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Behind the Aegis

(54,926 posts)
Sat Aug 6, 2022, 02:36 PM Aug 2022

(Jewish Group) The perils of California textbooks that teach Jews are white

THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP! RESPECT!!!

Have you ever asked a young person what ancient Jews looked like? With what students are learning in California textbooks, you may be quite surprised with the answer.

You see, in California, sixth-grade public school students begin to study “world cultures and civilizations,” and in many cases, it’s their first time learning about numerous minorities, including Jews. First impressions are profound, and in this case will have an impact on future encounters.

And what is a California sixth-grader’s first impression of Jewish people’s heritage?

White.

Just leaf through the pages of accredited California textbooks. You’ll be shocked. The lessons about ancient Israel are not illustrated with people who are ethnically Middle Eastern and multicultural, but with people who are white. This is accomplished mostly through the use of classical European paintings, done by artists who apparently imagined the entire cast of the Bible as white. Abounding in the textbook pages are images of paintings that feature blond, redheaded and assorted other white Egyptians, Jordanians and Israelites.

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(Jewish Group) The perils of California textbooks that teach Jews are white (Original Post) Behind the Aegis Aug 2022 OP
This issue is one of my sore spots MyMission Aug 2022 #1
What color/race/ethnicity was Jesus? keithbvadu2 Aug 2022 #2

MyMission

(2,000 posts)
1. This issue is one of my sore spots
Sat Aug 6, 2022, 04:44 PM
Aug 2022

Thanks for sharing this. My parents married in 1960.So, I was raised in the 60's and was "taught" that I was not white, I was a Jew.

My parents had been denied rooms in some hotels and memberships in some clubs, just like other non-whites were discriminated against. Non-whites created our own communities, while fighting to be accepted. As many states were fighting or embracing desegregation, we knew we were "tokens" many times, quota's, and not fully accepted, integrated or understood. When Jews started to be called white, I never picked up the habit, always enter other when asked about my race, except when I can write in human.

Having said that, I've copied a few paragraphs from the article you shared that reflect my view

"As a white-passing Ashkenazi Jew, I will never fully understand racism in America. That said, I will never understand what it means to be white; while I am white-passing, I am a Jew, and that should be enough.

This is what our education must teach to fully meet the equitable, diverse and inclusive future that awaits our generation and generations to come."

And while we pass for white, many of us can't or won't pass for a white Christian.

keithbvadu2

(40,522 posts)
2. What color/race/ethnicity was Jesus?
Sat Aug 6, 2022, 08:07 PM
Aug 2022

What color/race/ethnicity was Jesus?

It depends on whose wall his portrait hangs.

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