Comments on: I’m not white, I’m Jewish

By: Daisy

Daisy — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 21:12:38 +0000

Great post! I think about this all the time. I’m Sephardic, but my dad is Irish — I absolutely “pass” as white (in quotes because I arguably am white, or half-white), and have access to white privilege. At the same time, white American Christian culture is not my culture and it’s persistently alienating to me, especially when people perceive me as a member of that culture — so my internal experience is totally different from that of a white person from a non-Jewish background. I’m not having the experience most white people are when I’m amongst non-Jewish white people: whether the other people know it or not, I know I’m different, from a different culture, don’t belong there, won’t be understood there, have a different relationship to history, a different relationship to the international community, etc. (This is also a function of the very related fact that my family immigrated to the US somewhat recently — my mom wasn’t born here and went back and forth between the US and Israel as a kid.) In some ways, I wish I didn’t pass. I say that, of course, as someone who does pass, so I can’t know what it’s like on the other side. But I hate that I am invisible. Damn my English name!

As Ephraim said, it’s complicated.

By: Ephraim

Ephraim — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 21:15:57 +0000

As you say, one’s identity and how one is perceived by others (and therefore their social positionality) are related but not the same thing. So far as i can tell, statements like “i’m not white, i’m jewish” are about identity and do not necessarily amount to the denial of white privilege.

I’m not sure why it’s so different for me to say: 1) i don’t identify as white, but i recognize that i’m perceived of as white and therefore in most situations am the beneficiary of white privilege vs. saying 2) i don’t identify as female, but i recognize that many people perceive me as such and therefore i’m subject to misogyny. People give me a lot of shit for the first one but not so much for the second.

Also, i’m wondering what the crucial difference is between myself as a white-passing Ashskenazi and my friend who’s a white-passing Mizrahi in terms of the legitimacy of not identifying as white, while occupying pretty similar socio-economic spaces.

I totally recognize that denying being white (in the identity sense) can be and often is used as a means to deny white privilege, and i think that’s totally unacceptable. But, it’s not necessarily used that way. Jewish identity is complex and i think there’s room for a little nuance here.