Prejudice

One of the contestants in "The Apprentice" last night on TV, when asked by Sir Alan Sugar, what he meant on his CV by "I'm a nice Jewish boy", said he was only half-Jewish.
Being only half-Jewish some time back was no excuse to many people in certain organistions like golf clubs and exclusive hotels and so on; it meant exclusion. Cardiff's Golf Club, for example, had a non-Jewish condition on membership. It was, of course, not written in their constitution but put into practice just the same.
It is almost unbelieveable these days that such things went on; maybe they still do.
It brings to mind what Groucho Marx said to a person in charge of a swimming pool in Beverley Hills, when told that he, Marx, being Jewish, could not use the pool; Groucho said: "What about my son, he's only half Jewish so can he go in up to his waist?"
Another story on similar lines was told by Lee Marvin. He and Randolph Scott were out on a drinking spree one evening and ended up at the door of an exclusive club where they were told that they wouldn't be allowed in "because we don't let in Jews or actors."
To which Randolph Scott replied: "Well I'm certainly no Jew, and as far as acting is concerned I ain't no actor either - and I've made 25 films to prove it."
To get a good picture of that period in America you only have to see Elia Kazan's "Gentlemen's Agreement".