Wright and Wrong of Race and Jews

1) Rabbi Grossman did not say Jews were passing as white, she said that many African Americans see Jews as part of the white majority rather than also a minority. The issue was not about race alone but about how lines of majority and/or privilege are perceived by different minorities.

2) If one takes a more transparent approach to googling matters related to the "white-related" problem of skin cancer among the Jewish community, you will find 120,000+ hits for "Jewish" and "skin cancer." Of course there are irrelevant hits. But I don't know what community centers and clinics really have to do with such a search, unless you are looking for a skin cancer clinic that is located in a Jewish community center. The presence or absence of such is not really relevant to whether or not Jews experience skin cancer.

3) Dave's final point links with my #1. Where the lines of commonality are perceived depends on the situation various groups are experiencing at different points in time. How else could ultra-fundamentalist Christians perceive themselves as Israel's best friends? -- and even be perceived as such by some Jews too.

It is good that so many people are speaking out about their experiences with reverse racial hatred. Having lived in Detroit during and after the Riots of the 60's, we saw the Black Power movement, the Black Panther movement and we lived with hatred surrounding us. Because of my Jewish and Native American mix my color may have been invisible to African American's but not to whites and sometimes to whites and not to African American's. Talk about paranoia. It was difficult to walk the streets of Detroit as a female by yourself and sometimes necessary, so you had to stay where their were lots of people and hope for the best. African American men would stand with containers asking for coins to fund "Black Colleges and Universities." I always told them, I do not believe in Segregation. They just looked at me with kind of a puzzled look and then started jiven me. I looked past them and went on and usually didn't say a word. Tough times. I am still here and there are many stories and people have changed. I am happy that people are changing.

Re: skin cancer as "white" problem--it's not. African-Americans and even Africans get melanoma. In fact, I think Bob Marley died of it.

I have never met "an angry," hateful, Jewish person in my decades of life here in America. Never. I have met so many angry and hateful African-American people that I can no longer count the numbers. I'm being honest.

Why do Christians the workd over worship a Jew, if Jews are hated the world over as Mr Bowman states. I do not believe that, Jewish people are respected and consulted, they are physicians, film makers, comedians, actors, philanthropists, economists, professors, business mogals, stock market gurus, builders, Rabbis etc. around the world. Remember the diaspora. The world is changing. Jews do not feel hated. I believe there are people who hate Jews but I also believe that those people hate themselves first as Mr Bowman implied. It may be Jewish Jealously turned into angry torment.
There are many "closet Jews" people who converted in more recent history to the Christian, Catholic or Luthern Church to excape tyrany like Nazi Germany or the Spanish Inquisition. If you look deep enough in your family tree there is probably a Jew there. Hitler was known to have had Jewish ancestry.
Jewish philosophy is to do Mitzvot, good for other people in their daily lives and that is how Jewish people live their lives. It is a Blessing from G-d if Jewish people are able to give to and help others. Most Jewish people live by this philosophy.
Jewish People all over the world will be celebrating Passover in April and the Greek Orthodox Church will celebrate Easter following Passover as Jesus was hung on the cross after his Passover Sader. Jews celebrate Passover because Moses took the people out of Egypt from being enslaved under the Pharoh. If you recall, the lambs blood was placed over their houses so the death angle would Passover their houses so their first born son would survive. The Egyptian son's died. It was a miracle of G-d's work and no other to help the Jews out of bondage and convince the Pharoh's to let them go and return to the Promised land. Therefore, Jews celebrate "Passover" as a Miracle since the days leaving Egypt's bondage and the freedom to worship only one G-d.

Hitler did not have Jewish ancestry. That's a myth. He may of thought he had it, but he likely did not.

Some people will hate all Jews because of the slumlords and the like. Some people will hate all African-Americans because of Louis Farrakkhan and the like. Some people will hate all Germans because of the Nazis. Some people will hate all Palestinians because of Hamas. Etc.

We must refuse to answer hate with hate. We must be resolute in acting and speaking in ways that demonstrate our belief that we are all connected, that as Martin Buber wrote, "In each person there is a priceless treasure that is in no other." Each person, of whatever ethnicity!!

We must extend our caring and compassion to those who are different than ourselves, no matter how often or how angrily it is thrown back in our faces. We must make common cause with those who are oppressed, because it is what is right, it is what G-d commands, and because we could be next.

Farrakkhan? There is much in his message that I find distasteful, much that expresses hate. But let us not forget that he has also been a powerful voice, calling upon young black people to reject lives of crime and drug use and promiscuity. His followers may hate us -- but they are not the ones that we might reasonably fear late at night in a subway station. The same can be said for Pastor Wright.

Let us condemn the message, not the man. Let us chose our words carefully, respectfully, let us edit out hateful inferences without respite.

It will not happen overnight, it will not happen soon. But let us go on working to create a world where a person is judged by where she is going rather than where he came from.

There is no such thing as a different race! It is a social concept. We all started from the same place--AFRICA! G-d knew what HE was doing, it's just human beings that screw it up! When are we going to try to get this idea changed!!! It continually divides us. To the person who says she has met more hateful blacks, I'm not hateful but I do understand their anger. EVERY day, practically we have to face some kind of insult because of the color of our skin. We have to be careful when traveling, hoping that we don't stop in the town to get gas where we will never return, my son and son-in-law stopped to get gas, and there were racial epithets all over the walls--"Niggers go home, swastikas, etc. It gets tiring. I worry when my son is stopped by the police--even though I know not all police are our enemies. It's a different world for us! However, I NEVER blame all white people for these problems we face. When we do work, (not always), there are people angry that you're working and make your lives miserable because you want to be honest! Example: Whirlpool in Memphis, TN. It was so bad that some whites joined the lawsuit. Human beings love to hate and exclude--that is the nature of some humans. I tell my children all of the time---"It's bite, scratch and kick" all the way to the end to be the person that G-d wants you to be. There will always be obstacles in the way.

I think it's pretty appalling to raise the Farrakhan issue again as a criticism of Obama's speech. In January, on at least two occasions, Obama completely and unequivocally denounced Farrakhan and stated on equally certain terms that he strongly disagreed with the decision to honor him in that magazine. He did so again in early February, and I believe even later. How many times does he have to repeat that? It's simply an unfair criticism.

Never forget...action speaks louder than words...Obama only spoke against his pastor..when it came out on TV...prior to that, he spoke very highly of this anti-Semitic, anti American, pro radical Islamist, sorry excuse for a man of G-d...a lot of people are impressed with Obama being a fantastic orator.....people were impressed with Adolf Hitler's orator skills....please don't think of being politiclly correct, or white guilt....there is too much at stake...We live in the best country in the world...common sense must rule...the best person for the job should be voted in.,..for their skills, not for their speech making...I'm sure someone is writing every word for him...I know that if I sat in my Synagogue, and a Rabbi went on an anti-American rant...there would be no hesitation...I would leave, never to return...read his book...don't just listen to his promises...he is a cover up, and dishonest person...

Cheryl: "There is no such thing as a different race! It is a social concept."

Okay lets play this tired PC rhetoric out, so we can avoid a, to use Barry's words, "shortcut to avoid paying attention and thinking".

If race is a mere social concept that doesn't really exist and is thereby irrelevant, how much more so could we agree this applies to the concepts of national, political, or cultural/religious/ethnic groups?

Since "the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural/ethnic group" is the definition of genocide and since these are all mere "social concepts", then we must conclude that genocide itself is a non-issue. Since you did not take an overt anti-genocide stance I offer you a cautionary commendation for your lack of hypocrisy.

Now Barry; our brains work like a computer and rely heavily on memory or cache. Creating shortcuts is a natural process that allows us to perform even the simplest of exercises, such as getting out of bed, without having to think about and relearn the problem on a daily basis. It also formulates a framework through which we view the world. Personally I'd rather, both physically and metaphorically, be an active member of society than refrain from using shortcuts. Granted, I'm willing to reconsider these shortcuts and framework, even to the point of religious conversion, but not on the basis of ad nauseum empty PC rhetoric.
Shalom

Barak's association of 20 years with a man that is blatantly anti-American , antisemitic , and continually promites race hatred. speaks louder than the pretty words he speaks. Pretty speeches are easy to make.
I am a Christian Zionist. Many Jews do not like me because I believe in Jesus.Many Gentiles do not like me because I not only stand publicly for Israel , but for the Jews as a people chosen by
G-D.A man's goal should not be to be popular but right in his own heart.
During the civil right movement I was the member of a church that voted to refuse entry to any Black person that would come to our congregation. I was the only one who spoke publicly against this policy. At another church many years later there were speakers that were openly racist. I severed my membership immediately. This is why I can not understand why a man who wants to be President of the United States of America could not do the same in a 20 year span. I am sure many of us have had similar situations and you stood for right too. Why could he not do so ?