant faith. Catholics in the Northeast and the Midwest—mostly immigrants and their descendants from Ireland and Germany as well as southern and eastern Europe—came to dominate Democratic Party politics in big cities through the ward boss system . Catholic politicians were often the target of WASP political hostility. Political scientist Eric Kaufmann argues that "the 1920s marked

6188-442: The publishers − and if the publishers are right, a significant number of Ms. Magazine readers − are so hostile to Israel that they do not even want to see an ad that says something positive about Israel?' ... 'Clearly Ms. has changed a great deal from the days when AJCongress members and leaders of the AJCongress' Commission for Women's Equality − including Betty Friedan , Bella Abzug and Ms. co-founder Letty Pogrebin − were at

6279-409: The religious and secular activities were not sufficiently separated or monitored. The AJCongress suspended its activities and laid off much of its staff on July 13, 2010, because it had run out of operating funds due to losses in the Madoff scandal . It disclosed that it lost roughly $ 21 million of the $ 24 million in endowments it had invested through Bernard Madoff and his firm, money that supported

6370-429: The school. These legacy admissions allowed for the continuation of WASP influence on important sectors of the US. Members of Protestant denominations associated with WASPs have some of the highest proportions of advanced degrees . Examples include the Episcopal Church , with 76% of those polled having some college education, and the Presbyterian Church , with 64%. According to Scientific Elite: Nobel Laureates in

6461-647: The secular public, 53 percent of the traditional non-religious public, and 26 percent of the traditional-religious public support the group, Women of the Wall , and their quest to pray at the Kotel in their fashion. But their cause was unanimously rejected by the poll's ultra-Orthodox respondents", according to The Algemeiner . The CWE most recently held a major women's conference in Tel Aviv , Israel, in May 2006, bringing notable women of achievement like Anne F. Lewis ; Lynn Sherr , anchor for ABC's 20/20 ; Irshad Manji , author of The Trouble with Islam ; Bettina Plevan , partner at Proskauer Rose and former head of

6552-651: The social influence of wealthy WASPs has declined since the 1960s, the group continues to play a central role in American finance, politics, and philanthropy . WASP is also used for similar elites in Australia , New Zealand , and Canada . The 1998 Random House Unabridged Dictionary says the term is "sometimes disparaging and offensive". Anglo-Saxon refers to people of English ancestry ; however, some sociologists and commentators use WASP more broadly to include all White Protestant Americans of Northwestern European and Northern European ancestry. In

6643-718: The stances of U.S. senators and candidates in the 2020 U.S. presidential race on issues related to the American Jewish community and Israel . The AJCongress also created the Club 500, an executive speaking series which connects decision makers from around the world with members of the Jewish community via phone briefings. In 2019, the AJCongress spent 32.1% of its expenses on programs and 60.4% on administration, scoring 24% for its financial accountability. The AJ Congress has been involved in hundreds of civil rights and religious freedoms cases before local and federal courts and

6734-399: The statement 'This is Israel. ' " She argued that the proposed advertisement was inconsistent with the magazine's policy to accept only "mission-driven advertisements from primarily non-profit, non-partisan organizations", suggesting that the advertisement could have been perceived "as favoring certain political parties within Israel over other parties, but also with its slogan 'This is Israel,'

6825-431: The support of their colleagues to end religion matching of probationers, turned to AJCongress lawyers to craft a legal strategy. The lawyers at the AJCongress proffered an employment discrimination argument, noting that judges on the court only hired as many Jewish probation officers as there were Jewish probationers. They used this argument to file a claim with New York's State Commission Against Discrimination (SCAD), which

6916-544: The term Anglo-Saxon and its translations are used to refer to the Anglophone peoples and societies of Britain, the United States, and countries such as Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Variations include the German Angelsachsen , French le modèle anglo-saxon , Spanish anglosajón , Dutch Angelsaksisch model  [ nl ] and Italian Paesi anglosassoni  [ it ] . In

7007-438: The term WASP has sometimes expanded to include not just "Anglo-Saxon" or English-American elites but also American people of other Protestant Northwestern European origin, including Protestant Dutch Americans , Scottish Americans , Welsh Americans , German Americans , Ulster Scots or "Scotch-Irish" Americans , and Scandinavian Americans . A 1969 Time article stated, "purists like to confine Wasps to descendants of

7098-456: The term has expanded to include other Protestant denominations as well. The concept of Anglo-Saxonism, and especially Anglo-Saxon Protestantism, evolved in the late 19th century, especially among American Protestant missionaries eager to transform the world. Historian Richard Kyle says: Protestantism had not yet split into two mutually hostile camps – the liberals and fundamentalists. Of great importance, evangelical Protestantism still dominated

7189-449: The term somewhat broadly to include all English-speaking peoples) had increased to about 20,500,000, and now, in 1890, they number more than 120,000,000. In 1893, Strong envisioned a future "new era" of triumphant Anglo-Saxonism: Is it not reasonable to believe that this race is destined to dispossess many weaker ones, assimilate others, and mould the remainder until... it has Anglo-Saxonized mankind? The popular and sociological usage of

7280-736: The time that "The Jewish community is less concerned about affirmative action than it was 25 years ago...We've all shifted." Following its heyday during the 1960s, when many of its activities coincided with the larger Civil Rights Movement , a drop-off in its membership throughout the 1980s and 1990s ensued. In the late 1990s and into the 2000s, the AJCongress experienced the defection of a number of local chapters, including those in Boston, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. There were disputes over ideological issues and finances. Some of those chapters have since reestablished themselves as independent non-profits focused on liberal social and community issues. Finding

7371-567: The times. Today, the AJCongress primarily focuses on the following challenges: strengthening the bond between the U.S. and Israel ; combating domestic and global anti-Semitism ; combating the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement ; preventing a nuclear Iran ; and promoting cooperation and trade between Israel and countries around the world. Among its major programs are the International Mayors Conference, where

7462-550: The world attended, including former Congresswoman Bella Abzug and Betty Friedan . Some of the attendees visited the Kotel (Western Wall), Torah in hand and found that they were not allowed to pray in their fashion because of Orthodox restrictions on women wearing religious items, singing or reading Torah. A movement began, now known around the world as Women of the Wall , headed by Anat Hoffman . Polls show that in Israel "64 percent of

7553-644: Was Dutch. "To be genuinely Irish is to challenge WASP dominance", argues California politician Tom Hayden . The depiction of the Irish in the films of John Ford was a counterpoint to WASP standards of rectitude. "The procession of rambunctious and feckless Celts through Ford's films, Irish and otherwise, was meant to cock a snoot at WASP or ' lace-curtain Irish ' ideas of respectability." In Australia, Anglo or Anglo-Saxon refers to people of English descent, while Anglo-Celtic includes people of Irish, Welsh, and Scottish descent. In France, Anglo-Saxon refers to

7644-643: Was a threat to others." One of the earliest cases the CLSA worked on was Westminster School District v. Mendez , challenging Mexican-American segregation in California schools. The brief filed by the CLSA in this case was influential in future NAACP strategies. AJCongress lawyers successfully challenged racial and religious segregation in public schools, citing the psychological harm produced in school children. These lawyers employed civil rights and Establishment Clause arguments. Jewish judges in New York, unable to gain

7735-497: Was also the first state anti-discrimination agency in the country. This claim was partially successful in that it forced judges to hire probation officers without regard to religion, but still allowed matching based on religion. The AJCongress's involvement in legal proceedings sometimes conflicted with other Jewish American organizations. In 1966, the AJCongress joined the New York Civil Liberties Union ,

7826-609: Was an American delegate to the Versailles Peace Conference after World War I. WASP In the United States , White Anglo-Saxon Protestants or Wealthy Anglo-Saxon Protestants ( WASP ) is a sociological term which is often used to describe white Protestant Americans of British descent (sometimes more broadly of Northwestern European descent), who are generally part of the white dominant culture or upper-class and historically often

7917-664: Was discontinued as a separate section; the organization subsequently continued its support for women's rights and feminist perspectives under the auspices of the Commission for Women's Equality (CWE), which was established in 1984. The CWE has turned its attention to the ethical, legal, and medical issues arising from research revealing that Ashkenazi Jewish women have higher-than-average frequencies of gene mutations predisposing them to breast and ovarian cancer . In 1988, AJCongress hosted "The First International Jewish Feminist Conference: The Empowerment of Women" in Israel to address women's rights. More than 600 Jewish women from around

8008-588: Was hard to remember everyone, or to keep track of the new debutantes and marriages. The solution was the Social Register , which listed the names and addresses of about 1 percent of the population. Most were WASPs, and they included families who mingled at the same private clubs, attended the right teas and cotillions , worshipped together at prestige churches, funded the proper charities, lived in exclusive neighborhoods, and sent their daughters to finishing schools and their sons away to prep schools . In

8099-407: Was president of the AJCongress from 1958 to 1966. He served as a founding chairman of the 1963 March on Washington and spoke at that event. The AJCongress also supported coalition politics , legislative reform, and litigation as a means of bolstering a sense of Jewish identity and community. In order to further these goals, the AJCongress created the Commission on Community Interrelations (CCI) and

8190-640: Was very active in establishing educational networks., In 1915 helped in the founding of the American Jewish Congress , first introduced on August 30, 1914. He's founded the Jewish Information Bureau of Greater New York (1932), as well as the American Jewish Institute , New York (1942) to further adult education. In 1903 he married former Gertrude Gruzinski and had four children. Richards

8281-682: Was viewed by some in the Jewish community as primarily a secular agency. The president of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (also known as the Orthodox Union ), Rabbi Joseph Karasick, said that the AJCongress "speaks for itself only and is under no circumstances to be taken as representing the American Jewish community. The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, central spokesman for this country's 3,100 Orthodox synagogues, as well as all Orthodox rabbinic bodies and every other Orthodox Jewish body, have given full support to

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