The assertion that the Eastern seaboard is “teeming” with anti-Semitism was made today by Rep. John E. Rankin (Dem., Miss.) during a debate on the Gavaghan Anti-Lynching Bill in the House of Representatives.
Protesting against the bill, Mr. Rankin declared it did not protect the innocent Jew from lynching or mobbing.
“Innocent Jews, like innocent Negroes, are not protected under this bill, no matter how they may be lynched or mobbed,” he asserted. “I never knew until I came to Congress that any real anti-Semitism existed. There is none in the South. It is teeming on the Eastern seaboard.”
Rankin’s statement followed an address by Rep. Emanuel Celler (Dem., N.Y.) supporting the bill.
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.
