BIRACIAL, MULTIRACIAL, MULTIETHNIC, MIXED HERITAGE HALF-JEWISH PEOPLE
Biracial, multiethnic, and mixed heritage half-Jewish people and Jews of color have always existed from the beginning of Jewish history.
In some eras they've created beautiful new Jewish cultures, among them, the Beta Israel Ethiopian Jewish civilization, the varied Jewish groups of India, the Chinese Jews of Kaifeng, and many other communities in Africa and Asia.
But in the last few centuries, as their communities have come into closer contact with the Ashkenazi Jews (white Jews of northern Europe and America) -- and as more of them have been born to intermarried white Jewish parents and people of color -- or been adopted by white Jewish families -- as many of them have made aliyah to Israel -- biracial and mixed heritage people who are also half-Jewish, and Jews of color have had to deal with a lot of racism and ethnocentrism from the white (or lighter-skinned) Ashkenazi Jewish communities in the Diaspora (outside of Israel) and in Israel.
The good news is that over the last twenty years Jewish organizations and resources are developing to welcome Jews of color and mixed heritage half-Jewish people to the worldwide Jewish community.
ARE WHITE JEWS REALLY 'WHITE'?
There is some question as to whether Askenazi Jews are really 'white' -- their ancestors in the Torah are described as Semites -- and historically, white Jews only remain 'white' as long as a society accepts them -- the German Jews went from being white German citizens to being alien "Semites, " marked for death, very abruptly during the Holocaust.
Current DNA studies indicate that many white Jews had Middle Eastern ancestors, who migrated to Europe and other parts of the world. Some white Jews identify loosely as "Semites" or "people of color."
Nevertheless, fair-skinned Jews are generally accepted as "white" in many sectors of the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and Israel, and have what is called in analyses of racism, "skin privilege" -- they are often given preferential treatment in situations where people of color, Jewish and non-Jewish, are discriminated against.
These discriminatory situations occur in both Jewish and non-Jewish communities.
ISRAEL
It is a myth that Israel is a happy melting pot of Jewish nationalities. The Yemenite Jews have experienced a certain amount of prejudice, due being "darker" than many other Israelis, ever since their arrival in Israel in 1949.
The black Ethiopian Jews have experienced enormous social, economic and religious discrimination in Israel since they began arriving in Israel in late numbers in the 1980s, and their societal problems in Israel are analogous to those of African-Americans in the United States.
For more information about the Ethiopian Jewish struggle in Israel, please visit the website of the Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews:
While American Jews gave generous financial and leadership support to the aliyah of the Ethiopian Jews to Israel, and frequently supplied assistance to Ethiopian Jews in Ethiopia and Israel, American and European white Jewish communities have, until recently, often been unwelcoming to Jews of color, including half-Jewish people of mixed heritage.
MIXED HERITAGE AND NON-WHITE JEWS SOMETIMES SHUT OUT
Ways in which mixed-heritage half-Jewish people and Jews of color have sometimes been shut out of both Diaspora and Israeli Jewish communities include:
* the refusals of some Ashkenazi Jews to include Jews of other ethnicities or races in their Jewish organizational and social activities;
* the insistence of some Ashkenazi Jews that Jews from non-Ashkenazi traditions, including Jews of color and half-Jewish people of mixed heritage, conform to Ashkenazi religious rites, foods, social customs, etc., at all times or not be considered "real Jews";
* the refusal by some Ashkenazi Jewish communities to recognize the religious leaders, synagogues, sacred writings and religious movements of Jewish people of color as legitimately Jewish; and
* the ignoring or silencing of Jews of color and mixed heritage half-Jewish people by some Ashkenazi Jews in Jewish internet forums, Jewish media, etc.
DUTY OF ASHKENAZI JEWS TO REACH OUT TO JEWS OF COLOR AND MIXED HERITAGE HALF-JEWISH PEOPLE
Some white Jewish people are reluctant to admit that Ashkenazi Jewish communities often discriminate against Jews perceived to be partly or wholly members of another race or ethnicity.
Instead of constructive outreach to Jews of color and mixed heritage Jews, some Ashkenazi Jews instead cite the "we've-suffered-too-look-at-the-Holocaust" line of thought or point to Jewish participation in the American civil rights movement of the 1960s as excuses for doing little or nothing to assist mixed-heritage half-Jewish people and Jews of color, or for leaving in place barriers that prevent Jews of color and mixed-heritage half-Jewish people from participating in some Ashkenazi Jewish communities
What Jewish communities should learn from the Holocaust and the U.S. civil rights movement is that every Jewish and half-Jewish person's neshama (soul) is precious, and that it is a positive duty for Jewish communities to reach out to all Jews, regardless of their racial and ethnic heritages.
Jewish communities in the U.S., Europe, and Israel also need to work on their "Ashkenazi superiority" outlook, which leads to the neglect and denigration of alternative Jewish Sephardic (Jews of the Mediterranean basin) and Mizrahi (Jews of the Arabic world) cultures, and other non-Askenazi Jewish cultures, such as that of the Ethiopian Jews, leading to demoralization, anger, and alienation among the Jews belonging to those cultures.
ORGANIZATIONS & RESOURCES WORKING FOR A BETTER FUTURE
But in the last twenty years, there has been a gradual growth of Jewish organizations working on welcoming Jews of color and mixed heritage half-Jewish people to the Jewish community.
Jewish and secular multiracial organizations are working in this area. Here is a list of resources, which hopefully will grow in the future:
1. Be'chol Lashon -- Be'chol Lashon asks the Jewish community to "imagine a new global Judaism that transcends differences in geography, ethnicity, class, race, ritual practice, and beliefs. Discussions about “who-is-a-real-Jew” will be replaced with celebration of the rich, multi-dimensional character of the Jewish people.
Jews around the world face serious demographic challenges. Worldwide, the number of Jews is stagnant. Decimated by the Holocaust, Jews now comprise only 0.2% of the world's people. We believe the Jewish population, through pro-active efforts, could grow to 20 million by 2020, and 40 million by 2060.
We seek to overcome the significant organizational, cultural and ideological barriers to growth in the Jewish community. A more expansive Judaism is particularly engaging for younger and unaffiliated Jews who want Judaism to reflect the global community in which they live."
2. The Jewish Multiracial Network -- The mission of the Jewish Multiracial Network "is to build a community of Jews of color and multiracial Jewish families for mutual support, learning, and empowerment. Through education and advocacy, they seek to enrich Jewish communal life by incorporating our diverse racial and ethnic heritages.
The Jewish Multiracial Network brings Jewish multiracial families and individuals together to learn about and celebrate their Judaism."
http://jewishmultiracialnetwork.org
http://jewishmultiracialnetwork.org/online_res_new.php
3. A book -- there is a growing literature on this subject -- on growing up with a Jewish parent and an African-American parent:
"Black, White and Jewish" by Rebecca Grant Walker at:
4. The synagogue of Rabbi Capers C. Funnye, Jr., Michelle Obama's cousin, and a leader within the African-American Jewish community:
http://www.bethshalombz.org/about.html
4. Swirl, a secular organization for mixed heritage individuals, couples and families, was founded by Jen Chau, daughter of a Chinese father and a Jewish mother, and has much to offer:
http://swirlinc.wordpress.com/
5. Information on the Jews of Kaifeng, China:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaifeng_Jews
6. The Center for Afro-Jewish Studies, Temple University, a clearinghouse for the study of black Jews in the Diaspora, founded by Dr. Lewis Gordon, son of an Afro-Chinese father and a Jamaican Jewish mother of Israeli and Irish descent.
http://www.temple.edu/isrst/affiliates/CAJS.asp
7. Book by African/Russian/Jewish/African-American woman -- an amazing life story:
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19930106&slug=1678522
We will be adding more resources to this page. If you know of a resource that we should list, please contact us at: