WHAT DO WE MEAN BY “GLOBAL MAJORITY JEWS”?
This analysis and reframe is a Jewish variation of the scholarship and thought leadership of Professor Barbara J. Love, renowned Black liberation leader and professor emeritus of UMass Amherst.
Jews are a multicultural, multiracial, multiethnic people, and the Jewish world is made up of diverse, multicultural communities who have built homes for themselves all over the globe.
Saying “People of the Global Majority,” “Jews of the Global Majority” or “Global Majority Jews” is a way of using our words to counter the centering of whiteness, which terms like “People of color” or “Jews of color” perpetuate. This shift in language also intentionally counters “minority” categorizations, and reminds us all that of the nearly 8 billion people on the planet, the majority of us are not white. It supports our effort to build a tent that is able to hold and embrace the important and rich diversity of our global Jewish community and better align us with collective healing and liberation. By broadening the frame and adjusting inherent power dynamics, “Jews of the Global Majority” and “Global Majority Jews” open up new possibilities for re-envisioning priorities and perceptions for us all.
Are you interested in learning more about Jews of the Global Majority—and racial justice in and outside of the Jewish community more generally?
