JNS
America’s upper-middle class antisemitism
Benjamin Kerstein
July 27, 2026

…Sadly, America today provides a somewhat different but nonetheless suitable case study in class-based antisemitism because we find ourselves in a rather remarkable situation: Contrary to the expectations of generations of American Jewish activists and leaders, current antisemitism is not an ideology of the poor and lower-middle classes. It has emerged, instead, as the ruling passion of many members of the most privileged, educated and elite sector in the United States. One of the reasons for this is the strange phenomenon of the lumpen elite. That is, America’s upper-middle class is now beset by terrors and discontents because it is already beginning to dissolve as a dominating class, and it knows it. To this, a solution must be found—a “safety valve” for that class’s fear and resentment. The preferred solution appears to be hating the Jews. There are numerous reasons for this fear and resentment. The upper-middle class has always put its faith in the higher education industry, which has proved to be a scam that fleeced generations and left them unable to retain the elite status they thought they had earned. READ MORE