Dear JCOGS family,
While acknowledging and lifting up the aspirations and deep struggles of Black Jews and Jews of colour in this moment, I direct this message to white Jews. I want to share with you all some thoughts on being Jewish and ‘white privilege’. This is a term I imagine you have heard of. It’s all over the news these days. Now is a time to centre the experiences of black folks. Yet, I begin this letter with a sample of my own family history as it relates to white privilege, itself a mirror upon the greater society’s racism.
My beloved bubbie called ‘them’ shvartzas. That’s the yiddish term for ‘blacks’. It is not a friendly term. It was a common term used among Jews of her time. When one of my relatives was dating a black man, my bubbie called my relative a ‘hula hula girl’. Not a term anyone of us understood, except that it included both sexism and racism. Still, I don’t think my bubbie would have called herself ‘white’ and certainly not ‘racist’. She was an immigrant to Canada. She had a thick accent. She was hardly pure Quebecois.
My parents were more assimilated into English Quebec. And they were conscious of racism and dispelled it. I grew up with civil rights songs sung around the campfire. Still they didn’t have many friends who weren’t white and they lived in a predominantly Jewish community, mostly Ashkenazi. They dutifully voted, taking into mind those most vulnerable, but didn’t do much more to actively erase racism. They were largely seen as white, and I’m sure they would have called themselves white, while still strongly Jewish, and definitely in a culture steeped in antisemitism.
As the generations evolved, and society became more open to Jews, the colour of my family’s white skin began to afford them the privileges that other white people had for generations. Both my grandparents and parents worked incredibly hard to offer their families a leg up in society, even when Jews were not fully accepted. They struggled and provided. Working immigrant class, then making their way up to the comfortable middle class. In addition to hard work, the colour of their skin afforded them opportunities others didn’t have.
Even if as Jews we know that we are caught in the middle of questions of race (we surely are), and that antisemitism is rampant (it surely is), and white supremacy is surging (be warned)—still, generally, white Jews have had and continue to have advantages.
We experience this:
- When we are driving… when blacks are 20% more likely to be pulled over by police (CNN report on Stanford University study covering data from 2001-2017, published 2019).
- When we are buying a house… 41% of blacks own homes (compared to 71% of whites), and blacks who are college graduates have a lower homeownership rate than high school dropout whites (National Association of Realtors, 2020).
- When we walk into a store… such as in NYC, where 80 percent of blacks reported experiencing racial stigma and stereotypes when shopping; 59 percent reported being perceived as a shoplifter; and 52 percent reported being perceived as poor (Shopping While Black, 2017 case study of NYC, by Cassi Pittman, an assistant professor of sociology at Case Western Reserve University).
So, too, we, white Jews can walk into a synagogue and not be looked at suspiciously or be questioned as to whether this is our space, often the experience of Jews of colour.
White privilege can be sticky business. No one wants to think that because we were born a certain way, that we were given a leg up. It flies in the face of the American and Canadian ideal that everyone has the same opportunities to pursue the life they wish. Many Jews have certainly worked hard to gain our positions of power and privilege in society. No doubt. But, too, we were afforded opportunities that black communities across the U.S. were not granted.
Now more than ever, we are charged with a mission to be ‘white allies’. That’s a secular term for v’ahavtah lereiecha kamocha, love your neighbour as yourself. Our tradition has taught us to do good. We have done and continue to do so much good as a community over time. And still, there is more to understand, more to grapple with, and more to do.
If racism is haunting you. If you are investigating your own white privilege and what it means to be a good neighbour, as I am. If you want to do something about it, please consider the following actions: - Read these timely, powerful pieces from Jews of colour. They speak for themselves.
- Get in on the ground, and join our tikkun olam repairing the world committee, where JCOGS is beginning a long-overdue conversation on racial equity and white privilege, while planning community-wide educational opportunities and actions. Be in touch with co-chairs Amy Wenger (amy.wenger@jcogs.org) or Lynne Gedanken (gedanken@jcogs.org) to get involved or to join the next meeting: Friday, June 19 at 11am.
- Join me for the car demonstration this Sunday, June 14th, meeting 1:45pm at Stowe Elementary School.
- And importantly, Zoom in to the Racial Equity Alliance of Lamoille virtual conversation and orientation Wednesday, June 17 at 5pm to learn about what you can do in your local community. Email REALamoilleVT@gmail.com to join their mailing list for updates. And like and follow the work of REAL on FaceBook. And scroll below for the Zoom link.
We are all learning. And imperfect. Myself included. I write this with humility and towards greater learning.
Tihiyu bri’im, stay safe and be well.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David
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