Jewishness And Whiteness (Or: Are Jews White?) | Chaianalysis 

Not sure why this video was in my recommendation but loved every second of it

ADDENDUM: - Yes, I'm aware that the Coptic and Ethiopian churches were primarily situated in Northeast Africa, while the majority of African slaves were taken from West Africa. This admittedly came across rather poorly in the video, but my point was that Europeans weren't gonna treat African Christians with any respect either. - The video got pretty long in the end, so this was cut for time, but I'd have liked to talk about the model minority myth, and how Jewish and Asian Americans were and are contrasted with Black Americans to blame Black Americans for their own oppression. - So, obviously, this video is talking about a demographic of people that includes myself. That makes for complicated feelings, especially when I'm being critical of said demographic. There's simultaneously a desire to go easy on a group that includes myself, and an urge towards self-flagellation that makes me want to be extra harsh. I've hopefully walked that line well and remained fair. European Jewish immigrants _did_ work hard! But the idea that we lifted ourselves out of poverty by our bootstraps is simply ahistorical, and ignores how other groups worked just as hard and didn't make it. - I'm Canadian, but this video focuses on the United States in particular because, simply put, there's exponentially more Jewish Americans than Jewish Canadians. There are about 300,000 Jewish Canucks, while there are over 7 million Jewish Yanks. - There are a few times throughout the video when I just say "Jews" with no modifier attached. Usually, I'm still talking about off-white/White Jews during those times, but when I'm discussing antisemitism specifically, it includes all Jews. - If I've messed up and said something egregiously wrong that's not covered in this addendum, feel free to drop a comment and let me know; but I've done my research and cited my sources, so I'd appreciate for anyone hoping to correct me to do their due diligence and cite their sources in turn.

I love that it's impossible for a RU-vidr (and even to some extent for traditional TV too) to not somehow reference the Monty Python sketch whenever they say "Spanish inquisition"

That was an amazing video, honestly! Bravo! One point for improvement though: you have got to learn how to use a teleprompter! 😝🌹

One little kvetch... the music early in video drowns out your dialogue. Undercover Brother also had difficulties with mayo: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ubV3t9_CwDc.html

Hi! Found this from your website! Really glad I did, too. This topic is really curious for me. For context.. am from a country with barely over a thousand Jewish people, so any knowledge I have of Jewish/US history is not deeply ingrained into my psyche to pull from, rather it is my readings from the past few years that have gotten me to know these subjects. You explained the history and general discourse from the late 1800s onward to modern day really clearly. US racial discourse is fairly new to me, but I started reading and being interested in it, alongside with my interest in 20th century show-business, movies, radio etc. in the US. (Other countries too, but US being the giant of media it is, it's easier to find extensive information.. anyway.) This topic has come across my view before, as a lot of famous people I am interested in researching are both white and Jewish. My main person-of-interest is Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz in 1892), who was a big superstar of the 20th century. He was also the first male Jewish celebrity to be "out," the first Jewish person was Sophie Tucker, if I'm not mistaken. Eddie did not shy away from referencing his Jewishness, and it was an important part of the characters he played in his films and radio. It's a real treat to hear while listening to his shows. He was a poor orphan, raised by his Yiddish-speaking Russian grandmother in Lower East Side New York, where he grew up with other immigrants. He was a really generous man, and wanted the improvement for racial equality in the US; Especially black Americans, who he felt a strong solidarity for. This he stood for until his death in 1964. One way he displayed solidarity was acting as characters who were both black and Jewish, in other words, he wore blackface. I find it curious myself, because historian David Weinstein mentioned how his blackface was different from someone like, say, Al Jolson; He did not apply white people's stereotypes of black people to his characters, but rather played himself, a jolly likable character. I am not defending the use of blackface, just to clarify; Interesting is how all forms of blackface (that I have researched about and seen in comedy and general culture of the US) have always been about minstrelsy, mocking, stereotypes, Eddie's being an exception of an ATTEMPT at making his character likable, fun, with no stereotypes to make the watcher laugh at the character, but instead with them. It shows the complexity of solidarity, what it meant to be an ally before easy access to information, what it means to be an ally in the present day, and education of the history of one's country. Blackface would be prevalent in his work at least as late as 1948, where he got letters from black people asking him to stop performing in blackface... and as far as I know, he did. There is a clip on RU-vid, called "Sammy Davis, Jr..asf" where a young Sammy Davis Jr is dancing, singing, and doing impressions on TV. The program is called "The Colgate Comedy Hour", hosted by Eddie Cantor. In the video, at 8:05, Eddie comes from off-camera, to wipe Sammy's forehead with his handkerchief. This made white Americans angry. Eddie received letters demanding this to stop, but, determined by the solidarity between Jewish and black folks, Eddie booked TALENTED Sammy Davis Jr (and his Dad and Uncle) to perform multiple times. One of the angry comments thrown at the TV program said that, "Eddie might be a jew, but at least he is white"... (Fun fact, Eddie Cantor was the reason Sammy Davis Jr. became Jewish) There is a great book about Eddie and his Jewishness, called "The Eddie Cantor Story," written by David Weinstein, who I mentioned before. It talks about how he brought his Jewishness to his work, in a time where nobody else did. Eddie also notably hired black actors in his movies, which (I don't even need to tell you I figure) was rare for the 1930s, if the actors weren't made to play stereotypical caregiver roles. Have you heard of Jack Benny? He wasn't out as a Jewish entertainer as far as I know, but he also worked for the solidarity of black Americans and Jewish people; He was good friends with co-actor Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. Anderson played Jack's chauffeur on his radio program, but (as is Jack's style of comedy) he got to make fun of Jack's character, and the audiences got to laugh with him, on Jack's expense. Jack also refused to air his show in front of segregated audiences. A movie of his "Buck Benny rides Again" was originally supposed to premiere at Paramount Theatre, but Jack, wanting to honor Anderson's contribution to his career, moved the debut to Victoria Theatre in Harlem. I do see both Jack Benny and Eddie Cantor as people, in solidarity, uplifting their black co-workers and their careers, even though they both have rocky and racist parts in their history (Jack Benny Program on radio has made bad racial jokes, a minstrelsy episode, and is generally not good in representing indigenous and Mexican peoples of the Americas), something that is so integrated to movies and media of the 20th century. I remember someone saying that there isn't a comedian in existence who didn't make jokes at the expense of people of color, so I do understand if there is someone who isn't comfortable watching, discussing, or giving credit to famous white people from The Old Hollywoodland. I do want to say that it's more important to uplift and listen to the people who are trying to fight for their own rights, rather than their allies who can do as half-educated job as they want in representing said group. Trying to stay and talk about the subject of Jewishness and whiteness as per the video you see 😂... You showed me a part of this history and general discourse that I did not know from before! So thank you for the experience and thank you for reading through my brain's thoughts on hopefully related topics... I also related to some of the discourse myself, as partly an indigenous European, young people in my community also went through a phase of "white-passing," which, not to boast, I'm proud to say I saw through its ridiculousness... In any English-speaking country, mayo-having indigenous people would still have the status of being white. I don't think that should've even been a thing for us, as racial terms and discourse was brought over here from the US to begin with, and have never been a part of the discussion we have had for our rights. White-passing, Ugh. Maybe I lost the topic during commenting, but I really do enjoyed this video thoroughly !!!!!!!!

Great video. I am an atheist of Ashkenazi heritage. It bothers me endlessly that “Jewish” and “Ashkenazi” have become interchangeable. FFS not all Jews are Ashkenazi. There are Jews of all human genotypes all over the world, and it often seems like white Jews maintain a very ethnocentric view about who belongs in the so-called tribe. Plus, not all Ashkenazis are Jews, damnit. I’m fine with describing myself as “from a Jewish family,” but I am NOT Jewish. It’s really important to me that my atheist identity not be subsumed by that label just because it’s currently standard to conflate Jew with Ashkenazi. I have been trying for a while now to normalize the use of “Ashkenazi” as the primary ethnic descriptor for me and those like me. (Also, “white” and “Caucasian” are fine, because those labels are pretty much perceptual, and I am certainly a European-derived whitey in that sense.)

This turned out great!

I feel like I just found Tiny Joel. Jk your style is definitely different and unique but I also see a lot of the authenticity and humor that I love so much about his channels. Been binging and loving your videos this week.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is so!!!!! fantastic!!!!!

Really good, interesting and funny video essay! As a European I have also noticed that American Jews (Probably due to survivors moving there after the war as well as the close relationship with [redacted country]) seem to have a rather unique status? Some sort of holy victimhood that is able to continue under the condition that (white, christian) America is always, always allowed to see itself as the heroes in those stories of suffering.

Not sure if this was on purpose, but when you ended the video with "the only way out is through" it sounded a lot like ocean keltoi when he ends videos with "find a way, or make one".

I found this video fascinating

How does this have less than 1000 views

Just identify as a Jew and in general try to be be a mensch with all people and don't get all hung up and worrywhether Jews are" White" or "conditionally White" or "White passing" or any of that. Also, what about spicy mayo mixed with s'Hug? EDIT: And, I'm guessing you identify as non-binary looking at your profile, is "mensch" okay to say, or is it not gender-neutral? (Just wondering, I am asking seriously to be an ally.)

awesome video.

and that's a no from me