At this closing discussion, hosts and guests reflect on lessons from the lecture series as a whole, considering such questions as: What is the relationship between Jewishness and whiteness? How does the study of race and racism enrich our understanding of religion? Of Jewishness? How does scholarship on race and racism make a practical difference in society?

Participating in the roundtable are: lecturer Shana Sippy, Anne Albert, Mira Wasserman, Steve Weitzman and special guest Analucía Lopezrevoredo.

Recording

• Click here for lecture and roundtable video.

Next steps

Dr. Lopezrevoredo shares these closing thoughts about next steps: 

“Our commitment to equity and justice must be lifelong. It’s going to take time to address and repair a lot of the pain caused by racism and white supremacy. One of the things I always recommend my colleagues (white and non-white) is to examine how white supremacy and internalized anti-semitism lives within them and the way in which they “problem solve” and “fix/ameliorate” things. A great place to start is by reading Tema Okun and Kenneth Jone’s piece on the Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture. Reading this will lead to fruitful self-reflection, as well as lead folks to think about actions they can take to interrupt oppression in their everyday lives. 

• Learn more about Jewtina y Co. here.
• Jewtina y Co. VOCES project page.
• VOCES podcast. 
• Dr. Lopezrevoredo’s recent article about her experience living on the periphery of Jewish life.

Discussion questions

1. What insights and questions will you take away from this lecture series?
2. Participants talked about the experience of holding multiple identities, and the way these identities shape each other. The experience of being Jewish is different for Jews of different backgrounds. What identities do you hold? What makes some of these identities more salient than others? 
3. Professor Weitzman describes white Jews as being “white but not quite,” and Professor Sippy speaks of “proximate whiteness.” What do you think these concepts mean? Do you find them helpful?
4. Anne Albert describes a double bind that characterizes the experience of many American Jews –on the one hand, they are marginalized or threatened by white nationalism and antisemitism and on the other hand, they benefit from privileges conferred by whiteness. How do you see this double bind playing out in American Jewish life? 
5. What are some ways that you see whiteness and white supremacy shaping Jewish life in the United States? In other places? What impact does white supremacy have on your own experience? On your family’s story?

Analucía Lopezrevoredo

Dr. Analucía Lopezrevoredo is a Peruvian-Chilean-American Jewtina, born in Peru and raised in Spain and the United States. An anti-oppression activist, educator and researcher, Analucía founded Jewtina y Co. in 2019 to offer Latin Jews from around the world a platform in which to engage in critical dialogue about Jewish and Latin multiculturalism. Prior to starting Jewtina y Co., she was a principal investigator for the Center to Advance Racial Equity in Portland, Oregon, and a migrant rights advocate in California’s Central Valley, southwestern México and southeastern Perú. Analucía’s educational background lies in critical race and cross-cultural studies, and her doctoral research was centered around Latino immigrant and refugee resiliency. A passionate global citizen, she’s traveled to over 125 countries and has lived in five continents.