Throughout history, in the presence of two or more different races or creeds there has been some degree of racism. The centuries of disdain have compounded and created ironclad stereotypes that are present in most societies. During the Middle Ages, prejudice towards Jews began to fester. Jews had been refused many menial jobs to allow Christians to work. Thus many Jews became wealthy in the more profitable industries of clothing and banking (Finzi).
             Christians resented Jewish success and many unfounded rumors of atrocities were attributed to Judaism. Jews were imagined to kill Christian children in the celebration of Passover and other farfetched ideas. Incidents of conflict like the Dreyfus Affair, where a French Jewish Captain was falsely accused of treason, and The Times's accusal of a worldwide Jewish conspiracy, strengthened prejudice. Jews were blamed for the Russian Revolution, the fall of Germany, and political unrest in every European country (Finzi). Each calumnious episode added to previous hatred. This anti-Semitism followed the colonists to the New World where it developed further. "In the early nineteenth century the United State took heed of the European stereotype of the cunning and too-capable Jew: Jews were subject to legal discrimination in the USA as well" (Finzi 71).
             Anti-Semitism was not the sole form of prejudice in America. Blacks had been ripped from their homes and brought to America as slaves. Years of slavery reinforced the concept of blacks as second class citizens. Stereotypes of blacks being ignorant and illiterate were continued without education and freedom. After the Civil War, many white southerners resented the black position in the country. They were afraid of losing jobs and land to former slaves. This was the era where racist organizations first incubated. Black people were not the only race persecuted. Asians immigrating to the West Coast were given menial jobs with inadequate pay. Anyone w...