While many notable Northern Jews participated in the Civil Rights Movement (some even held leadership positions in the NAACP[21]), the history of Jewish involvement in the South is a little more complicated. Much of the same racial tension that existed between African Americans and Jews during Civil War was still present in the mid-twentieth century. While some Southern Jews may have been sympathetic towards the sufferings of African Americans and their fight for equality, the desegregation crisis caused a spike in antisemitism, reinforcing the idea that Jews already had that keeping the racial status quo would be to their benefit.[2]