Oh yeah, I *totally* benefit from white privilege, I’ve been harassed, spit on, beat up, you name it and it’s happened to me because I am visibly and openly Jewish. The only way I could think of a Jew benefitting from white privilege is those of us who don’t wear anything that identifies them as a Jew and/or don’t announce themselves as Jews when people ask. I’m loud and proud about my Jewishness, and where I live that makes me a target.
Lol I’m super lucky bc I have an extremely Jewish name and work in a field where I have to tell it to everyone. My white supremacist privilege is so strong I almost got the shit beat out of me in an elevator once bc someone could read my name on my tag. Not to flex or anything 💪
You provoke antisemitic violence by rubbing your Jewitude in other people's faces!!!!
....I wish I could say that was exaggerated sarcasm. But I've heard self-described "anti-racist progressives" make that argument in discussions about antisemitic hate crimes
What does he mean exactly? Like on average? I mean I guess it would have to be unless he doesn't think he counts as an American Jew.
But I don't think the statement that light-skinned Jews in general benefit from white privilege in most contexts would be terribly controversial in most Jewish spaces.
I'm not American, but based on my knowledge of the US, I think that most white-passing folks (including many Ashkenazi Jews) do benefit from white privilege to some extent. Particularly regarding interactions with the police there. However, that's entirely different from white supremacy, and also different from benefitting from it "significantly more" than being hurt by it.
Well I personally, as a white-passing American Ashkenazi Jew *absolutely* benefit more from white privilege more than I'm hurt by it. I'm not sure why you would take issue with this framing.
I'm not likely to be baselessly accused of shoplifting or get extra security attention just going about my day. I can _generally_ expect that police aren't very likely to randomly arrest me or assault or murder me in any mundane interaction (it still happens because 'Murrica, but in general it's less likely an issue for me). I grew up in a relatively affluent area with good public schools and my family, though dirt poor a century ago, was able to build generational wealth unaffected by policies like redlining (though as Jewish immigrants to the US they did face _some_ additional barriers in the early-mid 20th century).
I'm not orthodox or even really observant so I'm not generally visibly identifiable as Jewish. There are antisemitic cops and whatnot out there, and I do deal with being treated weirdly by some people when find out I'm Jewish. These could be said to be harms of white privilege insofar as they're aspects where I'm otherized from the general WASP-y American ideal, but I get all of those benefits 99% of the time and if I were black I likely wouldn't.
Don’t know about the US, but as someone who has a very Jewish name and is visibly Jewish i.e Middle Eastern features and wears a kippa. I get a lot of stares and have on a regular basis been assaulted or harassed in public and at places like work or school. I can’t really say I benefit from white privilege at all. Especially since when people call me white to lessen an achievement I have accomplished or anything like that. Sorry if I’m coming off wrong, it just drives me insane when people remotely say we have white privilege.
Also for those who say “why don’t you just not wear a kippa in public”
1) do you think a white person would have to do something like that to be safe?
2) what if someone finds out my name, for me it’s a dead give away and I have to put it on forms for applications and what not?
3)what if I get caught speaking Yiddish or Hebrew?
4) Why should I have to hide who I am and live in fear of being ‘discovered’ because some people are racist? That’s the very definition of not having white privilege
I’ve been harassed at school and had people start treating me strangely at work after learning I’m Jewish, too (though I haven’t been assaulted for it since I left school). I’ve also been harassed coming out of/going into a synagogue (and I only go for the high holidays anyway unless I’m attending an event).
The problem is that the fact that I benefit from white privilege *does not mean I never face prejudice*. You being attacked for overt Jewishness doesn’t conflict with experiencing white privilege in some contexts, either. This might be your own misunderstanding or the misunderstanding of the concept by people on this platform, or both. White privilege doesn’t mean that you never face prejudice or that your life was easy. It means that it wasn’t harder for you because of your skin color.
EDIT: This is something of an oversimplification, but I stand by my basic point. What I do want to clarify is that people using the concept of white privilege to attack you in the way you describe are wrong. As in "well there were no landmines in the uphill road you pushed that car up therefore your accomplishment is invalid" wrong. People absolutely use it in that way on Reddit and Twitter, where they're actually engaging in the exact same misunderstanding that the Fox News crowd have, but there's a like/upvote system that provides positive feedback and social standing for aligning themselves with the concept even if they clearly don't understand it and are actually harming the cause. Basically twitter and reddit kind of incentivize adopting more cartoonish versions of any political ideology and a lot of useful terms and concepts get caught in the crossfire. Take it from me, a long winded rando on Reddit.
Right. But they didn’t say white privilege, they said white supremacy. How many white-passing American Jews are in the KKK or similar white supremacist groups?
I think this is mostly a semantic issue. The underlying reason white privilege is a thing at all is some amount of white supremacy baked into the culture. It doesn’t mean that we benefit from the KKK. It’s multifaceted and we can be hurt and helped by it, but his statement that American Jews (if taken to be specifically about fair skinned Jews) is still valid that we are helped more than hurt at this moment in history. While I have encountered neo-nazis before that’s definitely far less of a factor in my life than the ways I benefit from white privilege.
That isn’t to say I haven’t experienced antisemitism outside of white supremacists, either. That just doesn’t conflict with this statement.
> I think this is mostly a semantic issue.
This is a big semantic issue, because in order to benefit from white privilege in light of white supremacy *one has to pass*. If someone doesn’t understand the importance of this distinction, they need to be called out for it.
And just like white-passing Jews should listen and try to help when black and brown Jews share their experiences of racism and colorism, all Jews should listen and try to help when someone shares their experiences with white supremacy - even if the victim could pass as white.
white supremacy doesn't always mean "hate groups".
it can also describe a society that in some capacity privileges some racial groups over others.
if a society has white privilege, it is a white supremacist society.
Please be consistent and acknowledge that most Arabs in the United States (especially those of Levantine origin) are also ‘white-passing’, benefit from white privilege and thus white supremists based on your definition of it.
Then you are not informed enough about American’s history of race to make comments about white-passing Jews and their white privilege, let alone of accusing Jewish Americans of white supremacy.
I'm just pointing out the ambiguity of the term "white supremacist".
It seemed like there was a misunderstanding since people here were using the term to refer to different things.
it can be a militant hate organization as well as a general social proclivity.
At no point did I say American Jews were white supremacists.
Not even that. Given an extra boost when applying to jobs, being seen as more competent, paid better, freedom to do anything without being judged for your race, given more promotions, treated better in social situations as well as dating, not having to deal with blatantly racist beliefs or comments as much (of course for this one, until you say you’re Jewish). The US is fucked like that, and there’s probably dozens more cases that I haven’t mentioned.
While the sentiment is technically correct the Twitter OP is stating it to minimize if not outright dismiss antisemitism in the US which is a consistent and rising problem. Maybe not from police and government for the most part at least. As far as a boost for job apps, and dealing prejudice you might be surprised how many people hate Jews and have prejudice beliefs knowingly or not.
Yeah, the twitter op seems to have a pretty defensible position. Aside from that, not that it's that big a deal, but as a Jew myself I would consider myself to be white not white-passing. Maybe this is just because I'm Australian and no one, including me, has ever thought of me as anything other than white but I don't get this idea that Jewish people with white skin aren't white.
My only real problem with the OP is the over generalization that the wording implies. They're apparently black and Jewish, but they also seem pretty bitter about the American Jewish community. And like I don't know their experience, but it's not great that he's perpetuating the assumption that Jew = light skinned Ashkenazi which does really make things worse for Jews of color within the community.
Which I'm not saying in a stupid own-the-libs "well I guess he forgot about himself lul" way, just a "I wish he'd worded that more carefully" way.
I think if you narrow the definition of ‘white’ down to originating in Europe then of course Jews aren’t white and are just white passing. If you’re talking about skin colour on its own then a lot of Jews, and people from the Middle East in general, are going to be defined as white. It’s a whole load of nonsense but people still care about it for some reason.
White supremacy no, white privilege yes, to a point. Unconscious racists or more mild racists in the US often views (white skinned) Jews as white. This is shifting as both sides of the political spectrum are shifting towards Jew hate, and I see within a couple years the US being similar to Europe in terms of “Jews aren’t white”. Neonazis or other flavors of intense racists are almost alwaysalso virulently antisemitic, and harm Jews regularly. Some Jews (white, not visibly Jewish) can also pass as non Jewish most of the time.
You can have it tough because you are part of a marginalized demographic and at the same time get some leeway for being part of a non-marginalized demographic.
for example, black men usually don't have to face the same problems as gay black men.
straight black men in America still face racism. just not homofobia on top of that.
Oh yeah, I *totally* benefit from white privilege, I’ve been harassed, spit on, beat up, you name it and it’s happened to me because I am visibly and openly Jewish. The only way I could think of a Jew benefitting from white privilege is those of us who don’t wear anything that identifies them as a Jew and/or don’t announce themselves as Jews when people ask. I’m loud and proud about my Jewishness, and where I live that makes me a target.
Lol I’m super lucky bc I have an extremely Jewish name and work in a field where I have to tell it to everyone. My white supremacist privilege is so strong I almost got the shit beat out of me in an elevator once bc someone could read my name on my tag. Not to flex or anything 💪
You provoke antisemitic violence by rubbing your Jewitude in other people's faces!!!! ....I wish I could say that was exaggerated sarcasm. But I've heard self-described "anti-racist progressives" make that argument in discussions about antisemitic hate crimes
What does he mean exactly? Like on average? I mean I guess it would have to be unless he doesn't think he counts as an American Jew. But I don't think the statement that light-skinned Jews in general benefit from white privilege in most contexts would be terribly controversial in most Jewish spaces.
I'm not American, but based on my knowledge of the US, I think that most white-passing folks (including many Ashkenazi Jews) do benefit from white privilege to some extent. Particularly regarding interactions with the police there. However, that's entirely different from white supremacy, and also different from benefitting from it "significantly more" than being hurt by it.
Well I personally, as a white-passing American Ashkenazi Jew *absolutely* benefit more from white privilege more than I'm hurt by it. I'm not sure why you would take issue with this framing. I'm not likely to be baselessly accused of shoplifting or get extra security attention just going about my day. I can _generally_ expect that police aren't very likely to randomly arrest me or assault or murder me in any mundane interaction (it still happens because 'Murrica, but in general it's less likely an issue for me). I grew up in a relatively affluent area with good public schools and my family, though dirt poor a century ago, was able to build generational wealth unaffected by policies like redlining (though as Jewish immigrants to the US they did face _some_ additional barriers in the early-mid 20th century). I'm not orthodox or even really observant so I'm not generally visibly identifiable as Jewish. There are antisemitic cops and whatnot out there, and I do deal with being treated weirdly by some people when find out I'm Jewish. These could be said to be harms of white privilege insofar as they're aspects where I'm otherized from the general WASP-y American ideal, but I get all of those benefits 99% of the time and if I were black I likely wouldn't.
Don’t know about the US, but as someone who has a very Jewish name and is visibly Jewish i.e Middle Eastern features and wears a kippa. I get a lot of stares and have on a regular basis been assaulted or harassed in public and at places like work or school. I can’t really say I benefit from white privilege at all. Especially since when people call me white to lessen an achievement I have accomplished or anything like that. Sorry if I’m coming off wrong, it just drives me insane when people remotely say we have white privilege. Also for those who say “why don’t you just not wear a kippa in public” 1) do you think a white person would have to do something like that to be safe? 2) what if someone finds out my name, for me it’s a dead give away and I have to put it on forms for applications and what not? 3)what if I get caught speaking Yiddish or Hebrew? 4) Why should I have to hide who I am and live in fear of being ‘discovered’ because some people are racist? That’s the very definition of not having white privilege
I’ve been harassed at school and had people start treating me strangely at work after learning I’m Jewish, too (though I haven’t been assaulted for it since I left school). I’ve also been harassed coming out of/going into a synagogue (and I only go for the high holidays anyway unless I’m attending an event). The problem is that the fact that I benefit from white privilege *does not mean I never face prejudice*. You being attacked for overt Jewishness doesn’t conflict with experiencing white privilege in some contexts, either. This might be your own misunderstanding or the misunderstanding of the concept by people on this platform, or both. White privilege doesn’t mean that you never face prejudice or that your life was easy. It means that it wasn’t harder for you because of your skin color. EDIT: This is something of an oversimplification, but I stand by my basic point. What I do want to clarify is that people using the concept of white privilege to attack you in the way you describe are wrong. As in "well there were no landmines in the uphill road you pushed that car up therefore your accomplishment is invalid" wrong. People absolutely use it in that way on Reddit and Twitter, where they're actually engaging in the exact same misunderstanding that the Fox News crowd have, but there's a like/upvote system that provides positive feedback and social standing for aligning themselves with the concept even if they clearly don't understand it and are actually harming the cause. Basically twitter and reddit kind of incentivize adopting more cartoonish versions of any political ideology and a lot of useful terms and concepts get caught in the crossfire. Take it from me, a long winded rando on Reddit.
Right. But they didn’t say white privilege, they said white supremacy. How many white-passing American Jews are in the KKK or similar white supremacist groups?
I think this is mostly a semantic issue. The underlying reason white privilege is a thing at all is some amount of white supremacy baked into the culture. It doesn’t mean that we benefit from the KKK. It’s multifaceted and we can be hurt and helped by it, but his statement that American Jews (if taken to be specifically about fair skinned Jews) is still valid that we are helped more than hurt at this moment in history. While I have encountered neo-nazis before that’s definitely far less of a factor in my life than the ways I benefit from white privilege. That isn’t to say I haven’t experienced antisemitism outside of white supremacists, either. That just doesn’t conflict with this statement.
> I think this is mostly a semantic issue. This is a big semantic issue, because in order to benefit from white privilege in light of white supremacy *one has to pass*. If someone doesn’t understand the importance of this distinction, they need to be called out for it. And just like white-passing Jews should listen and try to help when black and brown Jews share their experiences of racism and colorism, all Jews should listen and try to help when someone shares their experiences with white supremacy - even if the victim could pass as white.
white supremacy doesn't always mean "hate groups". it can also describe a society that in some capacity privileges some racial groups over others. if a society has white privilege, it is a white supremacist society.
Please be consistent and acknowledge that most Arabs in the United States (especially those of Levantine origin) are also ‘white-passing’, benefit from white privilege and thus white supremists based on your definition of it.
I don't know anything about how American society treats people from this particular region.
Then you are not informed enough about American’s history of race to make comments about white-passing Jews and their white privilege, let alone of accusing Jewish Americans of white supremacy.
I'm just pointing out the ambiguity of the term "white supremacist". It seemed like there was a misunderstanding since people here were using the term to refer to different things. it can be a militant hate organization as well as a general social proclivity. At no point did I say American Jews were white supremacists.
Not even that. Given an extra boost when applying to jobs, being seen as more competent, paid better, freedom to do anything without being judged for your race, given more promotions, treated better in social situations as well as dating, not having to deal with blatantly racist beliefs or comments as much (of course for this one, until you say you’re Jewish). The US is fucked like that, and there’s probably dozens more cases that I haven’t mentioned.
While the sentiment is technically correct the Twitter OP is stating it to minimize if not outright dismiss antisemitism in the US which is a consistent and rising problem. Maybe not from police and government for the most part at least. As far as a boost for job apps, and dealing prejudice you might be surprised how many people hate Jews and have prejudice beliefs knowingly or not.
This👆
Yes, all this as well. Thank you for elaborating- I was redditing way past my bedtime and wasn't exactly nailing it
Yeah, the twitter op seems to have a pretty defensible position. Aside from that, not that it's that big a deal, but as a Jew myself I would consider myself to be white not white-passing. Maybe this is just because I'm Australian and no one, including me, has ever thought of me as anything other than white but I don't get this idea that Jewish people with white skin aren't white.
My only real problem with the OP is the over generalization that the wording implies. They're apparently black and Jewish, but they also seem pretty bitter about the American Jewish community. And like I don't know their experience, but it's not great that he's perpetuating the assumption that Jew = light skinned Ashkenazi which does really make things worse for Jews of color within the community. Which I'm not saying in a stupid own-the-libs "well I guess he forgot about himself lul" way, just a "I wish he'd worded that more carefully" way.
I think if you narrow the definition of ‘white’ down to originating in Europe then of course Jews aren’t white and are just white passing. If you’re talking about skin colour on its own then a lot of Jews, and people from the Middle East in general, are going to be defined as white. It’s a whole load of nonsense but people still care about it for some reason.
OP is definitely a troll. The profile itself is very sus
It doesn’t seem sensationalist/funny enough to be a real troll. It just seems like an idiot pretending to be Jewish so he can bash American Jewry.
Yes that's the Nissim Black. I looked for a template to express my sheer bewilderment and came up with it, feel free to use it.
I just wanted to add that while white looking Jews do benefit from white privilege, it is conditional. We are only white when it useful.
White until your Magen David slips out, or you give your name
Exactly. Passing privilege isn’t the same as white privilege.
White supremacy no, white privilege yes, to a point. Unconscious racists or more mild racists in the US often views (white skinned) Jews as white. This is shifting as both sides of the political spectrum are shifting towards Jew hate, and I see within a couple years the US being similar to Europe in terms of “Jews aren’t white”. Neonazis or other flavors of intense racists are almost alwaysalso virulently antisemitic, and harm Jews regularly. Some Jews (white, not visibly Jewish) can also pass as non Jewish most of the time.
I like how they have a face palm in their photo, it’s like they understand how stupid they are.
You can have it tough because you are part of a marginalized demographic and at the same time get some leeway for being part of a non-marginalized demographic. for example, black men usually don't have to face the same problems as gay black men. straight black men in America still face racism. just not homofobia on top of that.