I grew up as a Jew in a very antisemitic part of Boston. After my Dad returned from his service in WWII Germany, his life was threatened by toughs. I still treasure the German “head breaker” cane he used to threaten these toughs. Later, school kids from the same community stoned me and cracked open the skin over my skull because I had killed Jesus. As a young adult I worked with SNCC to overturn racism, never seeing my behavior as white, just human. As an adult I have always refused to fill in the job forms with “white” as my “race.” When our kids went to school in Seattle, the District … decided that our kids were “black” because (though we told them I am part Sephardic Jew) we threatened to sue if they called the kids “white.”
There is no scientific definition of race.
This is a stupid idea. Genetically the features that distinguish Africans from Swedes are not equivalent to the genetics that make a chihuahua different from a golden retriever. These dogs have been bred. That is not true of humans except when the Nazis and before them slave owners in the US, attempted to breed “races.”
Jews are an especially absurd group to define as a race. While many Jews , like many other human peoples, have some common ancestry, we are a pretty mongrel bunch .. ranging from Capers Funnye, Michelle Obama’s cousin, to some blond girl in the IDF or the Jews of Kaifeng and Mumbai. If we were dogs, the AKC would never accept such mongrels as a breed.
What is true is that African Americans get typecast. If I were black, I would know that I would always be defined by my skin. As a Jew, I have a choice .. unless I wear my kippa , my “race” is not apparent.
So what does “White” mean? What does “Black” mean? What does “Jew” mean?
“Black” does mean something. When used by a black person today
“Black” is an expression of pride. In the extreme world of street talk, black people even call themselves “niggers.” For the rap singer, the “N word” is an expression of pride in the black cultural identity … not a mere acceptance of the burden of being labelled by one’s skin but a pride in what that label means.
“Jew” is like Black. Calling yourself a Jew is an expression of pride. In the extreme world of the orthodox Jews, we Jews wear clothing that is as indelible as a black skin. A Jew in peyes and kippa is no more white than Michael Jordan.
The rabbi was fomenting “White” Guilt.” Guilt is not useful. The Jewish
“Few are guilty, but all are responsible.” –Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
term should be responsibility, the need to see harm to others as OUR responsibility.
I want to be as anti racist as my German friends are being today when they accept 100’s of thousands of Syrian refugees. The Germans learned a lesson we Americans need to learn … not guilt but responsibility.
Hello I ready your blog and wanted to state that the reason why the “white” is an issue associated with European Jews has to do with they way many treat other people. If one wants to be treated with respect, whether a Jew decides a person is a goyim, Jew, or one who is a goyim to embrace Judaism, there are those who do act with superiority over outside people. This, of course, was entailed in the Talmud. I know of this because there have been people interested in Judaism that have feared the writings because of the teachings of what Jews supposedly think of a non Jew. I have also observed, and it is sad to say, it is easier to convert to Christianity and Islam than to Judaism. And I noticed too many walls of restrictions of refusing people and pushing them away constantly and making people feel worthless. Now we know when we come to Hashem, we come in humility knowing we are worthless; but no wonder the masses are joining major religions while Judaism struggles. I will give an example, I received an email asking for donations to fund a Jewish genealogy work. That is okay, but the letter was strange. In the letter it said, “even though we are not genetically family, you still are in our family” So I wrote back and said, please change the letter of how to address people, then I gave a little of my background. I stated, that I carry Sephardic, Morrocan, and Ashkenazi Jew, and carry genetic segments going back to Bruze and Negev Israel. If Europeans who are Jews do not want to be seen as “white” treat others as one would want to be treated and race will not become an issue. Thank you.
Jeff Gorsky (FB)
The word “race” comes from the Spanish discrimination against people of Jewish descent, who were said to have an inherited curse because of their role in killing Christ. This became the limpieza de Sangre or purity of blood rules of discrimination. These discriminatory practices became the template for racial discrimination against Indians and African slaves. I discuss this in my recent book, Exiles in Sepharad, the Jewish millennium in Spain