I'm a Mizrahi Jew. Do I Count as a Person of Color?

[shira]

Am I a person of color?

You’d think there would be a straightforward answer to a question like that. And for a while, I thought there was. I thought the answer was yes.

When I look at my grandparents — four Mizrahim, or Jews from Arab lands — I see people who were born in India and Iraq and Morocco, who grew up speaking Hindi and Arabic. When I stand in Sephora buying makeup, the shade I choose is closer to “ebony” than to “petal.” When I walk down the street, perfect strangers routinely stop me to ask: “Where are you from? Are you Persian? Indian? Arab? Latina?” When I go through airport security, I always — always — get “randomly selected” for additional screening.

I was pretty sure all this made me a person of color.

And then an acquaintance, who is Jewish and African-American, told me in the course of a casual conversation that no, actually, I don’t count....



Read more: http://forward.com/opinion/318667/im-a-mizrahi-jew-do-i-count-as-a-person-of-color/#ixzz3iuZRoB00

[haikugal]

1. Will it ever end?

[Xipe Totec]

2. There was a time when Irish and Italians were considered non-whites

It's a matter of who sets the rules and how people of privilege decide who belongs and who does not belong to the exclusive club.

[guillaumeb]

3. Exactly so. Given the wide range of skin tones that exist among humans,

any division into preferred/non-preferred color reflects social choices.

[Xipe Totec]

4. I can't help but remember Garrett Morris' satirical sketch on SNL.

[guillaumeb]

5. Unfortunately, what Bond said in jest makes perfect sense to some people. eom

[Xipe Totec]

6. And there's the rub - Satire is wasted on the stupid. nt

[LeftishBrit]

8. Absolutely!

[LeftishBrit]

7. I suppose you count as a person of colour if you are treated as one...

I have known Ashkenazi Jews who looked strongly Middle Eastern, and an Arab who looked Scandinavian.; so there are no strict rules. But most Mizrahi Jews do look non-Europaean.

'When I go through airport security, I always — always — get “randomly selected” for additional screening.'

After that it's must be quite frustrating to have someone tell you that you 'don't count'.

BTW, during the First Gulf War, a Puerto Rican acquaintance of mine, then living in England, had someone shout at her in the street: 'Bloody Arab!'

[carolinayellowdog]

9. More Iberian, North African, Middle Eastern DNA in me than sub Saharan or Native American BUT

four lines of colonial ancestry were classified as "mulatto" in the 18thc. Can't find any individuals in the genealogical paper trail who were either African, Native American, Jewish, Roma, etc... but the implication of the DNA is that any swarthy but not obviously black person in colonial America was likely to get lumped in the "mulatto" category.

We don't use that word any more, but I think the mindset persists.

[Igel]

10. What's in it for others?

That seems to be my utterly cynical take on the matter.

Now "POC" is anybody who's not Scandinavian, more or less. Asians, East and SE and South and Central; Latinos, except perhaps Xuxa; First Nations of all stripes; N. Africans and Middle Easterners.

Now "POC" means "African-American." Only.

"Police violence, blah-blah, POC, blah-blah." Makes it sound like the concern is over all non-whites. Until ...
"Look at Miguel Hernandez, killed by police!" (made up stereotypical name)
"BlackLivesMatter! Not AllLivesMatter!"

Suddenly Latinos aren't POC. Unless it's necessary to get support to stoke outrage that helps you.

The boundaries shift, not just as classified by the dominant group, but by the group dominant in any given context or situation as their needs change. "POC" just says "one of us for our political or social purposes." So today a Mizrahi will be POC; tomorrow, utterly not POC. Or the other way around.

Come to think of it, if the goal was "just" and it was necessary, even Xuxa, being a Latina, would be considered a POC. (Of course, there are Latino-rights advocates who would deny that Xuxa is a Latina because she's not a native Spanish speaker and those in prior generations whose genes she bears weren't Spanish-speakers.)

[shira]

11. +1. n/t

[HickFromTheTick]

12. not to derail the thread, but this seems relevant to the op.....

What happens when Arabs and Jews intermingle biologically, as in Jewish father-Arab mother, or Jewish mother-Arab father?
Are the tragic offspring expelled by BOTH cultures, becoming pariahs like half-blooded North American Indians once were? Or is one side more amenable to this "dilution of the bloodline" ? Which side is the most xenophobic? Or are they both equally xenophobic? Which bloodline is more pure to its' roots? Which religion is less likely to be contaminated by the others' DNA deficiencies? Which one has more racial purity to be concerned with?

[doxyluv13]

13. Interesting thread

Shows what a difficult concept race is. Assuming Shira is a U.S. citizen, in the 2000 census "white" would have been the box to check--it included people of Arab and North African extraction. By 2010 there was a "some other race-specify" category.

Although you've been discriminated against due to skin color, few would call you a PoC.

[Ken Burch]

14. Shira just posted the OP. The text is from the linked article, I think.

As far as I know(Shira could clarify this in the thread, I suppose)she herself is not Mizrahi.