Also another semi-personal question/rant. You know you love them^_^
My mother and I converted to Judaism when I was 8. Apparently she found out that my great-grandfather on her side of the family was jewish, so she wanted to "get back to her roots." I really don't have a problem with that. Hannukkah kicks a$$, I love latkes, and Yiddish has lots of neat words like "chutzpah" and "schlep". ^_^ (side note: I consider myself agnostic as of right now)
Whenever a white Jewish person asks me what my religion is(I go to a Jewish college), I never get any negative responses. It's always, "Oh, cool!..."and so it becomes a great conversation starter. On the other hand, when a black person asks me, I get a confused, then angry look from them, and they inform me, "You can't be Jewish! Jews are white!" I usually let it roll off my back, but I am tempted to drag them to the nearest computer and pull up the wiki article on famous black Jews. So, my question is: What's the deal? (seinfeld voice off)
2006-06-14 06:44:24 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
trigun_superfan: none taken. I figured that was part of it, anyway.
2006-06-14 06:52:13 · update #1
Well I can understand your frustration. Although as a Black person I don't like to say it (especially around white folks) but Blacks can be as racist towards other Blacks as White people can be, they can also be as ignorant to. There are tons of Black Jews and not just Sammy Davis Jr. My heart goes out you.
2006-06-14 06:53:37 · answer #1 · answered by The Teacher 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Sammy Davis Jr. was Jewish - There's got to be a lot more black Jews, but it's not highly publicized.
maybe you caught them in left field and they don't know how to react. Maybe this is how they react to any unexpected situation.
Tell them you are a Satanist (just for fun) and see if that reaction is better. Ha!
2006-06-14 13:52:02 · answer #2 · answered by workingclasshero 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think it is race, but more of a culture thing. You know how in America we are taught that if one is black then you are ether of an African religion, Christian, or Muslim. There is a tribe in S.W Africa ( or maybe it's W. Africa ) that is Jewish ( yes they are black ), so I can understand the reaction, I don't agree with it, but nonetheless. About the best that you could hope for is that they will except education.
2006-06-14 13:56:24 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
People always go according to sterotypes, and they get confused when things aren't as expected.
I am a religious Jew living in Israel, and I cover my hair, making my religiousness obvious to all.
When I visit clients (I freelance), the men never know whether to shake my hand or not (since usually religious women won't touch men who are not their husband). I always get a big kick out of shocking them and initiating the handshake myself.
I also wear extra earrings in my ears and use plenty of up-to-date slang, just for shock value, and just to break the stereotype.
I wouldn't bother being annoyed at people's responses to your religion. Enjoy it!
You can respond to their comments by saying "You mean I'm black? Oy gevalt!" or "Well, I got tired of schlepping that cross that my bubbe and zaide gave me for my Bat Mitzvah", and then throwing in a lot of words like meshugenah, chutzpah, bris, etc.
2006-06-14 14:11:20 · answer #4 · answered by Victoria 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am black but my father's mother is Cuban and Itlilitan. So, I totally get it. Mom was married to a whiteguy. Stero types in everything. I am dating a white guy now. Don't worry about besides people are funny about two things religion and race.
2006-06-14 13:50:35 · answer #5 · answered by lambgroni 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Blacks are closed minded sometimes. They dont read, they dont like to learn because anything new to them, scares them. Its just their genetic make up( I am jamaican by the way). I know some black Jews. I am not religious but I dont think belief systems should be based on race -so I do not know what the deal is.
You may think this sounds weird but tell them to educate themselves on it-and stop being so narrow minded.
2006-06-14 13:50:48 · answer #6 · answered by Xraidedprincess 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
no offence but black ppl kinda dont fit into the steriotype of jews, not that it matters. indian christians go through the same things, not that i am one. when u encounter ignorance it is best to just shrug it off
-peace
2006-06-14 13:50:06 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The deal is being content with who you are and let no ones ill-conceived notion of what a person should be affect you. Be who you choose to be.
2006-06-14 14:01:52 · answer #8 · answered by mobilemutt 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is no Jew race unless you are talking about the Hebrews.
They are just ignorant
2006-06-14 13:48:09 · answer #9 · answered by Jen 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The deal is that racism is not something that only afflicts white people.
2006-06-14 13:50:22 · answer #10 · answered by lenny 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋