“We want 1,000 Jews of color to share their stories by filling out the survey,” said Executive Director of the JoC Initiative Ilana Kaufman. “If we want to create Jewish communities and leaders that reflect and represent all Jews, we must get this right.”
The JoC will be looking for 1,000 respondents to answer questions, such as how Jews of color view Jewish identity, what are their experiences within the Jewish community, how has systematic racism affected Jews living in Jewish communities and how can the Jewish community better reflect the "range of experiences and identities of all people."The survey will be open until February 19, which the JoC hopes will be finished by July - after which the results will be shared broadly to formulate change within Jewish communities.“American Jewish leaders and organizations have often associated Jewishness solely with the White Ashkenazi experience,” Kaufman added. “This mindset has heavily influenced how organizations are structured and run, who they view as their audiences, what programs are developed and offered, and how people are—or are not—welcomed into organizations and events. We need data and sound research that builds our case, indisputably, that leaders need to think about the Jewish community through an entirely different lens.”
The research will be led by academics from the University of Southern California and Stanford, as well as professionals from Microsoft.
“In these past 11 months of unprecedented crises from pandemic to racial brutality, we have felt the collective grief and the importance to center voices, stories, and leadership from Black, Indigenous, and people of color to reach a new paradigm in our consciousness globally,” says Dr. Dalya Perez, a critical race theorist and equity strategist for Microsoft, who is a Jew of color on the study’s research team.
“For Jews of Color, many of us have been on the margins in mainstream Jewish institutions. This study aims to better understand stories and experiences about the intersection of racialization and Jewish life for Jews of color. This work has never been more crucial and timely. To Jews of color, we say that it is time for visibility, for voice, and for data - for us and by us.”