Jews of Color Initiative releases ‘Beyond the Count’ Survey

A report from the Jews of Color Initiative released on Aug. 12 reveals many American Jews of Color surveyed still experience discrimination, tokenization and a lack of belonging in the Jewish community. 

The report, titled “Beyond the Count,” provides perspectives from 1,118 Jews of Color  in the United States, including how they think about Jewish identity, their experiences in Jewish communities, systemic racism in Jewish spaces and more.

More than half of the respondents are in their 20s and 30s and live in California (259 of whom were surveyed), New York, Massachusetts and Washington state. Eighty percent said they experienced discrimination in Jewish settings including Jewish spiritual communities, congregations or synagogue. Respondents also described a heightened sense of self-awareness about how they are seen by others, and that they feel scrutinized because of their race in some settings, because of their Jewishness in others, and find it difficult for their identities to coexist. 

Forty-four percent said they have changed how they speak, dress or present themselves in predominantly white Jewish spaces, and 66% said they have felt disconnected from their Jewish identities at times. 

Fifty-one percent said they felt a sense of belonging among white Jews, but only 41% said they have found opportunities to express all sides of themselves in predominantly white Jewish spaces.

Forty-four percent of respondents also said they usually or often found it more difficult for their identities to coexist in predominantly white Jewish spaces than in BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) spaces, and felt more comfortable expressing their full selves with Jewish family members. They also said Jews of Color gatherings provided a sense of belonging and solidarity that is unavailable in other areas of Jewish communal life. Forty-six percent of respondents said talking about the experience of being a JoC with other JoC is very important to them. Many described these experiences and relationships as profoundly healing. Despite the existence of these relationships and created spaces, 36% of respondents said they have no close friends who are JoC. 

“This should be a real moment of excitement for the entire Jewish community,” said Ilana Kaufman, executive director of the Jews of Color initiative. “Anyone who cares about engaging more people in Jewish life now has ‘Beyond the Count’ as a reference point to better understand what has kept some people away, or feeling pushed aside, or simply feeling not welcomed. The Jewish community benefits when everyone has a chance to engage as their full selves, to be tapped for their leadership potential, and to bring the entirety of their life experience to the table.”

Dalya Perez, a critical race theorist and equity strategist for Microsoft, is a Jew of Color on the study’s research team. She added, “The community has an opportunity to amplify the positive sentiments Jews of Color express about belonging while pushing to the side, once and for all, the old paradigms and structures that marginalize Jews of Color.”

In addition to Perez, the Beyond the Count research team was led by Tobin Belzer, contributing fellow at the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at University of Southern California; Tory Brundage and Vincent Calvetti, students at the University of Washington; researcher Gage Gorsky; and Ari Y. Kelman, professor of education and Jewish studies at Stanford.

Read the full report here.