The Colors of Jews

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.

Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz is Adjunct Professor in Comparative Literature and Women's Studies at Queens College of CUNY and has taught in the Bard Women's Prison Initiative. She is a feminist scholar and poet whose many books include The Issue Is Power: Essays on Women, Jews, Violence and Resistance; My Jewish Face & Other Stories; and The Tribe of Dina: A Jewish Women's Anthology (with Irena Klepfisz). She lives in Elmhurst, New York.

Preface	p. ix
A Note on Language	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xv
Are Jews White?	p. 1
What's White	p. 2
The People of Contradictions	p. 10
Apartheid/American Style	p. 16
Jews: Race or Religion?	p. 26
Christian Centricity	p. 30
Black/Jewish Imaginary and Real	p. 33
The Black/Jewish Tangle	p. 33
Am I Possible?	p. 37
Exodus	p. 47
Media Coverage	p. 49
Media Hype	p. 51
Solidarity	p. 57
Nationalism and Feminism	p. 60
Who Is This Stranger?	p. 67
The Cultures of Jews	p. 73
Mizrahim	p. 73
Sephardim	p. 80
Post-Colonial Jews	p. 85
Feminist Ritual	p. 87
Ashkenazim	p. 87
De-Ashkenization	p. 89
U.S. Jews	p. 99
Praying with Our Legs	p. 105
Fighting Slumlords, Building Coalitions: Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (Chicago)	p. 111
Confronting Power in the Jewish Community: Jews United for Justice (St. Louis)	p. 118
Trying to Change Congregational Life: Jewish Community Action (Minneapolis)	p. 124
Bringing Our Bodies to the Picket Line: Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (New York)	p. 128
The Place to Go for a Progressive Jewish Voice	p. 135
Judaism Is the Color of This Room	p. 139
The Temple of My Familiar: Ayecha (National)	p. 142
Crossing Many Borders: Ivri-NASAWI/Levantine Center (International)	p. 148
A Mixed Multitude: Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation (Chicago)	p. 156
Respect and Knowledge: Beta Israel of North America (International)	p. 160
Hospitality Is the First Principle: Congregation Nahalat Shalom (Albuquerque)	p. 164
Jews Were All People of Color: Center for Afro-Jewish Studies (Philadelphia)	p. 172
I Promised Them It Wasn't Going to Happen Again: Central Reform Synagogue (St. Louis)	p. 181
Jews of Color Speak Out	p. 185
Transformation in Partnership	p. 188
Toward a New Diasporism	p. 193
If I Forget Thee O Jerusalem	p. 193
If I Forget Thee O Doikayt, O Haviva Ottomania	p. 195
Home	p. 196
Diasporism and the Holocaust	p. 200
Israel and Diasporism	p. 204
Anti-Semitism and Diasporism	p. 207
A Jewish Tradition: Radical Justice-Seeking	p. 213
To Change the Way Racism Is Fought: Shifting the Center	p. 219
Diasporism and the Colors of Jews	p. 221
Notes	p. 227
Bibliography	p. 257
Index	p. 269
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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