The Mixed Multitude: Jews of Color in the American Jewish Community

Of the approximately 6.8 million Jews in the United States Jews of color (Dashefsky and Sheskin 2015), Sephardi, and Mizrahi Jews make up between 6% and 20% of that population (“A Portrait of Jewish Americans” 2013, Tobin et al. 2005). While Jews of color make up a substantial part of the American Jewish community, with as many as one in five American Jews being people of color, the face of Judaism in America is largely white and Ashkenazi. These images and ideas surrounding American Jewry affect not only how the general public relates to Jews, but how American Jews envision their own communities. I suggest that the experiences of Jews of color in institutional Jewish spaces, such as synagogues, Jewish Community Centers, and political organizations centered around Jewish identity, are markedly different than their white Jewish counterparts. This study seeks to move beyond the assertion that Jews of color exist in the American Jewish community and to explore the unique experiences of Jews of color within those spaces. Research suggests that despite having shared religious identity and beliefs, people of color experience racism and discrimination within predominantly white religious institutions (Bracey and Moore 2017). Jews of color routinely encounter assumptions around who is Jewish and how Jews live their lives, the purpose of this research is to better understand how Jews of color internalize and respond to these assumptions.Bachelor of Art