Colors of Jews: Racial Politics and Radical Diasporism
Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz exposes and challenges the common assumptions about whom and what Jews are, by presenting in their own voices, Jews of color from the Iberian Peninsula, Asia, Africa, and India. Drawing from her earlier work on Jews and whiteness, Kaye/Kantrowitz delves into the largely uncharted territory of Jews of color and argues that Jews are an increasingly multiracial people—a fact that, if acknowledged and embraced, could foster cross-race solidarity to help combat racism. This...
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Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz exposes and challenges the common assumptions about whom and what Jews are, by presenting in their own voices, Jews of color from the Iberian Peninsula, Asia, Africa, and India. Drawing from her earlier work on Jews and whiteness, Kaye/Kantrowitz delves into the largely uncharted territory of Jews of color and argues that Jews are an increasingly multiracial people—a fact that, if acknowledged and embraced, could foster cross-race solidarity to help combat racism. This engaging and eye-opening book examines the historical and contemporary views on Jews and whiteness as well as the complexities of African/Jewish relations, the racial mix and disparate voices of the Jewish community, contemporary Jewish anti-racist and multicultural models, and the diasporic state of Jewish life in the United States.
Preface ixA Note on Language xiiiAcknowledgments xvAre Jews White? 1What's White 2The People of Contradictions 10Apartheid/American Style 16Jews: Race or Religion? 26Christian Centricity 30Black/Jewish Imaginary and Real 33The Black/Jewish Tangle 33Am I Possible? 37Exodus 47Media Coverage 49Media Hype 51Solidarity 57Nationalism and Feminism 60Who Is This Stranger? 67The Cultures of Jews 73Mizrahim 73Sephardim 80Post-Colonial Jews 85Feminist Ritual 87Ashkenazim 87De-Ashkenization 89U.S. Jews 99Praying with Our Legs 105Fighting Slumlords, Building Coalitions: Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (Chicago) 111Confronting Power in the Jewish Community: Jews United for Justice (St. Louis) 118Trying to Change Congregational Life: Jewish Community Action(Minneapolis) 124Bringing Our Bodies to the Picket Line: Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (New York) 128The Place to Go for a Progressive Jewish Voice 135Judaism Is the Color of This Room 139The Temple of My Familiar: Ayecha (National) 142Crossing Many Borders: Ivri-NASAWI/Levantine Center (International) 148A Mixed Multitude: Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation (Chicago) 156Respect and Knowledge: Beta Israel of North America (International) 160Hospitality Is the First Principle: Congregation Nahalat Shalom (Albuquerque) 164Jews Were All People of Color: Center for Afro-Jewish Studies (Philadelphia) 172I Promised Them It Wasn't Going to Happen Again: Central Reform Synagogue (St. Louis) 181Jews of Color Speak Out 185Transformation in Partnership 188Toward a New Diasporism 193If I Forget Thee O Jerusalem 193If I Forget Thee O Doikayt, O Haviva Ottomania 195Home 196Diasporism and the Holocaust 200Israel and Diasporism 204Anti-Semitism and Diasporism 207A Jewish Tradition: Radical Justice-Seeking 213To Change the Way Racism Is Fought: Shifting the Center 219Diasporism and the Colors of Jews 221Notes 227Bibliography 257Index 269
