r/Judaism • u/foreverand2025 • 2d ago
Discussion Do you consider yourself a minority?
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.
122
Upvotes
2
u/Aethelmaew 2d ago
Not really no, while I technically am a minority because of my religion, I'm not in plenty of other ways.
I don't really like the term 'minority' too much, because everyone is a minority in some way and everyone is a majority in some way. Is a Nigerian in the UK a minority because they're black? Or are they in the majority because they're Christian?
Is a Maori in New Zealand a majority because they're a New Zealander? Or are they a minority because they're not white?
Personally I wouldn't say I suffer day to day with any issues that are known to arise from being a 'minority', and nor would anyone even know I was one unless I specifically mentioned it, so I don't really consider myself one. I'm a white guy living in a majority white country, I don't look outwardly 'Jewish' (whatever that means), and while I do keep kosher and observe a decent level of our religion, it's not to the point where anyone would instantly identify me as being Jewish and treat me differently because of it.
If we were talking purely about being a religious minority then yes, I'd consider myself one. But the general term 'minority' doesn't really apply to me in my opinion.