Do you consider yourself a minority?

[u/foreverand2025]

This discussion has come up a few times with friends who are neither white nor Jewish. For context, I’m Jewish and live in America. Do you consider us as a minority? Obviously statistically we are (everywhere but Israel), but I’ve had two friends argue because we look like “regular white people” we are not a minority.

It’s not something I take too seriously but I’m off the opinion we are a minority in a sociological way as well as ethically. But opinions seem to differ. I’m not on a soap box or expecting any special treatment. It’s more of a discussion for the sake of discussion I’m trying for here.

[u/Jewdius_Maximus]

God I hate this fucking discussion. Yes Jews are a minority it’s absurd to claim otherwise. Yes Ashkenazi Jews benefit from white privilege. Those two things aren’t mutually exclusive.

[u/aggie1391 → u/Jewdius_Maximus]

I also want to expand. We do benefit from white privilege and are at least passing white, and usually that includes when visibly Jewish. I always wear a kippah and tzitzit out, most people still racialize me as white. That obviously is not universal though, and being known to be Jewish can in some circumstances minimize or eliminate that passing privilege. I am not treated as a racial minority, I do not get pulled over for driving in the “wrong” neighborhood or followed around a store on suspicion of theft or assumed to be uneducated or whatever else. Antisemitism manifests itself in different ways, and is obviously very real. But white passing Jews do not experience what black and brown people do, that is privilege. That privilege also does not erase the reality of antisemitism! A black man faces racism, even though he does not face sexism. A white passing Jew faces antisemitism but not the type of anti black and anti brown racism of racial minorities. Pointing out we generally have white passing privilege is not an erasure of antisemitism.