The FDR who Never was

Many American Jews believe FDR was a friend to the Jewish people. The FDR they have been taught about to be revered as almost a religious figure never existed. The propaganda that convinced Jewish people he was a friend during his presidency hid someone who was anti-Semitic and every bit as racist as Woodrow Wilson.

The propaganda used on the American people, which included American Jews, created a myth that permeates to this day.

FDR was a eugenicist who believed his race made him superior to all other races, which did include the Jewish people. The eugenicists brought about forced sterilization in the United States before the Nazis. Hitler based his own sterilization laws on the California sterilization laws, Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, got passed.

Wilson segregated the American government, including the military. Throughout the four terms of FDR, he ended none of the eugenicist programs Wilson had started. Being a eugenicist meant he had no problem with segregation or other aspects of racially motivated law.

FDR made certain the decision makers kept out as many undesirable races as possible, which included Jewish refugees, even during the war. The tragedy of what was taking place had partially become known and FDR changed nothing. Not a single quota was lifted.

When it came to race relations in the United States, he did nothing. The Tuskegee airmen was his wife’s doing, which FDR gave her a little bit of a free hand. Without her, there were no black American pilots in the war.

His wife fought for an anti-lynching bill in Congress, which FDR refused to support. It had been attempted hundreds of times, and failed.

From History, published Jan 31, 2019, by Becky Little, Why FDR Didn’t Support Eleanor Roosevelt’s Anti-Lunch Campaign:

“In December 2018, the U.S. Senate passed a federal anti-lynching bill for the first time. The significant milestone is preceded by at least 240 failed attempts since 1901 to pass any bill or resolution mentioning lynching in Congress. These attempts to outlaw lynching peaked during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was a strong supporter of anti-lynching legislation, but FDR never supported it for fear of alienating white Democratic voters in the south.”

https://www.history.com/news/fdr-eleanor-roosevelt-anti-lynching-bill

When the Japanese attacked, he used it to lock up Americans of Japanese descent. They were placed in camps and denied their rights that all Americans have. FDR did not see them as Americans, but something less than deserving.

His cabinet was filled with people who hated Jews and staunchly opposed Truman’s welcoming Israel to the world. Truman’s cabinet was FDRs cabinet. He inherited them all and all threatened to walk if he dared support Israel.

It was Truman, not FDR, who brought an end to segregation in the military. Eisenhower, the Republican who followed Truman, was the one who gave the desegregation teeth.

Despite the propaganda that created the myth, history tells a very different story of FDR, who was no friend to the Jewish people or anyone else who did not fit his own eugenics views.