4/15/16

Looking ahead... Can Jews "Pass as White" if they don't look white?

Though we didn't cover it in class, probably because conversations about it in American Jewish culture are too new, there is another wrinkle in the trajectory of American Jews being integrated into American society based on the privilege that we "pass as white."  Namely, what happens when some of us don't look remotely white to begin with?

The problem is that it can create, or continuously re-create an uneasy liminal state wherein Jews cannot fully access their Jewish identity in most contexts.  This, for better or worse, can include access to the benefits of, or even the opportunity to, "pass as white" that American Jews enjoy.  Mizrachi Jews in America may sometimes find themselves in a tenuous situation as xenophobia in general, and Islamophobia specifically, grows.  As classic racial tensions rise, Jews of African-American ancestry worry (with cause) about visiting synagogues during High Holidays.  The list goes on.

I feel that this is an issue that is somewhat unique and will require some new thinking in order to work through in the coming years and decades.  I'm wondering if anyone else has any thoughts on this?

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