February 2, 2023 • 21 mins
The past week or so have brought an unwelcome reminder that anti-Black racism is alive and well in 21st-century America. With this as backdrop, we’re reprising episode 44. In this conversation, we respond to a common question about racial justice work and explain that because the Jewish community is a global, multi-racial people, racial justice already is and must continue to be a core Jewish value and issue.
Read Josefin Dolsten’s op-ed in The Forward, entitled “As Jews, we need to speak out against DeSantis’ efforts to erase Black history:” https://forward.com/opinion/533221/jews-black-history-desantis-speak-out-erase/
Visit https://joyousjustice.com to learn more about Joyous Justice, LLC, our team, and get connected & involved in our community!
Join our online community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/590922415522750
Submit a question, insight, or topic or guest suggestion at https://joyousjustice.com/connect
Read more about Rabbi Leora Kaye and her work: https://reformjudaism.org/author/rabbi-leora-kaye
Check out what we mean by Jews of the Global Majority here: https://joyousjustice.com/global-majority-jews
Listen to April on the BBC’s Heart and Soul on Black Jewish Lives Matter to hear more about her thoughts on our global multi-racial Jewish community: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct2fnq
Review the Jews of Color Field Building’s research on population demographics: https://jewsofcolorfieldbuilding.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Counting-Inconsistencies-052119.pdf
Check out this article about the importance of cultural competence for teams: http://www.theinclusionsolution.me/cultural-competence-part-2-why-is-it-important/
Check out our discussion/reflection questions for this episode:
www.joyousjustice.com/blog/jews-talk-racial-justice-ep-44
Find April’s TikTok videos here: https://www.tiktok.com/@aprilavivabaskin
Follow us on Instagram (@joyous.justice), Twitter, (@JoyousJustice), or Facebook (www.facebook.com/joyousjustice365)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
For the past week or so havebrought an unwelcome reminder
(00:03):
that anti black racism is aliveand well in 21st century
America. With the new detailssurrounding Tyree, Nichols his
death in Memphis and the absurdrulings about black history in
Florida classrooms, the assaulton black and brown bodies,
minds, experiences and truth isreal, a joyous justice, we
(00:25):
believe addressing this assaultis a Jewish issue. Thankfully,
we are not alone, as evidencedby the current piece in the
foreword entitled as Jews, weneed to speak out against
DeSantis his efforts to eraseblack history. At the same time,
we are very aware that there areJews and non Jews who disagree
(00:46):
with us on this point.
And so with all of this asbackdrop we present in refreeze
episode 44 racial justice is aJewish issue
(01:06):
you're listening to the Joycejustice podcast,
a weekly show hosted by AprilBaskin with Tracy Decker,
in a complex world in whichsystemic oppression conditions
us to deny others and our ownhumanity. let's dedicate
ourselves to the pursuit andembodiment of wholeness, love
and thriving in the world. Andin our own lives. It's time to
(01:29):
heal and flourish our way to amore joyously just future.
Someone with whom we work, Tracyrecently posed a question that
you had the great idea it wouldbe good for us to discuss. And
(01:49):
the question is, we have somekey members in our community, it
might be board members, it mightbe key leaders on our staff
team. Just other VIPs and keystakeholders in our orbits who
are having a hard time theyunderstand that racial justice
(02:11):
is important in the world.
secularly. But they're notreally seeing how it's relevant
in the context of the Jewishcommunity, or how or if it's a
Jewish issue. Right. And soyeah, right. And so I thought, I
didn't think you thought, and Iagree that it would be great for
us to do a podcast for some ofthose folks, for us to
(02:32):
articulate some of our thoughtsabout this, about why racial
justice is a Jewish issue. Whyit's important for Jewish
organizations to commit toracial justice through a Jewish
lens and why that is profoundlyand clearly Jewish.
(02:56):
Yeah, yeah. It just, I suggestedit because it feels like, it
just feels like it comes up alot. And I personally have
answered the question manytimes. And I, I was sort of felt
like we we'd answered it, likewe the collective we, not you
and me, but we those of us inthe Jewish community who care
about regional justice, but itkeeps coming up. So let's answer
(03:18):
it again. This question needs tobe answered for organizations
and for individuals. Like, yeah,it's not just, it's not just
leaders of organizations thatneed to get clear about this.
You know, I had a recentexperience where there was an
argument in my Jewish communityabout whether and how long we
(03:41):
should keep our Black LivesMatter sign up. And, you know,
there are those individual Jewswho are just using the pews who
are like, Why is this a Jewishissue? And, you know, to me, it
seems pretty clear. I feel likethe question has been answered,
(04:01):
but obviously, it hasn't beenanswered for enough folks.
Because it keeps keeps comingup. The question keeps getting
asked, in slightly differentways, with slightly different
balances. You know, in our worktogether, we had someone say,
Well, how do I convince my boardthat this is a Jewish issue?
(04:22):
And, you know, in my sort ofprivate life, it was like, I was
I was trying to convince fellowcongregants, that it was a
Jewish issue. So it happens inlots of different spheres with
different specifics around it.
But it is a question that,unfortunately, in my view, in my
(04:46):
view, it is unfortunate that wehave to keep having it, we'll
keep answering it, butalso, that's why we have this
podcast so that we can we have aplatform on which to answer so
that those who are genuinelyasking can get an answer and
those who need to give theanswer can have our ideas
articulated. But I think onething that's coming up, it's
quietly coming up in my mindthat spiritually I'm wanting to
share that I feel like my spiritis kind of nudging me to share
(05:09):
is I'm interested in folksasking, answering, why isn't it
a Jewish issue? Like, there's somany reasons for why it's a
Jewish issue? I don't understandwhy it's not.
Right, right. Because the answeris that in the person who's
asking the mind, right, becausethen the person who's asking the
(05:30):
question, in their mind, Jewsare white. That's the only to
me. That's the only sense.
Right? Right. Right. And we knowso so to get into some of the
reasons why it is a Jewishissue, I you know, is for a
number of reasons. And in thespirit of something rabbi, Rabbi
Laura Kay once said to me, Iwill honor her words and not
(05:50):
start with, I'll start in aparticular order and say that
racial justice issue, racialjustice is a Jewish issue.
Because as Jews, we believe inthe value of but Selam Elohim,
that we were all made in theimage of the Divine. And racism
is inherently dehumanizing, andtreats people as subhuman in a
(06:14):
systemic, interpersonal,ideological, like at every level
of that of the scale, mostnotably systemically and
ideologically treats people ofcolor, as less than right. So
that inherently is in violationof this value, that we are all
(06:36):
created by the image of theDivine. Treat your neighbor as
yourself. Many people of colorare not being treated as Jews,
as many Jews are being treatedin this country in terms of
having access to a variety ofgovernmental supports access to
home loans, access to bankloans, access to equitable
(06:57):
health care, that is notsomething that most people of
color have access to. Not tomention, that we ourselves are a
multiracial people. But I lovethat, as Robin Lee RK once said
to me, and I was like, I totallyagree with you. That shouldn't
(07:20):
be the primary reason why, evenif in fact, which we aren't we
we're all not people of color,which is very much not the case,
it would still be an importantissue for Jews to be thoughtful
about. Here's another reason, ifwe as Jews are in any society,
(07:42):
right, because I still can seesome people thinking like, well,
but then isn't everything anissue? Well, in some ways,
potentially. But yeah, if we areparty to oppression, which as
citizens of a society, with avariety of systems that are
built historically, and in thecurrent time, depend on the
(08:05):
exploitation of people. As Jews,in the spirit of many Jewish
values and a number of Jewishlaws, we should work to ensure
that our living and our lives,live in move us and our society
(08:26):
in the direction of justice andare not complicit in the harming
in this systemic harming ofpeople. Based upon their
identity, and or appearance. Notto mention there are as I
(08:47):
started to say lots of people ofcolor who are Jews, we are a
global people. We started inNorth Africa and West Asia and
have lived and do live all overthe globe, as is often cited, at
times in lackluster ways, but itstill is true. In Israel,
(09:11):
Palestine, more than 50% offolks there are not of solely
European heritage. They arepeople of the global majority
from West Asia, and East Africa.
So we are an incredibly diversepeople and in the United States
(09:34):
that diversity is increasing. Sothis is also important for
Jewish communal leaders tounderstand not only is this
important now, but this is onlygoing to increase in importance
as Jews continue totranslationally and
transnationally. Adopt who canyou to have interracial
(09:56):
marriages As a number of peopleof color, or also I like to use
the phrase people of a globalmajority, which is a great
contradiction to the wordminority, which is really not,
is an outdated phrase, it's notthe worst word to use. But it
also often isn't the mostaccurate, nor mindful word to
(10:20):
use. So better words to use arepeople of color or people of the
global majority. Becauseminority also just inherently in
the phrasing connotes less powerand contributes to oppressive
patterns that affect people ofcolor. So because of, and also
the fact that a range ofdifferent people particularly of
(10:46):
Latin x, but not exclusively,descent, are also doing DNA
tests and learning that theyhave Jewish heritage that they
are descendants of conversos.
And people who survived theSpanish Inquisition, and now are
a part of multiracial, any, anyrange of racially identified as
(11:08):
we know, Latin X and Latino andLatina folks can have a range of
different racial identities. Sothat is dramatically increasing
with time and our we as a peopleare becoming more diverse. So it
(11:29):
is incumbent on us as acommunity, ethically,
spiritually and pragmatically,for us to not only prioritize
racial justice, butspecifically, within Jewish
institutions work onstrengthening here's a
curveball, but it's reallyimportant. And we work with this
with a number of our clients,specifically, our organizational
(11:51):
clients, working on building ourintercultural competence, our
ability as Jewish leaders and asJewish institutions and
organizations and communities towork effectively across lines of
difference. So not only do weneed to work on advancing racial
justice, but also increasing ourcapacity to work effectively and
(12:14):
bridge the differences that doexist, because they do exist
inherently Yes, as humans, wemight even say that 80% or 70%,
if we want to be bold, have ourshared human experience is
mostly shared, but that other 20to 30%, and arguably much
(12:36):
higher, makes a world ofdifference on our lifespans on
how we live and all thoseindices of difference around
gender, race class, all thosethings create differences. And
as a as Jewish organizations, weneed to get better at bridging
those, again, for all of thespiritual and ethical reasons,
(12:59):
and also at the end of the day,because it's in your self
interest. Because the dataconsistently shows that
monocoque cultural organizationsdo outperform diverse
organizations or groups thatlack intercultural competence.
But the organizations and teamsthat outperform everyone are
(13:23):
diverse teams that workeffectively across lines of
difference. And so if ourorganizations want to have a
chance of surviving, and we knowcontinuity, and survival of our
legacy and contemporaryinstitutions is a concern for a
number of us. It's importantthat developing our
(13:47):
intercultural competence,competence, and prioritizing
liberation around racialjustice, as well as other forms
of liberation that are veryimportant to our people, like
around LGBTQ identity andjustice, are important for us,
as well as disability justiceare all incredibly important for
(14:11):
us to prioritize. And it'sdeeply Jewish to do so.
And we have to I just want topoint out that you started by
saying like, we shouldn't eveneven if we were all one racial
makeup, the Jewish people, thenwe would still need to care. I
just we're not and so I thinkthe not all the at all, and I've
(14:36):
been and so like, individualsinstitutions, you wouldn't
question putting a sign up thatsaid Jewish lives matter. The
truth is, Black Lives Matterdoes say Jewish lives matter
because there are black Jews.
And, and it's as simple as that,in my in my opinion, and, and
yes, the other things that yousaid are also true through. But
(14:58):
if you need it to be closer tohome, if you need an in group to
help, you know, an in groupassociation to help fully
embrace it, it's there. And youknow, when I, when I think about
like how my white Jewish fellowcongregants and just community
(15:22):
members would respond if Jews ifWhite Jews were being brutalized
the way that black Americans areby agents of the state how we
would respond. That's how weshould respond to black folks
being brutalized because that wedon't that we don't know that
(15:44):
that person is not Jewish.
And sometimes they are, and theyhave.
Exactly and so there's thissense of like, it's not a Jewish
issue, because they're outgroup, it's factually
inaccurate.
Yeah, yeah. And I think actuallyis like not not subjectively,
(16:06):
objectively. It is a Jewishissue, because for one racism
and specifically whitesupremacy, anti semitism is an
outgrowth of racism of whitesupremacy. Right, and it
interlocks and interplays withracism, and Jews are impacted by
(16:27):
racism as well, not in thiswhite Jews, specifically what
I'm saying here, right? We'reall so all Jews actually are, in
fact, impacted by racism. Andall the more so profoundly
impacted are Jews of color, orJews of the global majority, are
deeply affected by that. Anddemographers continue to debate
(16:49):
this, my personal stance is anumber of demographers have
outdated data that researchersout of Stanford and not
exclusively Stanford have statedare have some key limitations
that undermine the legitimacy ofthat data. Right. But so we're
looking at at least 11 to 20% ofour community right now. And
(17:11):
that doesn't even include youngpeople. And there's far more
Jews of color, there's a farhigher percentage of Jews of
color among young people arepeople of color. So racism hurts
everyone in America, right?
Including all white Jews. Andobviously, it most directly
harms and kills and targets fordestruction people of color. So,
(17:42):
yeah, yeah. And that, I mean,she was we were only 2%, less
than 2% of the Americanpopulation, and Jews are writ
large. And and we're sayingsomewhere between 10 and 20%, of
Jews are of color and so that,like, the numbers argument just
(18:02):
doesn't work. It just doesn'tlike when people argue, say, I
don't see, it's not real. Likeeven if the, the demography like
if we, as Jews expect to betaken seriously and have our
needs met as 2%. Then, like, wecan't then turn around and say,
well, there are only those blackJews, those Jews of color are
(18:23):
only X percent like No,right. And also, as I spoke
about in my thesis to lastnight, when I wrote my thesis,
it might be different now, butthe demographics were such that,
that the number of AsianAmericans in the United States
was around 7%. And, you know,similarly, like, no one would
say that Asian Americans, Iwould hope no one would say that
it's an anomaly or that AsianAmericans don't exist, don't
(18:47):
count for Yeah, or don't matter,right, or don't count, as has
been said about Jews of colorinappropriately at times.
Yeah, we don't countjust as the 2% of Jews in
America counts at our sacred andin are clearly a part of like
one of the things that in mymuseum career at the Jewish
(19:09):
Museum in Jewish museums, one ofthe things that we say is that
Jewish American history isAmerican history. It just is.
It's the part of Americanhistory and in the same way that
we are adamant about that, aboutour broader American culture. So
to Jews of color, Jews are theglobal majority about Jewish
(19:33):
our history and our identitiesbeing a part of Jewish history,
identity and contemporarypriorities and concerns. So I
think, you know, I'll end withthis final thought, which is
that. As I've often say, one ofmy core talking points that I
say when I speak publicly, isthat this is the core shift that
(19:58):
I want us to go through it shiftfrom this being a matter of
white Jews helping people ofcolor to this being an us issue.
Yeah, for us to really fullyembrace that every single one of
(20:23):
us whatever our our identity is,we are members of a multiracial
people. We are part of amultiracial people. And if the
Jewish people is a multiracialpeople, which it very much is in
the United States, and also inmany places abroad. Therefore,
(20:50):
it's hard for me to understandwhy racial justice would not be
a Jewish issue for a multiracialJewish people. Thanks for tuning
in. Tolearn more about joyous justice
LLC, our team and how you canget involved with our community.
Check out the info in our shownotes, or find us at joyous
justice.comIf you enjoy this episode, show
(21:13):
us some love. Subscribe,wherever you're listening. Tell
your people share what you'relearning and how your leadership
is evolving. Stay humble, butnot too humble.
And keep going because thefuture is ours to co create
For the past week or so havebrought an unwelcome reminder
(00:03):
that anti black racism is aliveand well in 21st century
America. With the new detailssurrounding Tyree, Nichols his
death in Memphis and the absurdrulings about black history in
Florida classrooms, the assaulton black and brown bodies,
minds, experiences and truth isreal, a joyous justice, we
(00:25):
believe addressing this assaultis a Jewish issue. Thankfully,
we are not alone, as evidencedby the current piece in the
foreword entitled as Jews, weneed to speak out against
DeSantis his efforts to eraseblack history. At the same time,
we are very aware that there areJews and non Jews who disagree
(00:46):
with us on this point.
And so with all of this asbackdrop we present in refreeze
episode 44 racial justice is aJewish issue
(01:06):
you're listening to the Joycejustice podcast,
a weekly show hosted by AprilBaskin with Tracy Decker,
in a complex world in whichsystemic oppression conditions
us to deny others and our ownhumanity. let's dedicate
ourselves to the pursuit andembodiment of wholeness, love
and thriving in the world. Andin our own lives. It's time to
(01:29):
heal and flourish our way to amore joyously just future.
Someone with whom we work, Tracyrecently posed a question that
you had the great idea it wouldbe good for us to discuss. And
(01:49):
the question is, we have somekey members in our community, it
might be board members, it mightbe key leaders on our staff
team. Just other VIPs and keystakeholders in our orbits who
are having a hard time theyunderstand that racial justice
(02:11):
is important in the world.
secularly. But they're notreally seeing how it's relevant
in the context of the Jewishcommunity, or how or if it's a
Jewish issue. Right. And soyeah, right. And so I thought, I
didn't think you thought, and Iagree that it would be great for
us to do a podcast for some ofthose folks, for us to
(02:32):
articulate some of our thoughtsabout this, about why racial
justice is a Jewish issue. Whyit's important for Jewish
organizations to commit toracial justice through a Jewish
lens and why that is profoundlyand clearly Jewish.
(02:56):
Yeah, yeah. It just, I suggestedit because it feels like, it
just feels like it comes up alot. And I personally have
answered the question manytimes. And I, I was sort of felt
like we we'd answered it, likewe the collective we, not you
and me, but we those of us inthe Jewish community who care
about regional justice, but itkeeps coming up. So let's answer
(03:18):
it again. This question needs tobe answered for organizations
and for individuals. Like, yeah,it's not just, it's not just
leaders of organizations thatneed to get clear about this.
You know, I had a recentexperience where there was an
argument in my Jewish communityabout whether and how long we
(03:41):
should keep our Black LivesMatter sign up. And, you know,
there are those individual Jewswho are just using the pews who
are like, Why is this a Jewishissue? And, you know, to me, it
seems pretty clear. I feel likethe question has been answered,
(04:01):
but obviously, it hasn't beenanswered for enough folks.
Because it keeps keeps comingup. The question keeps getting
asked, in slightly differentways, with slightly different
balances. You know, in our worktogether, we had someone say,
Well, how do I convince my boardthat this is a Jewish issue?
(04:22):
And, you know, in my sort ofprivate life, it was like, I was
I was trying to convince fellowcongregants, that it was a
Jewish issue. So it happens inlots of different spheres with
different specifics around it.
But it is a question that,unfortunately, in my view, in my
(04:46):
view, it is unfortunate that wehave to keep having it, we'll
keep answering it, butalso, that's why we have this
podcast so that we can we have aplatform on which to answer so
that those who are genuinelyasking can get an answer and
those who need to give theanswer can have our ideas
articulated. But I think onething that's coming up, it's
quietly coming up in my mindthat spiritually I'm wanting to
share that I feel like my spiritis kind of nudging me to share
(05:09):
is I'm interested in folksasking, answering, why isn't it
a Jewish issue? Like, there's somany reasons for why it's a
Jewish issue? I don't understandwhy it's not.
Right, right. Because the answeris that in the person who's
asking the mind, right, becausethen the person who's asking the
(05:30):
question, in their mind, Jewsare white. That's the only to
me. That's the only sense.
Right? Right. Right. And we knowso so to get into some of the
reasons why it is a Jewishissue, I you know, is for a
number of reasons. And in thespirit of something rabbi, Rabbi
Laura Kay once said to me, Iwill honor her words and not
(05:50):
start with, I'll start in aparticular order and say that
racial justice issue, racialjustice is a Jewish issue.
Because as Jews, we believe inthe value of but Selam Elohim,
that we were all made in theimage of the Divine. And racism
is inherently dehumanizing, andtreats people as subhuman in a
(06:14):
systemic, interpersonal,ideological, like at every level
of that of the scale, mostnotably systemically and
ideologically treats people ofcolor, as less than right. So
that inherently is in violationof this value, that we are all
(06:36):
created by the image of theDivine. Treat your neighbor as
yourself. Many people of colorare not being treated as Jews,
as many Jews are being treatedin this country in terms of
having access to a variety ofgovernmental supports access to
home loans, access to bankloans, access to equitable
(06:57):
health care, that is notsomething that most people of
color have access to. Not tomention, that we ourselves are a
multiracial people. But I lovethat, as Robin Lee RK once said
to me, and I was like, I totallyagree with you. That shouldn't
(07:20):
be the primary reason why, evenif in fact, which we aren't we
we're all not people of color,which is very much not the case,
it would still be an importantissue for Jews to be thoughtful
about. Here's another reason, ifwe as Jews are in any society,
(07:42):
right, because I still can seesome people thinking like, well,
but then isn't everything anissue? Well, in some ways,
potentially. But yeah, if we areparty to oppression, which as
citizens of a society, with avariety of systems that are
built historically, and in thecurrent time, depend on the
(08:05):
exploitation of people. As Jews,in the spirit of many Jewish
values and a number of Jewishlaws, we should work to ensure
that our living and our lives,live in move us and our society
(08:26):
in the direction of justice andare not complicit in the harming
in this systemic harming ofpeople. Based upon their
identity, and or appearance. Notto mention there are as I
(08:47):
started to say lots of people ofcolor who are Jews, we are a
global people. We started inNorth Africa and West Asia and
have lived and do live all overthe globe, as is often cited, at
times in lackluster ways, but itstill is true. In Israel,
(09:11):
Palestine, more than 50% offolks there are not of solely
European heritage. They arepeople of the global majority
from West Asia, and East Africa.
So we are an incredibly diversepeople and in the United States
(09:34):
that diversity is increasing. Sothis is also important for
Jewish communal leaders tounderstand not only is this
important now, but this is onlygoing to increase in importance
as Jews continue totranslationally and
transnationally. Adopt who canyou to have interracial
(09:56):
marriages As a number of peopleof color, or also I like to use
the phrase people of a globalmajority, which is a great
contradiction to the wordminority, which is really not,
is an outdated phrase, it's notthe worst word to use. But it
also often isn't the mostaccurate, nor mindful word to
(10:20):
use. So better words to use arepeople of color or people of the
global majority. Becauseminority also just inherently in
the phrasing connotes less powerand contributes to oppressive
patterns that affect people ofcolor. So because of, and also
the fact that a range ofdifferent people particularly of
(10:46):
Latin x, but not exclusively,descent, are also doing DNA
tests and learning that theyhave Jewish heritage that they
are descendants of conversos.
And people who survived theSpanish Inquisition, and now are
a part of multiracial, any, anyrange of racially identified as
(11:08):
we know, Latin X and Latino andLatina folks can have a range of
different racial identities. Sothat is dramatically increasing
with time and our we as a peopleare becoming more diverse. So it
(11:29):
is incumbent on us as acommunity, ethically,
spiritually and pragmatically,for us to not only prioritize
racial justice, butspecifically, within Jewish
institutions work onstrengthening here's a
curveball, but it's reallyimportant. And we work with this
with a number of our clients,specifically, our organizational
(11:51):
clients, working on building ourintercultural competence, our
ability as Jewish leaders and asJewish institutions and
organizations and communities towork effectively across lines of
difference. So not only do weneed to work on advancing racial
justice, but also increasing ourcapacity to work effectively and
(12:14):
bridge the differences that doexist, because they do exist
inherently Yes, as humans, wemight even say that 80% or 70%,
if we want to be bold, have ourshared human experience is
mostly shared, but that other 20to 30%, and arguably much
(12:36):
higher, makes a world ofdifference on our lifespans on
how we live and all thoseindices of difference around
gender, race class, all thosethings create differences. And
as a as Jewish organizations, weneed to get better at bridging
those, again, for all of thespiritual and ethical reasons,
(12:59):
and also at the end of the day,because it's in your self
interest. Because the dataconsistently shows that
monocoque cultural organizationsdo outperform diverse
organizations or groups thatlack intercultural competence.
But the organizations and teamsthat outperform everyone are
(13:23):
diverse teams that workeffectively across lines of
difference. And so if ourorganizations want to have a
chance of surviving, and we knowcontinuity, and survival of our
legacy and contemporaryinstitutions is a concern for a
number of us. It's importantthat developing our
(13:47):
intercultural competence,competence, and prioritizing
liberation around racialjustice, as well as other forms
of liberation that are veryimportant to our people, like
around LGBTQ identity andjustice, are important for us,
as well as disability justiceare all incredibly important for
(14:11):
us to prioritize. And it'sdeeply Jewish to do so.
And we have to I just want topoint out that you started by
saying like, we shouldn't eveneven if we were all one racial
makeup, the Jewish people, thenwe would still need to care. I
just we're not and so I thinkthe not all the at all, and I've
(14:36):
been and so like, individualsinstitutions, you wouldn't
question putting a sign up thatsaid Jewish lives matter. The
truth is, Black Lives Matterdoes say Jewish lives matter
because there are black Jews.
And, and it's as simple as that,in my in my opinion, and, and
yes, the other things that yousaid are also true through. But
(14:58):
if you need it to be closer tohome, if you need an in group to
help, you know, an in groupassociation to help fully
embrace it, it's there. And youknow, when I, when I think about
like how my white Jewish fellowcongregants and just community
(15:22):
members would respond if Jews ifWhite Jews were being brutalized
the way that black Americans areby agents of the state how we
would respond. That's how weshould respond to black folks
being brutalized because that wedon't that we don't know that
(15:44):
that person is not Jewish.
And sometimes they are, and theyhave.
Exactly and so there's thissense of like, it's not a Jewish
issue, because they're outgroup, it's factually
inaccurate.
Yeah, yeah. And I think actuallyis like not not subjectively,
(16:06):
objectively. It is a Jewishissue, because for one racism
and specifically whitesupremacy, anti semitism is an
outgrowth of racism of whitesupremacy. Right, and it
interlocks and interplays withracism, and Jews are impacted by
(16:27):
racism as well, not in thiswhite Jews, specifically what
I'm saying here, right? We'reall so all Jews actually are, in
fact, impacted by racism. Andall the more so profoundly
impacted are Jews of color, orJews of the global majority, are
deeply affected by that. Anddemographers continue to debate
(16:49):
this, my personal stance is anumber of demographers have
outdated data that researchersout of Stanford and not
exclusively Stanford have statedare have some key limitations
that undermine the legitimacy ofthat data. Right. But so we're
looking at at least 11 to 20% ofour community right now. And
(17:11):
that doesn't even include youngpeople. And there's far more
Jews of color, there's a farhigher percentage of Jews of
color among young people arepeople of color. So racism hurts
everyone in America, right?
Including all white Jews. Andobviously, it most directly
harms and kills and targets fordestruction people of color. So,
(17:42):
yeah, yeah. And that, I mean,she was we were only 2%, less
than 2% of the Americanpopulation, and Jews are writ
large. And and we're sayingsomewhere between 10 and 20%, of
Jews are of color and so that,like, the numbers argument just
(18:02):
doesn't work. It just doesn'tlike when people argue, say, I
don't see, it's not real. Likeeven if the, the demography like
if we, as Jews expect to betaken seriously and have our
needs met as 2%. Then, like, wecan't then turn around and say,
well, there are only those blackJews, those Jews of color are
(18:23):
only X percent like No,right. And also, as I spoke
about in my thesis to lastnight, when I wrote my thesis,
it might be different now, butthe demographics were such that,
that the number of AsianAmericans in the United States
was around 7%. And, you know,similarly, like, no one would
say that Asian Americans, Iwould hope no one would say that
it's an anomaly or that AsianAmericans don't exist, don't
(18:47):
count for Yeah, or don't matter,right, or don't count, as has
been said about Jews of colorinappropriately at times.
Yeah, we don't countjust as the 2% of Jews in
America counts at our sacred andin are clearly a part of like
one of the things that in mymuseum career at the Jewish
(19:09):
Museum in Jewish museums, one ofthe things that we say is that
Jewish American history isAmerican history. It just is.
It's the part of Americanhistory and in the same way that
we are adamant about that, aboutour broader American culture. So
to Jews of color, Jews are theglobal majority about Jewish
(19:33):
our history and our identitiesbeing a part of Jewish history,
identity and contemporarypriorities and concerns. So I
think, you know, I'll end withthis final thought, which is
that. As I've often say, one ofmy core talking points that I
say when I speak publicly, isthat this is the core shift that
(19:58):
I want us to go through it shiftfrom this being a matter of
white Jews helping people ofcolor to this being an us issue.
Yeah, for us to really fullyembrace that every single one of
(20:23):
us whatever our our identity is,we are members of a multiracial
people. We are part of amultiracial people. And if the
Jewish people is a multiracialpeople, which it very much is in
the United States, and also inmany places abroad. Therefore,
(20:50):
it's hard for me to understandwhy racial justice would not be
a Jewish issue for a multiracialJewish people. Thanks for tuning
in. Tolearn more about joyous justice
LLC, our team and how you canget involved with our community.
Check out the info in our shownotes, or find us at joyous
justice.comIf you enjoy this episode, show
(21:13):
us some love. Subscribe,wherever you're listening. Tell
your people share what you'relearning and how your leadership
is evolving. Stay humble, butnot too humble.
And keep going because thefuture is ours to co create
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