- Question
Are Jews white?
In a landmark 2018 court ruling, Jews became a protected "race" under American law. This judgement was divisive. The case, in which a Catholic convert had been denied a job beause of his Jewish bloodline, should have been a victory for victims of anti-Semitism. Instead, many Jews saw its result as short-sighted. They argue that formalising racial distinctions legitimises racism. And that this approach is in the same genre of identity politics as the Holocaust. Others claim that categorising Jews as a minority ethnic group helps protect them against discrimination. Are Jews white?
No, Jews are not white
This position holds that Jews are not white. It argues that 'whiteness' carries social and historical dimensions Jews stand apart from, that labelling all Jews white erases Jews of colour and can enable antisemitism, and that Jewish identity traces to the Levant, not European whiteness.
- White identity is predicated on historical anti-Semitic white privilege
- Judaism originated in the Southern Levant
- Jews are legally distinct from white people
- It is offensive to Jews of colour to describe all Jews as white
- White non-Jews do not see Jews as white
- Race is a misleading construction
- White identity is Christian Identity
- White nationalism is anti-Semitic
- Calling Jews "white" legitimizes anti-Semitism
Yes, Jews are white
This position holds that Jews are white. It argues the only condition for whiteness is being white, that many Jews are objectively and are commonly perceived as white, and that skin colour is not a distinguishing factor setting Jewish people apart from other white populations.
Jews are not a race
This position holds that Jews do not constitute a race. It argues Judaism is fundamentally a religion, so framing Jewishness as a race is problematic, and describes Jews instead as an ethnically diverse religious group, sometimes likened to an extended family.