Insecure Whiteness: Jews Between Civilization…

For Gálvez and like-minded Argentines, Jews exemplified barbarism; for Lugones and others, they represented civilization. The focus on cultural features did not make these racial discourses any less biological, as the Jews' supposed traits often were considered innate and inheritable, albeit alterable. Jews participated in this debate, performing whiteness through orderliness, strenuous labor, cultural achievements, manly virtue, and allegiance to Argentina. Those of Mediterranean origins also pointed to their bonds with Spain and Latin Europe.

From the mid-nineteenth century on, opinion makers discussed Jews and race in various forums. Since Jews were by definition not Christian, and few were of the favored Northern European origin, thinkers and leaders did not necessarily see them as white. Perceptions of Jews as rootless, urban, mercantile, leftist, dirty, lazy, and poor reinforced this image. Purported Jewish carnality and criminality further prevented Nacionalistas from ever accepting this group as white. Sephardi and Syrian Jews possessed the additional handicap of their long residence in countries perceived as retrograde. Nevertheless, the federal government generally recognized Jews as white by opening the door to Jewish immigrants before 1930 and treating them as equals.