Unpacking the Jewish Knapsack

Fellow social scientist Peggy McIntosh realized that Caucasian Americans have what she termed an “invisible knapsack” of privileges due to their majority position in society. As a student of Sociology, I was given her famous “White Privilege  Checklist” as an exercise and primer in hidden privilege and unintentional racism. I found the checklist both illuminating and inspiring. I wondered if a similar checklist could be used to help Ashkenazi Jews discover their “duffel bag” of dominance in order to begin dialogue on how we exclude Sephardi, Mizrahi, and other Jew of color groups in our community.

After class, I began to compose an Ashkenazi Privilege Checklist to describe the hidden privileges of being an Ashkenazi Jew provides.  I posted this idea to the Jewish Multiracial Network listserve,  who helped me expound upon my list and the rest is history.

This list really is my baby. I’m really proud of how it has grown and what it is being used to accomplish in the world. Six synagogues are using this as a basis for curriculum changes in their Hebrew schools, two schuls are using this to racially integrate their synagogues, several Jew of color activists have used this list as an exercise at the Society for the Advancement of Judaism, Brandeis University, and numerous other Jewish gatherings.

I have received some criticism for not including the word “white” with Ashkenazi, so I must explain my reasoning on this deliberate choice. Ashkenazi Jews can also be people of color who are of Ashkenazi decent or convert to the Ashkenazi tradition. They should be aware of this culture’s dominant position in Jewish society and how they are both oppressed and benefit from this phenomenon at the same time. When we don’t challenge hegemony, we become complicit enablers and we must continue to question situations that benefit us.  Secondly, many white Sephardic Jews feel their culture is excluded. Although their skin may be lighter and are less likely to have their Jewishness questioned, their maltreatment and exclusion of  their cultural customs must be noted.

This list has been posted on several blogs, and I am more than happy to share this with the world. My only request is that those of us who created the checklist be given proper credit for our work. Please print or post the introductory paragraph that underscores our hard work.

Ashkenazi Privilege Checklist

The checklist was created by Sasha King, Corrine Lightweaver,  Shalom Sistah Friends, The Jew of color Activist, and the Jewish Multiracial Network between 2006-2009. It was used in a presentation on Jews of Color at the Society for the Advancement of Judaism in March 2007. The list is inspired by Peggy McIntosh’s work on white privilege and her creation of a White Privilege Checklist. We give rabbis, Jewish educators, philanthropists, activists, and lay people permission to use this checklist for educational purposes.

___ I can walk into my temple and feel that others do not see me as outsider.
___ I can walk into my temple and feel that others do not see me as exotic.
___ I can walk into my temple and feel that my children are seen as Jews.
___ I can enjoy music at my temple that reflects the tunes, prayers, and cultural roots of my specific Jewish heritage.
___ I can easily find greeting cards and books with images of Jews who look like me.
___ I can easily find Jewish books and toys for my children with images of Jews that look like them.
___ I am not singled out to speak about and as a representative of an “exotic” Jewish subgroup.
___ When I go to Jewish bookstores or restaurants, I am not seen as an outsider.
___ I find my experiences and images like mine in Jewish newspapers and magazines.
___ My rabbi never questions that I am Jewish.
___ There are other children at the religious school who look like my child.
___ My child is never questioned by adults or children about whether he or she is Jewish based on skin color.
___ People never look at me and say “But you don’t look Jewish” either seriously or as though it was funny.

___I am never asked how I am Jewish on Jewish dating websites or dating events.
____I can arrange to be in the company of Jews of my heritage most of the time.
____When attempting to join a synagogue or Jewish organization, I am sure that my ethnic background will not be held against me.
___I can ask synagogues and Jewish organizations to include images, and cultural traditions from my background without being seen as a pest.
___ I can enroll in a Jewish day school, Yeshiva, and/or historically Jewish college and find Jewish students and professors with my racial or ethnic background.

___I am not discriminated against in the aliyah process for being a Jew of a different ethnicity.

___I know my ethnic background will not be held against me in being called to read the Torah.

___ I know my racial or ethnic background will not be held against me if I attempt to join a minyan in prayer.

___ I do not worry about being seen or treated as a member of the janitorial staff at a synagogue or when attending a Jewish event.

___No one at my synagogue will attempt to assign me to a ethnicity to which I do not belong. (Example: Assuming all Jews of African descent are Igbo or Ethiopian).

___ I do not worry about access to housing or apartments in predominately Jewish neighborhoods.