The work of undoing systemic racism calls to our ethic of tikkun olam, repairing the world. What do we do? How can we act responsibly? Undoing systemic racism will be challenging, but as Rabbi Tarfon reminds us in Pirkei Avot 2:21, “It is not your responsibility to finish the work of perfecting the world, but you are not free to desist from it either.”

As a small start, the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle has created this web page for the community that will be updated regularly. There are a multitude of Jewish and non-Jewish resources and many ways to become engaged. What we have compiled is a starting point. Our goal in providing resources and action items is to facilitate the necessary and sometimes uncomfortable conversations and, eventually, be together in anti-racist work.

(The views and opinions expressed in all linked materials are those of the content creators themselves and don’t necessarily reflect the views of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle.)

Primary Resources

• Watch: What’s Being Done? Racial Equity Work in Washington State
  with Dr. Bernal Baca, Dr. Tiffany Lamoreaux, and King County Council Member Girmay Zahilay (May 3, 2021)
• Watch: The Myth of Race, Debunked in 3 Minutes
  This brief video provides a snapshot of race, its historic origins, and how we understand race as individuals and as a society.
  Vox,  March 31, 2016
• Watch: What Does Systemic Racism Mean? Just Consider Your Neighborhood with Abby Brockman
  This session from Seattle Limmud 2021 explores systemic racism through the history of urban and suburban American development that set certain communities toward upward mobility while categorically denying this possibility to others.
  Limmud, January 17, 2021
• Read: Bryan Stevenson on How America Can Heal by Ezra Klein
  In this edited transcript, Bryan Stevenson calls on Americans to face our history as it relates to race, acknowledging that reckoning with truth is fundamental to reconciliation and making lasting change.
  Vox, July 20, 2020
• Read: Far More Unites Black and Jewish Americans than Divides Them by Ethan B. Katz and Deborah Lipstadt
  The authors draw similarities and distinctions between the fight against antisemitism and racism and explore some of the sensitivities around Black Lives Matter and Israel that can pose challenges to some Jews from joining the movement.
  July 18, 2020, CNN
• Read: You Don’t Have to Choose Between Black Lives Matter and Israel by Carly Pildis,
  This article outlines the history behind the dilemma some Jews feel around engaging with Black Lives Matter as it relates to Israel, explains the diversity of views within the movement, and argues that people can support racial justice while supporting Israel.
  The Forward, June 10, 2020

• Read: 25 Charts Showing How Systemic Racism Functions in the U.S. by Shayanne Gal, Andy Kiersz, Michelle Mark, Ruobing Su, and Marguerite Ward
  This article presents numerous charts that provide evidence of the existence of systemic racism in America, from unemployment to lack of representation in positions of power to income and wealth inequality.
  Business Insider, July 8, 2020
• Watch: American Segregation, mapped at day and night
  This video explores the statistics of segregation in homes and workplaces.
  Vox, Feb. 18, 2019
• Watch: Ally vs. Co-conspirator
  In this interview excerpt, author Bettina Love articulates the difference between allies and co-conspirators in the fight for racial justice.
  C-SPAN, March 19, 2019
• Read: Zionism Is Liberation: How We March and Shout Black Lives Matter by Rabbi Asher Lopatin, Executive Director of JCRC/AJC Detroit
  This piece articulates the relationship between BLM and Zionism and the shared values of liberation and freedom informing these ideologies.
  The Jewish News, June 15, 2020

• Read: The Four “I”s of Oppression, adapted for use by the Chinook Fund. This piece articulates four different kinds of oppression—ideological, interpersonal, institutional, internalized—and the myriad of ways they impact us.
• Read: Definition & Analysis of Institutional Racism, Solid Ground. In addition to its definition and explanation of institutional racism, this analysis provides specific statistics from King County.
• Read: Black Lives Matter Fact Sheet from Jewish Federations of North America, Israel Action Network, updated 2020. Provides more detailed background about the intersection of BLM and concerns about anti-Israel attitudes.

• Listen or Read: What Systemic Racism Means And The Way It Harms Communities
  On NPR’s Morning Edition, Noel King speaks with Ijeoma Oluo about how systemic racism manifests in our daily lives and what a world without systemic racism would look like.
  July 1, 2020, NPR
• Watch: Why I, as a black man, attend KKK rallies
  Daryl Davis shares his personal journey and approach to addressing interpersonal racism by increasing contact with people who hold hateful views, founded on the belief that building understanding undermines ignorance and fear that are at the core of hate.
  TEDx Naperville, December 8, 2017
• Watch: Black Lives Matter: A Conversation on Being Black and Jewish in This Moment, July 15, 2020 (1-hour webinar.)

One of the core focus areas of our Jewish Community Relations Council is building relationships with groups beyond the Jewish community so that together, we can build mutual understanding and respect and work more effectively toward shared goals. One community with which the JCRC’s intergroup relations committee hopes to strengthen relationships and partnerships first is Native Americans. One part of a strong foundation for building authentic relationships is learning about partners’ perspectives and digging deeply to really understand them. These resources highlight Native American perspectives and ideas about Thanksgiving, giving thanks, how the Thanksgiving holiday came about, and the histories and cultures of indigenous people in the Pacific Northwest. 

Native American Perspectives

• Do American Indians celebrate Thanksgiving? | Smithsonian Voices – Dennis Zotigh, November 26, 2019, Smithsonian Magazine
• American Indian Perspectives on Thanksgiving  – Smithsonian National Museum of the American  Indian (NMAI)
• 3 Indigenous Chefs Explain What Thanksgiving Means to Them – Priya Krishna, November 25, 2019, Bon Appetit
• This Thanksgiving, Make These Native Recipes From Indigenous Chefs – Garin Pirnia, November 12, 2018 (updated October 26, 2020), Huffington Post
• “Words Spoken Before All Others,” the Ohenten Kariwatekwen or Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address | Smithsonian Voices – Six Nations Indian Museum and the Tracking Project, November 22, 2018, Smithsonian Magazine 

History of the Holiday

• Rethinking Thanksgiving Celebrations: Native Perspectives on Thanksgiving | Helpful Handout Educator Resource  – Native Knowledge 360, Smithsonian NMAI
• Harvest Ceremony: Beyond the Thanksgiving Myth – Smithsonian NMAI
• Everyone’s history matters: The Wampanoag Indian Thanksgiving story deserves to be known | Smithsonian Voices – Lindsay McVay, November 22, 2017, Smithsonian Magazine
• The Invention of Thanksgiving – Philip Deloria, November 18, 2019, New Yorker

Local Resource Compilations

• Resources – Indigenous Peoples Institute – Seattle University
• Helpful Native American Heritage Month teaching resources – Burke Museum
• Native American Cultural Heritage Guide – Content by Past Forward NW Cultural Services, third edition 2016, Visit Seattle

Events & Education

Join us in processing our American and Puget Sound Jewish communal histories with, understanding of, and actions around race and racism, including how these issues impact Jews of Color.

• Watch: Between Privilege and Peril: Jews and Structural Racism in the United States, with Professor Devin Naar
• Watch: And You Shall Be for a Blessing: Transforming Jewish Trauma to Pursue Justice, with Rabbi Dr. Tirzah Firestone

Educational Resources

• Watch: Diversity in the Jewish Community? (1 hour)

A webinar hosted by the JCRC of Jewish Colorado featuring diverse speakers sharing experiences, expertise, and insights on what it means to embody the Jewish values of inclusivity, diversity, and racial justice. With Dr. Mijal Bitton, Shalom Hartman Institute of North America; Stacey Aviva Flint, Congregation Bonai Shalom, Boulder; Ginna Green, Uprise, and Sammie Wicks, Aurora Police Department and JCRC at-large member.

February 2, 2021

• Watch: What Makes This Jew Different Than All Other Jews? Race, Difference, and Safety in Jewish Spaces (15 minutes)
  With MaNishtana (rabbi, educator, author), sharing his personal experiences and struggles to be recognized as Jewish in Jewish spaces while exploring community dynamics, Jewish text, values, and history.
  ELI Talk, March 13, 2017
• Listen: Members of Whose Tribe? (30 minutes)
  Hosted by Gene Demby and Shereen Marisol Meraji. This episode of the podcast Code Switch digs into the complex role Jewish identity has played in America’s racial story—especially now, when antisemitism is on the rise, recognizing that while today Americans tend to think of Jewish people as white, it wasn’t always that way.
  NPR, April 18, 2018
• Read: Why Diversity Is Important
  An article by Be’chol Lashon, which works to strengthen Jewish community by raising awareness about the ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity of Jewish identity and experience. The article reviews the history of ethnic and racial diversity in the Jewish community and makes a case for how this diversity is an asset and strength for our community.
  GlobalJews.org

Examining ‘Jews of Color’ Terminology and Data

• Read: Jewish Word  | Jewish Color, by Sarah Breger, writer/editor at Moment Magazine
  Looking at history, data, and recent discourse, the author explores the value and challenges of using the term “Jews of Color.”
  Moment Magazine, September 30, 2020
• Read: I Helped Coin the Term ‘Jews of Color.’ It’s Time for a History Lesson, by Shahanna McKinney-Baldon, Director of the Edot Midwest Regional Jewish Diversity Collaborative, educator, and advocate
  One of the originators of the term Jews of Color, McKinney-Baldon provides background on the origin of the term and speaks of its significance to those who self-identify with it.
  Hey Alma., May 28, 2020
• Read: How Many Jews of Color Are There?, by Ira M. Sheskin and Arnold Dashefsky, editors of the American Jewish Year Book
  The authors compare recent surveys and argue that the data suggests there are fewer Jews of Color than has been estimated.
  eJewishPhilanthropy, May 17, 2020
• Read: My mom is white and my dad is black. Don’t call me a ‘Jew of Color,’ by Kylie Unell, founder of Rooted and education adviser to OneTable
  The author shares her thoughts on the term “Jews of Color” and what she says are its shortcomings.
  Times of Israel, June 18, 2020

Additional Resources

• Read: How I Learned to Love Myself as a Black Jew, by Aviva Davis, student and community member
  The author shares her personal narrative of embracing her intersectional Jewish identity and offers advice to other Jews of Color.
  Hey Alma., June 16, 2020
• Read: Genetic research: almost 25% of Latinos, Hispanics Have Jewish DNA, by Ashley Perry, President of Reconectar and former adviser to the Israeli government
  This article outlines unprecedented genetic research undertaken by dozens of professors from around the world that has provided evidence that almost a quarter of Latinx and Hispanic people have significant “Jewish DNA” and describes implications for (re)connecting interested individuals who are descendants of Spanish and Portuguese Jewish communities to the Jewish community today.
  Jerusalem Post, March 1, 2019
• Read: Part Asian-American, All Jewish?, by Rachel Gross, writer/editor at Moment Magazine
  This article features Helen Kim and Noah Leavitt, a Korean-Jewish couple who are sociologists at Whitman College, and explores the difficulties and joys of growing up Asian and Jewish and struggling to find acceptance in the Jewish community.
  NPR, February 10, 2015
• Read: The Black Jews Are Tired, by Chris Harrison, writer/editor with URJ
  This short essay, written by a Black Jew, calls on white Jews to support Jews of Color in their fight to end systemic violence against black people.
  Reform Judaism, June 1, 2020