Jews Talk Racial Justice - Ep 45: Conditional Whiteness is Still Whiteness
QUICK EPISODE OVERVIEW
In this week's episode, April and Tracie discuss Eric Ward’s Skin in the Game point about the conditional whiteness of Ashkenazi Jews, unpacking (with both/and thinking) the reaction some Jews have regarding their whiteness. April uses her experiences as a United States citizen living in Senegal to explain how conditional privilege operates.
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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Tracie and April open the podcast by discussing Eric Ward’s work, in particular his statement that “White Jews’ whiteness is conditional because of the nature of antisemitism and white nationalism.” What do you think about this? Read more from Eric Ward here to reflect more on his teachings.
Tracie and April point out that some approach this question of “are Ashkenazi and European heritage Jews, white?” with an either/or mindset. How does having a “both/and” mindset help us understand Eric’s point?
Tracie reflects on how she would often minimize antisemitism in an effort to bring focus back to explicitly antiracism work. Can you relate to Tracie? Have there been instances when you minimized antisemitism or other forms of oppression in your work to support other oppressed groups?
Tracie talks about the importance of holding all of the “both/ands” when navigating conversations on whiteness and Jewish identity. How does it feel when you hold all of these truths? How does it feel to be with someone who is sitting with those truths when we might not be?
April reminds us that conditional whiteness is still whiteness. If you have conditional whiteness, how does it feel to sit with this? How are your family/community stories of assimilation into American culture also stories of the assimilation of racism?
April offers up her experiences of being a US citizen living in Senegal, and the privileges it grants her in her context, as a way to think about conditional privilege. Does this help you better understand how conditional privilege operates? How does this example help you better understand your own conditional privileges?
Tracie reminds us of the instances in American history where the personhood of a Black person was questioned from a legal, institutional standpoint in a way a white Jewish person would not. What are other examples you can think of?
Both April and Tracie once again bring up the importance of safe, affinity spaces to unpack and sit with these complicated issues around identity and privilege. What are the spaces you have to unpack these topics?
INSIGHTS FROM THIS EPISODE
“Antisemitism is a real thing and it’s a very real threat - and not only is it a threat, but it actually has a very particular relationship with racism in the context of white supremacy culture.”
“Conditional whiteness is still whiteness. It’s just a variation of it.”
“No European white Jew ever had to argue before the Supreme Court that we should be granted citizenship, which was restricted to free white people. So there is actually a history of legal whiteness status that white Jews were afforded from the beginning.”
“Yes, there is antisemitism and it is not the same as white Christians, but it is wildly, vastly different from people who are classified as People of color in this society and especially Black people, but also really all people of color - Native people,Indigenous folks, Asian heritage people - people to whom whiteness is not accessible. It’s a very different experience.”
COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS?
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