1945 ⟶ Bess Myerson and the Miss America Pageant
Bess Myerson was the first Jewish-American and the first Mis...
Year
1924
1945
1964
1968
1993
🛂 National Origins Quota Act of 1924
The National Origins Quota of 1924 and Immigration Act of 1924 largely halted immigration to the U.S. from Eastern Europe and Russia; this was meant to restrict Eastern European Jews among others, as a great many of these immigrants coming from Russia and Eastern Europe were Jews (the "outbreak of antisemitism" mentioned in the above entry may have also played a part in the passage of these acts).⟶
ImmigrationUnited StatesQuota ActAntisemitismEastern EuropeDiscriminationNativismRestriction
United States👑 Bess Myerson and the Miss America Pageant
Bess Myerson was the first Jewish-American and the first Miss New York (competing as Miss New York City, a competition organized by a local radio station) to win the Miss America Pageant as Miss America 1945. As the only Jewish contestant, Myerson was encouraged by the pageant directors to change her name to "Bess Meredith" or "Beth Merrick" but she refused. After winning the title (and as a Jewish Miss America), Myerson received few endorsements and later recalled that "I couldn't even stay in certain hotels there would be signs that read no coloreds, no Jews, no dogs. I felt so rejected. Here I was chosen to represent American womanhood and then America treated me like this." She thus cut short her Miss America tour and instead traveled with the Anti-Defamation League. In this capacity, she spoke against discrimination in a talk entitled, "You Can't Be Beautiful and Hate."⟶
Post-WarUnited StatesDiscriminationAntisemitismMiss AmericaBess MyersonCivil RightsJewish American
United States⚖️ US Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil rights Act of 1964 (Pub. L. 88–352, 78 Stat. 241, enacted July 2, 1964) is a landmark piece of Civil rights legislation in the United States that outlawed discrimination based on religion, race, color, sex, or national origin.⟶
Civil RightsLegislationDiscriminationUnited StatesRaceReligionEquality1960s
United States🏠 Fair Housing Act Introduced
The Fair Housing Act (Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968) in the United States introduced meaningful federal enforcement mechanisms. It outlawed:⟶
Fair Housing ActUnited StatesCivil Rights1960sDiscriminationLegislationRacial discriminationHousingSocial Justice
United States📜 State Farm's 'Jewish Lawyers List' Discrimination
In 1993, Todd Hindin filed a lawsuit against State Farm for allegedly keeping a list of prominent Jewish lawyers referred to within State Farm as the "Jewish Lawyers List". Any claims made by clients of these attorneys were automatically forwarded to State Farm's fraud unit, purely on the basis of the religion and national origin of the lawyers. These claims would then be neither settled nor paid. State Farm initially claimed that this was not a matter of discrimination, but of coincidence. However, Dr. Frank Taylor (an experienced economist on retainer for the Appellants) discovered that despite the fact that the population of the states involved had Jewish populations between 2–5% of the total population, the list was composed of nearly 80% religiously or ethnically Jewish lawyers. Individuals who had worked for State Farm, including former Divisional Claim Superintendent Ron Middler, testified that the list was indeed used to discriminate against ethnic minorities. State Farm paid out $30 million to Todd Hindin and his clients for discrimination on the basis of religion and national origin.⟶
DiscriminationLegalBusinessUnited StatesAntisemitismFinancialFraud1990s
United States