A clash on the floor of the House of Representatives today between Rep. John Rankin of Mississippi and Rep. Emanuel Celler of New York, during which the Mississippi Congressman referreu to Celler as the “Jewish gentleman from New York,” brought a demand from Rep. Vito Marcantonio of New York that “this Jew-beiting in the House must stop.” He expressed the hope that for the sake of a “united America” such a discussion would never again occur on the floor of the House.
The exchange between Celler and Rankin arose when the latter objected to suggestions by Celler and five other Congressmen that the House Committee on Un-American Activities probe nationalist and anti-Semitic groups. Rankin described Celler’s demands as the “most unmitigated procedure ever seen in Congress from the Jewish gentlemen from New York,” and after Celler objected asked whether he was protesting being called “Jewish” or “gentleman.” The other Congressmen were Reps. Delacy, Jackson and Coffee of Washington and Patterson and Doyle of California.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
