During the interwar period of the 20th century, Jewish immigrants and American-born Jews faced increasing anti-Semitism and discrimination. The external pressure of anti-Semitism and discrimination led many Jews to face internal anxieties and conflicts about being Jewish and fitting into American society. Assimilation during this period meant adapting to the middle-class standards of appearance, mannerisms, and ideals of the gentle white majority. Common stereotypical images of the time depict Jews with large noses and curly hair, women were often depicted as dominant over their Jewish husbands, and Jews were often seen as manipulative, controlling, and money-grubbing. The limited social acceptance of Jews occurred by completely abandoning their Jewish identity and avoiding falling into stereotyped images, which is often impossible. These external pressures and internal anxieties didn't make assimilation difficult, they made it impossible. Therefore, assimilation existed only as a term and not as an achievable reality. Although many Jews tried to assimilate during the interwar period, they failed because assimilation was only an illusion, a mistake that no Jew could realize. Faced with growing anti-Semitism during the interwar periods, Jewish identity often came into conflict with social pressures. assimilate. A Memoir of the Thirties by Irving Howe, written in 1961, describes his experiences as a Jew in New York City. In his memoir Howe describes the living and social conditions during this decade that pushed many New York Jews to engage in some type of socialist movement. Although the memoir is primarily concerned with political activities, his description of social conditions and the Jewish community provides... middle of paper... a real tic or achievement.13 During the interwar period the Jews faced many obstacles that prevented him from assimilating into American culture. Lewisohn and Howe both demonstrate how the external pressures of anti-Semitism and discrimination, as well as internal anxieties and struggles, created immovable barriers to assimilation. The jazz singer also describes, to some extent, the internal conflicts that arise because Jewishness cannot coexist alongside American ideals. It is only through total abandonment and the creation of an alternative personality through blackface that one can attempt to reconcile these conflicting identities. Because these barriers were impossible to overcome and, by design, intended to keep minorities out of America. Assimilation was something that Jews and other minorities aspired to achieve, but regardless of the aspiration they could not because it did not actually exist.