Social Justice
Myths about critical race theory:
Myths about critical race

Pyramid of white supremacy

Racial Solidarity Resources:

BOOKS

Note: If purchasing on Amazon, be sure to go to smile.amazon.com and select “Temple Har Zion”; we will receive a percentage of the sale.

Title

Author

Notes

Theme

Link

A Fool’s Errand

Lonnie Bunch

Founding Director Lonnie Bunch’s deeply personal tale of the triumphs and challenges bringing the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture to life. His story is by turns inspiring, funny, frustrating, quixotic, bittersweet, and above all, a compelling read.

Black History, Racial Justice

https://www.amazon.com/Fools-Errand-Creating-National-American/dp/1588346684 

Wilmington’s Lie

David Zucchino

By the 1890s, Wilmington was North Carolina’s largest city and a shining example of a mixed-race community. It was a bustling port city with a burgeoning African American middle class and a Fusionist government of Republicans and Populists that included black aldermen, police officers and magistrates. There were successful black-owned businesses and an African American newspaper, The Record. But across the state—and the South— white supremacist Democrats were working to reverse the advances made by former slaves and their progeny.

Black History, Racial Justice

https://www.amazon.com/Wilmingtons-Lie-Murderous-White-Supremacy/dp/0802148654/ref=sr_1_1 

Black Power/Jewish Politics

Marc Dolinger

Marc Dollinger charts the transformation of American Jewish political culture from the Cold War liberal consensus of the early postwar years to the rise and influence of Black Power-inspired ethnic nationalism.

Black-Jewish Relations, Black History, Racial Justice

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Power-Jewish-Politics-Reinventing/dp/1512602574/ref=sr_1_1ks%2C78

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CRT: A Primer

Khiara Bridges

This highly-readable primer on Critical Race Theory (CRT) examines the theory’s basic commitments, strengths and weaknesses.

Critical Race Theory, Racial Justice, Black History

https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Race-Theory-Third-Introduction/dp/147980276X/ref=sr_1_1 

 

 

 

 

 

Cultivating Genius

Gholdy Muhammad

In Cultivating Genius, Dr. Gholdy E. Muhammad presents a four-layered equity framework grounded in history and that restores excellence in literacy education.

Black History, Racial Justice

https://www.amazon.com/Cultivating-Genius-Culturally-Historically-Responsive/dp/1338594893/ref=sr_1_1 

Decolonizing Wealth

Edgar Villanueva

Decolonizing Wealth is a provocative analysis of the dysfunctional colonial dynamics at play in philanthropy and finance.

Critical Race Theory, Racial Justice

https://www.amazon.com/Decolonizing-Wealth-Second-Indigenous-Divides/dp/152309141X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0 

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

Isabel Wilkerson

Wilkerson explores how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings.

Critical Race Theory, Racial Justice

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=caste+the+origins+of+our+discontents+by+isabel+wilkerson 

 

The Color of Love: A Story of a Mixed- Race Jewish Girl

Marra Gad

The Color of Love explores the idea of yerusha, or inheritance in Yiddish. At turns heart-wrenching and heartwarming, this is a story about what you inherit from your family–identity, disease, melanin, hate, and most powerful of all, love.

Black-Jewish Relations

https://www.amazon.com/Color-Love-Story-Mixed-Race-Jewish/dp/157284275X 

The New Jim Crow

Michelle Alexander

Alexander shows that, by targeting black men through the War on Drugs and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of colorblindness. The New Jim Crow challenges the civil rights community to place mass incarceration at the forefront of a new movement for racial justice.

Racial Justice

https://www.amazon.com/New-Jim-Crow-Incarceration-Colorblindness/dp/1620971933/ref=sr_1_1 

A Letter to my White Friends and Colleagues

Steve Rogers

From the life, professional experiences, and research of former Harvard Business School professor Steven Rogers comes an epistle investigating the causes of racial wealth disparity in the

U.S. and providing solutions for addressing it.

Racial Justice

https://www.amazon.com/Letter-White-Friends-Colleagues-Community/dp/1119794773 

Ain’t I a Woman

Bell Hooks

This book examines the impact of sexism on black women during slavery, the devaluation of black womanhood, black male sexism, racism among feminists, and the black woman’s involvement with feminism.

Critical Race Theory, Racial Justice, Feminism

https://www.amazon.com/Aint-Woman-Black-Women-Feminism/dp/1138821519/ref=sr_1_1 

Bad Feminist

Roxane Gay

A collection of essays spanning politics, criticism, and feminism.

Racial Understanding, Feminism

https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Feminist-Essays-Roxane-Gay/dp/0062282719/ref=sr_1_1 

Between the World and Me

Ta-Nehisi Coates

In a work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion.

Critical Race Theory, Racial Justice

https://www.amazon.com/Between-World-Me-Ta-Nehisi-Coates/dp/0812993543/ref=sr_1_1 

 

Black White and Jewish

Rebecca Walker

The Civil Rights movement brought author Alice Walker and lawyer Mel Leventhal together, and in 1969 their daughter, Rebecca, was born. Some saw this unusual copper-colored girl as an outrage or an oddity; others viewed her as a symbol of harmony, a triumph of love over hate. In this book, Rebecca Leventhal Walker attempts to define herself as a soul instead of a symbol—and offers a new look at the challenge of personal identity, in a story at once strikingly unique and truly universal.

Black-Jewish Relations

https://www.amazon.com/Black-White-Jewish-Autobiography-Shifting/dp/1573221694/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0 

Black Anti- Semitism and Jewish Racism

James Baldwin

A critical, personal analysis of Black-Jewish relations.

Black-Jewish Relations

https://amazon.com/Black-Anti-Semitism-Jewish-Racism-Hentoff/dp/0805202803/ref=sr_1_1 

The Bluest Eye

Toni Morrison

In Morrison’s bestselling first novel, Pecola Breedlove—an 11- year-old Black girl in America prays for her eyes to turn blue: so that she will be beautiful, so that people will look at her, so that her world will be different. This is the story of the nightmare at the heart of her yearning, and the tragedy of its fulfillment.

Racial Understanding

https://www.amazon.com/Bluest-Eye-Vintage-International/dp/0307278441/ref=sr_1_1 

The Colors of Jews

Melanie Kaye/
Kantrowitz

Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz exposes and challenges the common assumptions about whom and what Jews are, by presenting in their own voices, Jews of color from the Iberian Peninsula, Asia, Africa, and India. Drawing from her earlier work on Jews and whiteness, Kaye/Kantrowitz delves into the largely uncharted territory of Jews of color, arguing that Jews are an increasingly multiracial people―a fact that, if acknowledged and embraced, could foster cross-race solidarity to help combat racism.

Jewish History, Black-Jewish Relations

https://www.amazon.com/Colors-Jews-Politics-Radical-Diasporism/dp/0253219272/ 

The Fire Next Time

James Baldwin

A national bestseller when it first appeared in 1963, The Fire Next Time galvanized the nation and gave voice to the emerging civil rights movement.

Racial Justice

https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Next-Time-James-Baldwin/dp/067974472X 

 

How Jews Became White Folks and What That Says About Race in America

Karen Brodkin

This question is posted in the context of a wider conversation about American nationhood, to whom it belongs and what belonging means. Race and ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality are all staple ingredients in this conversation.

Critical Race Theory, Racial Justice, Racial Understanding

https://www.amazon.com/Became-White-Folks-About-America/dp/081352590X 

How to Be an Antiracist

Ibram X. Kendi

Kendi weaves a combination of ethics, history, law, and science with his own personal story of awakening to antiracism. This book takes the conversation from awareness of racism to the next step: contributing to the formation of a just and equitable society.

Critical Race Theory, Racial Justice, Racial Understanding

https://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Antiracist-Ibram-Kendi/dp/0525509283/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0 

In the Shadow of Race: Jews, Latinos, and Immigrant Politics in the United States

Victoria C. Hattam

Race in the United States has long been associated with heredity and inequality while ethnicity has been linked to language and culture. In the Shadow of Race recovers the history of this entrenched distinction and the divisive politics it engenders.

Critical Race Theory, Racial Understanding, Immigration

https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Race-Latinos-Immigrant-Politics/dp/0226319237 

Invisible Man

Ralph Ellison

The book’s nameless narrator describes growing up in a black community in the South, attending a Negro college from which he is expelled, moving to New York and becoming the chief spokesman of the Harlem branch of “the Brotherhood”, before retreating amid violence and confusion to the basement lair of the Invisible Man he imagines himself to be.

Racial Understanding

https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Man-ralph-ellison/dp/B09YMGFDQ6/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0 

Moral Resistance and Spiritual Authority: Our Jewish Obligation to Social Justice

Rabbi Seth

M. Limmer, DHL &

Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner

The essays in this collection explore the spiritual underpinnings of our Jewish commitment to justice, using Jewish text and tradition, as well as contemporary sources and models. Among the topics covered are women’s health, LGBTQ rights, healthcare, racial justice, speaking truth to power, and community organizing.

Jewish History, Racial Understanding

https://www.amazon.com/Moral-Resistance-Spiritual-Authority-Obligation/dp/0881233188 

 

To Stand Aside or Stand Alone

Allen Krause

Within the pages, readers learn about the attitudes of the rabbis toward each other, toward their congregants, toward national Jewish organizations, and toward local leaders of black and white and Protestant and Catholic groups. Theirs are dramatic stories of frustration, cooperation, and conflict.

Jewish History, Black-Jewish Relations,

Racial Understanding

https://www.amazon.com/Stand-Aside-Alone-Southern-Movement/dp/0817359095/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0 

White Fragility

Robin DiAngelo

In this book, antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo “allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to ‘bad people’.” (Claudia Rankine) DiAngelo examines how white fragility

develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.

Racial Understanding

https://www.amazon.com/White-Fragility-People-About-Racism/dp/0807047414/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0 

Waking Up White

Debby Irving

For twenty-five years, Debby Irving sensed inexplicable racial tensions in her personal and professional relationships. As an arts administrator, she didn’t understand why her diversity efforts lacked traction. As a teacher, she found her best efforts to reach out to students and families of color left her wondering what she was missing. Then, in 2009, one “aha!” moment drastically

shifted her worldview and upended her life plan.

Racial Understanding

https://www.amazon.com/Waking-White-Finding-Myself-Story/dp/0991331303/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0 

Uprooting Racism

Paul Kivel

Uprooting Racism offers a framework around neoliberalism and interpersonal, institutional, and cultural racism, along with stories of resistance and white solidarity. It provides practical tools and advice on how white people can work as allies for racial justice, engaging the reader through questions, exercises, and suggestions for action, and includes a wealth of information about specific cultural groups such as Muslims, people with mixed heritage, Native Americans, Jews, recent immigrants, Asian Americans, and Latino/as.

Critical Race Theory, Racial Justice, Racial Understanding

https://www.amazon.com/Uprooting-Racism-People-Racial-Justice/dp/0865718652 

So You Want to Talk About Race

Ijeoma Oluo

Oluo guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from intersectionality and affirmative action to “model minorities” in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race and racism, and how they infect almost every aspect of American life.

Racial Justice, Racial Understanding

https://www.amazon.com/You-Want-Talk-About-Race/dp/1580056776/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0 

Just Mercy

Bryan Stevenson

Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice

Racial Justice, Racial Understanding

https://www.amazon.com/Just-Mercy-Story-Justice-Redemption/dp/081298496X/ref=sr_1_1 

 

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

Beverly Daniel Tatum

Walk into any racially mixed high school and you will see Black, White, and Latino youth clustered in their own groups. Is this self-segregation a problem to address or a coping strategy?

Beverly Daniel Tatum, a renowned authority on the psychology of racism, argues that straight talk about our racial identities is essential if we are serious about enabling communication across racial and ethnic divides.

Racial Understanding

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Kids-Sitting-Together-Cafeteria/dp/0465060684/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0 

The Sum of Us

Heather McGhee

McGhee marshals economic and sociological research to paint an irrefutable story of racism’s costs, but at the heart of the book are the humble stories of people yearning to be part of a better America, including white supremacy’s collateral victims: white people themselves.

Critical Race Theory, Racial Justice, Racial Understanding

https://www.amazon.com/Sum-Us-Everyone-Prosper-Together/dp/0525509585/ref=sr_1_1 

Tyranny of Merit

Michael J. Sandel

Philosopher Michael J. Sandel argues that to overcome the crises that are upending our world, we must rethink the attitudes toward success and failure that have accompanied globalization and rising inequality.

Critical Race Theory, Racial Justice, Racial Understanding

https://www.amazon.com/Tyranny-Merit-Find-Common-Good/dp/1250800064/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0 

 

 

ARTICLES

 

Title

Author

Notes

Theme

Link

Jason Stanley on critical race theory and why it matters

Jason Stanley

Critical Race Theory – Opponents caricature it to blunt calls for necessary structural changes to American institutions.

Critical Race Theory

https://www.economist.com/by-invitation/2021/05/24/jason-stanley-on-critical-race-theory-and-why-it-matters 

John McWhorter on how critical race theory poorly serves its intended beneficiaries

John McWhorter

To help black Americans, focus on policy, not making sure everyone uses your chosen phraseology.

Racial Justice

https://www.economist.com/by-invitation/2021/05/24/john-mcwhorter-on-how-critical-race-theory-poorly-serves-its-intended-beneficiaries 

After Pittsburgh, is Anyone Considering Jews of Color?

Ilana Kaufman

How do we keep the minds, bodies and spirits of our Jewish community members and our institutions safe in ways that are reality based, racially informed and inclusive?

Black-Jewish Relations,

Racial Understanding

https://jweekly.com/2018/11/05/after-pittsburgh-is-anyone-considering-jews-of-color/ 

Bagels, Lox, and Grits: Defining My Jewish Identity

Yolanda Savage-Narva

Often, Black women in America shift who they are when they enter white dominant spaces that set the standards for beauty, etiquette, and overall societal norms.

Black-Jewish Relations, Racial Understanding

https://www.reformjudaism.org/blog/bagels-lox-and-grits-defining-my-jewish-identity 

 

Black, Jewish and Avoiding the Synagogue on The High Holy Days

Leah Donella

The author writes about going to synagogue as a Black Jewish woman

Racial Understanding

https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/09/20/552098304/black-jewish-and-avoiding-the-synagogue-on-the-high-holy-days 

The Black Jews Are Tired

Chris Harrison

The author unpacks anti-Black violence and claims that very few Jews of Color even exist (delegitimizing efforts to prioritize their issues).

Racial Justice, Racial Understanding, Black-Jewish Relations

https://reformjudaism.org/blog/black-jews-are-tired 

Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity: What are They and Why Do They Matter to Us?

April Baskin

This article promotes learning about and implementing three core principles/practices (diversity, inclusion, and equity) to ensure that Jewish communal spaces are affirming for all Jews and their loved ones.

Racial Understanding, Racial Justice

https://www.reformjudaism.org/beliefs-practices/racial-equity-diversity-inclusion/diversity-inclusion-and-equity-what-are-they-and-why-do-they-matter-us 

Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person

Gina Crosley- Corcoran

Understanding how whiteness impacts privilege and accessibility in America

Racial Understanding, Critical Race Theory

https://medschool.duke.edu/sites/default/files/2022-02/explaining_white_privilege_to_a_broke_white_person.pdf 

Finding My Jewish Soul: A Black Army Veteran’s Journey to Judaism

Bryant

Heinzelman

A Black man’s journey to converting to Judaism.

Racial Understanding

https://reformjudaism.org/blog/finding-my-jewish-soul-black-army-veterans-journey-judaism 

I Am Always All Parts of My Identity

– and I Hope You Are, Too

Everlyn A. Hunter

Black, Jewish, Lesbian among other things, the author grapples with situations in which people and environments choose to only identify her as one of her identities.

Racial Understanding

https://reformjudaism.org/blog/i-am-always-all-parts-my-identity-and-i-hope-you-are-too 

Illana Kaufman: Black, Jewish, and Challenging Ideas about the Face of the Federation

Rebecca Spence

When Ilana Kaufman, a program officer at the S.F.- based Jewish Community Federation, arrived at a local prison for a meeting with the Jewish chaplain, the chaplain couldn’t seem to find her – even though Kaufman was standing in plain sight.

Black-Jewish Relations,
Racial Understanding

https://jweekly.com/2014/12/02/ilana-kaufman-black-jewish-and-challenging-ideas-about-the-face-of-federati/ 

 

Jews of Color and Who Counts in the Jewish Community

Ilana Kaufman and Ari Kelman

New study shows U.S. Jewry is less white than you might think

Black-Jewish Relations,

Racial Understanding

https://www.timesofisrael.com/jews-of-color-and-who-counts-in-the-jewish-community/ 

Just Because I’m Jewish Doesn’t Mean I’m Not Black

Evan Traylor

The author unpacks his identity as both being black and Jewish and growing up in both communities.

Black-Jewish Relations,

Racial Understanding

https://www.reformjudaism.org/blog/just-because-im-jewish-doesnt-mean-im-not-black 

Mourning, Broken, Afraid: A Letter to My Friends

Jessi Kingston

An article in response to the killing of George Floyd, about police brutality against black people in America

Black-Jewish Relations, Racial Justice, Racial Understanding

https://reformjudaism.org/blog/mourning-broken-afraid-letter-my-friends 

Privileged

Kyle Korver

The author dives into his relationship with a fellow basketball player and how he confronted his privilege when his friend was injured by police.

Racial Justice, Racial Understanding

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/kyle-korver-utah-jazz-nba 

What Does it Mean to ‘Code Switch’ in Jewish Spaces?

Chris Harrison

The author, a Black Jew, discusses how to create hospitable environments for Jews of Color.

Black-Jewish Relations,

Racial Understanding

https://reformjudaism.org/blog/what-does-it-mean-code-switch-jewish-spaces 

What I Said When My White Friend Asked for My Black Opinion on White Privilege

Lori Lakin Hutcherson

In response to a post on Facebook, the author comments on white privilege and racism.

Racial Justice, Critical Race Theory, Racial Understanding

https://onbeing.org/blog/what-i-said-when-my-white-friend-asked-for-my-black-opinion-on-white-privilege/ 

White Jews: It Is on Us

Ali Rosenblatt

What we need to understand about racial inequity and what we can do about it.

Racial Justice, Black-Jewish Relations,

Racial Understanding

https://reformjudaism.org/blog/white-jews-it-us 

 

Why I Am a Zionist for Black Lives Matter

Rabbi Josh Weinberg

Early Zionists set out to create a utopian and exemplary society. Their socialist and egalitarian nature called for equal treatment among genders, races, and ethnicities. Today’s Israeli society is far from achieving its utopian ideals, but our job as Zionists, since the State was established, has been to bring it closer to that vision every day.

Black-Jewish Relations,

Racial Understanding,

Racial Justice

https://urj.org/blog/why-i-am-zionist-black-lives-matter 

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

Peggy McIntosh

This article addresses white privilege and prompts the question: “Having described it, what will I do to lessen or end it?”

Critical Race Theory, Racial Understanding

https://psychology.umbc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/57/2016/10/White-Privilege_McIntosh-1989.pdf 

I Helped Coin the Term Jews of Color and it’s Time for a History Lesson

Shahanna McKinney- Baldon

In our continued work to eliminate the ways that racism impacts our Jewish communities, let us lift up the act of Jews of color naming ourselves, as a way of being family and as a way of being awesome in the face of the hostility and toxicity of racism.

Black-Jewish Relations,

Racial Understanding

https://www.heyalma.com/i-helped-coin-the-term-jews-of-color-its-time-for-a-history-lesson/ 

Wake Up America, and Smell the Anti- Semitism

Eve Barlow

Americans of all races and political outlooks revile and attack Jews with unprecedented glee, while American Jews would rather talk about anything else

Racial Justice, Racial Understanding

, Black-Jewish Relations

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/smell-the-anti-semitism-america 

Building Coalitions- Linda Sarsour and American Jewish Politics

Yehudah Kurtzer

Those seeking to build coalitions must make a difficult decision: What compromises are we willing to make to effectively organize with those who share this core commitment?

Black-Jewish Relations

https://www.hartman.org.il/linda-sarsour-and-american-jewish-politics/ 

Finding Leaders We Can Work with in the BLM Era

 Rabbi
Abraham
Cooper

Even in these uncertain times, many potential friends and allies are waiting to work together with us for the common good

Black-Jewish Relations,

Racial Understanding

https://themedialine.org/news/opinion/finding-leaders-we-can-work-with-in-the-blm-era/ 

 

Black Lives Matter, American Jews, and Anti-Semitism: Distinguishing between the Organization, the Movement, and the Ubiquitous Phrase

Jewish

Council for Public Affairs

The author argues that, to most invoking the phrase, Black Lives Matter is an inspiring rallying cry, a slogan, and a demand for racial justice.

That fight for racial justice is also a fight for our own multiracial, multiethnic Jewish community.

Black-Jewish Relations, Racial Justice, Racial Understanding

https://www.jewishpublicaffairs.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/BLM-Factsheet-Final.pdf 

Stop Using Israel as an Excuse to Not Support Black Lives Matter

Maayan Belding-Zidon

The author asserts that while some Black Lives Matter activists support BDS, that should not mean Jews — no matter their feelings on Israel — can sit this out.

Black-Jewish Relations, Racial Justice, Racial Understanding

https://www.heyalma.com/stop-using-israel-as-an-excuse-to-not-support-black-lives-matter/ 

Black Lives Matter is a Jewish Value

Reform Jewish Leadership

From a historical perspective, the author argues that white Americans, including white Jews, have failed to own and end American systemic racial injustices, and instead have actively or passively perpetuated these injustices.

Black-Jewish Relations,

Racial Understanding

, Racial Justice, Jewish History

https://urj.org/press-room/reform-jewish-leadership-statement-black-lives-matter-jewish-value 

Unequivocally Black Lives Matter

NY Times ad

Joint letter signed by over 600 multiracial Jewish denominations, organizations, and synagogues represents over half of Jewish people in America

Black-Jewish Relations,

Racial Understanding

, Racial Justice

https://medium.com/@jewishorgssayblacklivesmatter/majority-of-american-jews-in-full-page-new-york-times-ad-unequivocally-black-lives-matter-60ae44e7c305 

Skin in the Game: How Anti-Semitism Animates White Nationalism

Eric K. Ward

How antisemitism animates white nationalism.

Racial Justice, Critical Race Theory, Jewish History, Black- Jewish

Relations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOuHluQmHIU 

 

Why Does Holocaust

Remembrance Day Ignore Middle Eastern Jews

Hen Mazzig

How the Nazi onslaught led directly to the Farhud massacre in Iraq and a untold Jewish deaths in Tunisia and elsewhere

Jewish History, Racial Understanding

https://www.jta.org/2019/05/01/opinion/why-does-holocaust-remembrance-day-ignore-middle-eastern-jews 

Connecting to My Jewish-Indian

Roots

Lishai Peel

The history of the Bene Israel is written not just in Lishai’s DNA, but in the stories she tells.

Jewish History

https://www.heyalma.com/connecting-to-my-jewish-indian-roots/ 

Not Free to Desist

Jewish Libertarian Fund

With a guiding focus of centering Jews of color in the work, and a commitment to anti-racist policies and practices, Not Free to Desist (NFD) outlines seven concrete racial justice goals to help organizations achieve long-term structural change and a more just allocation of resources.

Racial Justice, Critical Race Theory, Black- Jewish

Relations

https://www.notfreetodesist.org/ 

 

  ORGANIZATIONS

 

Title

Author

Notes

Theme

Link

Not Free to Desist

Jewish Libertarian Fund

With a guiding focus of centering Jews of color in the work, and a commitment to anti-racist policies and practices, Not Free to Desist (NFD) outlines seven concrete racial justice goals to help organizations achieve long-term structural change and a more just allocation of resources.

Racial Justice, Critical Race Theory, Black- Jewish

Relations

https://www.notfreetodesist.org/ 

 

  PODCASTS

 

 

Title

Author

Notes

Theme

Link

A JCC for JOCs

Yitz Jordan (YLove)

Yitz Jordan (also known as the hip-hop artist Y- Love), the co-founder of TribeHerald Media, talks about building online and offline communities that center Jews of Color.

Racial Justice, Critical Race Theory, Black- Jewish Relations

 

https://podcasts.apple.com/kg/podcast/episode-231-a-jcc-for-jocs-yitz-jordan-y-love/id1088015938?i=1000485259031 

The Future of Jewish Progressivism

Yehuda Kurtzer

Arielle Angel and Jacob Plitman join Yehuda Kurtzer to talk about the past and future of Jewish progressivism in America.

Jewish History

https://www.hartman.org.il/identity-crisis-30-the-future-of-jewish-progressivism/ 

How California Jews Grappled with a New

Curriculum

Yehuda Kurtzer

Yehuda Kurtzer, Sarah Levin, and Tye Gregory discuss the California Jewish community’s work on the state’s Ethnic Studies curriculum

Jewish History, Critical Race Theory, Racial Understanding

https://www.hartman.org.il/identity-crisis-44-how-california-jews-grappled-with-a-new-curriculum/ 

Unlearning Racist Conditioning

Erin Trent Johnson

Erin Trent Johnson, senior advisor at the Equity Lab, discusses: What can we do to combat, unlearn, and ultimately unburden ourselves from the influence of systemic structures of racism – both out in the world and inside of ourselves?

Racial Justice, Racial Understanding,

https://www.rickhanson.net/being-well-podcast-erin-trent-johnson-unlearning-racist-conditioning/ 

Code Switch: ‘Where we come from’: By Any Other Name

Diba Mohtasham, Anjuli Sastry, Julia Furlan, Kumari

Devarajan

Have an uncommon name? Introducing yourself can lead to interrogation: Where are you from? What does your name mean? This program talks about what names can tell us, where we’ve been and where we’re going.

Racial Understanding

https://www.npr.org/2021/06/25/1010399875/where-we-come-from-by-any-other-name 

Judaism Unbound: Audacious Hospitality

April Baskin

April Baskin, VP of Audacious Hospitality for the Union for Reform Judaism, takes an in-depth look at ideas of welcoming, empowerment, inclusion, and hospitality in contemporary Judaism.

Jewish History

https://www.judaismunbound.com/podcast/2017/10/24/judaism-unbound-episode-90-audacious-hospitality-april-baskin-2 

 

Judaism

Unbound: 100%

  Black, 100%
Jewish

x
MaNishtana

Lex Rofeberg and Dan Libenson talk about race and intersectionality in contemporary Jewish life through the lens of the protagonist in MaNishtana’s book, Ariel Samson, Freelance Rabbi, an Orthodox rabbi.

x
Jewish History,
Black-Jewish
Relations

x
https://www.judaismunbound.com/podcast/episode-162-manishtana 

Race Matters

  NPR

NPR Commentator Fernando Guerra says African Americans need to help move the discussion of race in America beyond black and white.

 Race Relations

https://www.npr.org/2003/01/10/912345/race-matters 

This American Life: The Problem We All Live With

Nikole

Hannah- Jones

Right now, all sorts of people are trying to rethink and reinvent education, to get poor minority kids performing as well as white

kids. But there’s one thing nobody tries anymore, despite lots of evidence that it works: desegregation. A look at a district that, not long ago, accidentally launched a desegregation program.

Racial Justice

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/562/the-problem-we-all-live-with-part-one 

Wholly Jewish

ReformJudai sm.org

5 interviews with individuals from the Union for Reform Judaism JewV’Nation Fellowship’s Jews of Color Leadership

Cohort.

Jewish History

https://reformjudaism.org/podcasts/wholly-jewish 

 

   VIDEOS

 

Title

Author

Notes

Theme

Link

Who Counts? Race and the Jewish Future

Ilana Kaufman

Ilana  Kaufman issues a challenge to the Jewish community to think about racial diversity in our own spaces

Racial Understanding, Black-Jewish Relations

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/eli-talks/who-counts-race-and-the-jewish-future/ 

How to Overcome our Biases: Walk Boldly Toward Them

Vernā Myers

In this TED Talk, diversity advocate Vernā Myers says: Acknowledge your biases, then move toward, not away from, the groups that make you uncomfortable.

Racial Justice, Racial Understanding

https://www.ted.com/talks/verna_myers_how_to_overcome_our_biases_walk_boldly_toward_them 

What is Systemic Racism?

Jay Smooth

These videos focus on unpacking how significant aspects of our society are organized and impacted by race, including the wealth gap, employment, housing discrimination and government surveillance.

Racial Justice

https://www.raceforward.org/videos/systemic-racism 

How to Tell Someone They Sound Racist

Jay Smooth

This three-minute video from Jay Smooth unpacks the difference between the “what you did” conversation and the “who you are” conversation.

Racial Understanding, Racial Justice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Ti-gkJiXc 

5 Tips for Being an Ally

Franchesca Ramsey

5 tips on how to be a better ally

Racial Understanding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dg86g-QlM0 

Let’s Get to the Root of Racial Injustice

Megan Ming Francis

In this inspiring and powerful talk, Megan Francis traces the root causes of our current racial climate to their core causes, debunking common misconceptions and calling out “fix-all” cures to a complex social problem

Racial Justice, Racial Understanding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s2P5d5tMcY 

Practical Diversity: Taking Inclusion from Theory to Practice

Dr. Dawn Bennett- Alexander

We strive to embrace diversity and inclusion in our schools and workplaces, but we often fail to understand what this looks like practically. Dr. Dawn Bennett-Alexander believes that with a little effort, we can move diversity and inclusion from theory to practice. 

Critical Race Theory, Racial Understanding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExcDNly1DbI 

Moral Resistance and Spiritual Authority: The Fierce Urgency of Now

Rabbi Jonah Pesner, Ilana Kaufman,

Rabbi Seth

M. Limmer, Yolanda Savage-

Narva

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s phrase “the fierce urgency of now” feels just as relevant today as it did in 1963. As a movement for justice sweeps the nation, how can we as Jews take part? The video presents an open dialogue inspired by the CCAR Press book “Moral Resistance and Spiritual Authority: Our Jewish Obligation to Social Justice.”

Black-Jewish Relations, Racial Understanding, Racial Justice

 

https://vimeo.com/446487877

What Makes This Jew Different Than All Other Jews: Race, Difference, and Safety in Jewish Spaces

MaNishtana

We are a people of questions, but perhaps certain types of questions directed at certain kinds of people diminish the safety of all of us. A modern liberal idea? MaNishtana thinks not; he explains that checking people at the door is not something we Jews can or should recognize as traditional.

Black-Jewish Relations, Jewish History, Racial Understanding

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/eli-talks/what-makes-this-jew-different-than-all-other-jews-race-difference-and-safety-in-jewish-spaces/ 

We Jews Are Not A Race:

Rethinking Race in the Jewish Community

Rabbi Angela Buchdahl

“I’m suggesting that it is time to stop thinking of Jewish Peoplehood as a race. Instead, think of Jewish Peoplehood as a family.”

Jewish History

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNhG8aW6gbI 

Racism in the Jewish Community: The Uncomfortable Truth

Ilana Kaufman

The racial and ethnic makeup of America is changing, and with it the face of the American Jewish community. Ilana Kaufman makes the case for counting – and accounting for – all the Jewish people.

Black-Jewish Relations, Jewish History, Racial Understanding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCtBqbsZPLo 

Funny, You Don’t Look Jewish

Rabbi Dan Moskowitz

This Rosh Hashanah sermon by Rabbi Dan Moskovitz of Temple Sholom in Vancouver BC looks at common conceptions of what a Jew looks like.

Jewish History, Racial Understanding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVsbCvWYUN4 

This is Y Love

YLove

Y-Love (Yitz Jordan) has made a name for himself as a hip-hop artist, multicultural educator, fashionista, technology guru, advertising whiz, activist for social change, and political pundit.

Racial Understanding

http://thisisylove.com/videos/ 

 

The following is a working document for scaffolding anti-racism resources, provided by Yavilah McCoy, an African-American Jew and founder of Ayecha, a nonprofit organization providing educational resources for Jewish diversity and advocacy for Jews of color in the United States. The goal is to facilitate growth for white individuals to become allies, and eventually accomplices for anti-racist work. These resources have been ordered in an attempt to make them more accessible. We will continue to add resources. 

Looking for immediate action steps? Click here: Resources for Accountability and Actions for Black Lives  

Anti-Racist Resource Guide

Please note: if you wish to compensate those who curated the list below, donate to one of the following organizations: Unicorn Riot or The Okra Project, or Project Motherpath.* After you’re done, send us a screenshot of the receipt if you’d like – scaffoldedantiracismresources@gmail.com

Documents containing resources used in this list

Anti-racism Resources for White People (Sarah Sophie Flicker, Alyssa Klein – May 2020) 

Summary of the Stages of Identity Development — this document includes white identity development models, as well as models for people of color 

A Race Is a Nice Thing to Have – provides the framework for white identity development (Janet E. Helms)  

A link to this document was shared on June 11, 2020 and was attached to the image below. This image was not created by the authors of this scaffolded document and the creators of the image were not cited. This image can be found in the reintegration section of this document. An earlier partial attribution has been updated to include the necessary citation additions, which are listed here: Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence (2005). Adapted: Ellen Tuzzolo (2016); Mary Julia Cooksey Cordero (2019); The Conscious Kid (2020)

Stage of white identity development (Helms) and their corresponding beliefs/thoughts/actions  Resources 

*When purchasing books, please purchase directly from authors or local bookstores. 

What to do next? 
CONTACT 

  • “I don’t see color.”
  • “Talking about race brings disunity.”
  • Belief that racism is caused by talking about race. 
  • Belief that you aren’t racist if you don’t purposely or consciously act in racist ways. 

How folks move from this stage: by being confronted with active racism or real-world experiences that highlight their whiteness. 

Activities:

  1. White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack (Peggy McIntonsh) 

Podcasts:

Videos:

Articles:

  1. “Walking While Black” (Garnette Cadogan) 

 

Books:

  1. Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria (Beverly Tatum) 
  2. I’m Still Here (Austin Channing Brown)
  3. Whistling Vivaldi (Claude Steel)
  4. White Awake (Daniel Hill)  

 

Educating yourself is important — utilize resources about racial inequality and biases. 

Reject the desire to ask Black folks, Indigineous folks or people of color (BIPOC) to explain racism for you. Instead, find resources created by BIPOC to help educate yourself, or offer to financially compensate BIPOC folks who are educating you! 

DISINTEGRATION

  • “I feel bad for being white.”
  • May feel like you’re stuck. 

How folks move from this stage: by participating in anti-racist work. 

*Big caution for this stage: be aware that sitting in guilt or shame might move us to the reintegration stage. 

Activities: 

  1. Racial Bias Test (Harvard) —  this will help you understand what your biases might be

Videos: 

  1. “Why Are White People So Bad at Talking About Race?”  – short video summarizing the book by Robin DiAngelo 
Do not let guilt (white guilt) or shame stop you from doing anti-racist work. 

Find a way to do the work of anti-racism. Some examples might include attending a training, joining an allies group, participating in a protest. Keep working to grow, instead of settling into shame, and ask folks how you can grow. 

REINTEGRATION 

  • “It’s not my fault I’m white.”
  • “I have a black friend/child/relative, etc.”
  • May notice yourself feeling defensive when talking about race. 

How do folks move past this stage? By combating these feelings of defensiveness, shame or superiority. 

Activities: 

  1. Look over the graph below and reflect on your past, current thoughts/beliefs, and implications of these convictions.

[image source: Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence (2005). Adapted: Ellen Tuzzolo (2016); Mary Julia Cooksey Cordero (@jewelspewels) (2019); The Conscious Kid (2020)] 

Podcasts:

  1. “Side Effects of White Women” (Small Doses with Amanda Seales) 
  2. “Well Meaning White People” (Smartest Person in the Room)

Articles:

  1. “The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism” (Audre Lorde)  
  2. “When Feminism is White Supremacy in Heels” (Rachel Elizabeth Cargle)

Books:

  1. Me and White Supremacy by Layla F Saad

Videos: 

  1. “Bloomberg and The Legacy of Stop-and-Frisk” (The Daily Show)  
Remember that moving forward is important. It might be helpful to revisit some of the previous resources to help remind you of why this work is important. 

Continue to find a way to participate. Some examples might include attending a training, joining an allies group, participating in a protest. Keep working to grow, instead of settling into shame. 

PSEUDO-INDEPENDENCE

  • “How can I be white and anti-racist?”
  • Belief that privilege is not based on merit, but on bias & racism. 
  • Rely on BIPOC to address racism. 
  • Might affirm or seek to comfort the BIPOC who is addressing racism. 
Podcasts:

  1. “How to Be an Antiracist” (Brené Brown + Ibram X. Kendi) 

Books:

  1. Why I No Longer Talk to White People about Race by Reni Eddo-Loge
  2. The Fire This Time by Jesmyn Ward

Documentary: 

  1. 13th (Ava DuVernay) 

Poem

  1. White Privilege (Kyla Lacey) 

Videos

  1. How We Can Win (David Jones) 

 

Begin having difficult conversations with white friends and family about racism and inequality.

Begin to think about how you might use your privilege to support anti-racist work.

IMMERSION

  • Begins to work against systems of oppression, rather than seeing racism as individual actions. 
  • Is able to embrace their own white identity & what their whiteness means, while also working alongside BIPOC 
  • Works actively to be anti-racist. 
Activities: 

Reflective Journal Prompts

    1. Think about the country that you live in. What are some of the national racial stereotypes–spoken and unspoken, historic and modern–associated with Black women? Black men?
    2. How do you see colorism at work in this country? How do you see colorism at work in your own prejudicial thoughts?
    3. How have you expected Black women to serve or soothe you?
    4. How have you reacted in the presence of Black women who are unapologetic in their confidence, self-expression, boundaries, and refusal to submit to the white gaze?

Podcasts:

  1. Kaepernick (Still Processing)
  2. White Lies (NPR)

Articles:

  1. “The Case for Reparations” (Ta-Nehisi Coates) 
  2. “Why Seeing Yourself Represented on Screen Is So Important” (Kimberley Lawson) 
  3. 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
  4. Resources for White People to Learn and Talk About Race and Racism 

Books:

  1. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

Video:

  1. 5 Tips for Being an Ally

Movies:

  1. The New Negro
Complete the journal prompts and consider completing some of the action items laid out in these resources! 
AUTONOMY

  • Embodied anti-racism: being willing to step in the way of racism when possible, engage in protests
  • Has done the work to recognize their own identity, so that they can effectively be anti-racist.
  • Recognizes that growth is continual, and they might need to revisit previous stages. 
Activities: 

Answer these questions (written by Nii Addo Abrahams, M.A., M. Div. / Twitter & Instagram @_nickyflash_)  

  • Does your solidarity last longer than a news cycle?
  • Does your solidarity make you lose sleep at night?
  • Does your solidarity put you in danger?
  • Does your solidarity cost you relationships? 
  • Does your solidarity take away time from other things you could be doing? 
  • Does your solidarity change the way you spend your money?
  • Does your solidarity make you a disruptive presence in white spaces?
  • Does your solidarity challenge your country’s values?
  • Does your solidarity make you think you’re not racist?
  • Does your solidarity change how you read your Bible? 
  • Does your solidarity change how you preach? 
  • Does your solidarity happen when no one is looking?
  • Does your solidarity ever cause you to speak out when no one wants to listen?
  • Does your solidarity ever cause you to shut up when you want to say something?
  • Does your solidarity change the way you vote?
  • Does your solidarity cause you to denounce our current president? 
  • Does your solidarity include cis-het Black women?
  • Does your solidarity include Black queer and trans folks? 
  • Does your solidarity make you suspicious of predominantly white institutions? 
  • Does your solidarity cause you to believe in costly reparations? 
  • Does your solidarity assuage your white guilt? 
  • Does your solidarity have room for Black rage?

Online resources: 

Racial Equity Tools

Book: 

The End of Policing (Alex Vitale) 

Social media accounts to follow in any stage: 
Instagram: 

@wokebrownfem

@nowhitesaviours

@theimtiredproject

@rachel.cargle

@advancementproject 

@britthawthorne

@indyamoore

@wearyourvoice

@ckyourprivilege 

@alokvmenon

@theunapologeticallybrownseries

@austinchanning

@theconsciouskid

@antiracismctr

@_nickyflash_

@heyqueenyoucute

@brandonkgood

Twitter:

@clintsmithIII

@keeangayamahtta

@DrIbram

@MsPackyetti

@JBouie

@thearmchaircom

@RevJacquiLewis

@drchanequa

@ava

@YNPierce

@esglaude

@jemelehill

@_nickyflash_

@nhannahjones

@professorcrunk

@divafeminist

For those who want to be a better anti-racist in thier faith traditions

Christian resources: 

The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism (Jemar Tisby)

Dear Church: A Love Letter from a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination in the U.S. (Lenny Duncan) 

Disunity in Christ (Christena Cleveland) 

The Cross and the Lynching Tree (James Cone) 

Reconciliation Blues (Edward Gilbreath) 

Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America (Michael Eric Dyson) 

Trouble I’ve Seen (Drew G. I. Hart) 

I Bring the Voices of My People: A Womanist Vision for Racial Reconciliation (Chanequa Walker-Barnes

Dear White Christians (Jennifer Harvey) 

Divided by Faith (Michael Emerson and Christian Smith) 

 

*We are thankful for all of you who have shared links from your faith traditions. The shared links below have been suggested for addition. 

 

Jewish resources: 

Jewish Racial Justice Resources 

 

Islamic resources: 

Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative

Race & Racism (Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative) 

Anti-Racism Guide for White Muslims

 

Buddhist resources: 

Radical Dharma    

Angel Kyodo Williams

Lama Rod Owens  

Ruth King 

If you’d prefer to read a novel: 

  1. Angie Thomas’s The Hate You Give
  2. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah
  3. Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing
  4. Toni Morrison’s Beloved
  5. James Baldwin’s Go Tell It On the Mountain
Podcast recommendations: 

  1. White Lies by NPR
  2. The 1619 Project  by the New York Times
  3. Uncivil by Gimlet Media 
  4. Pass the Mic by The Witness Podcast Radio 
  5. Seeing White by Scene On Radio 
For those in education:

  1. Anti-Racist Educator Self-Questionnaire and Rubric 
  2. Anti-Racist Student Self-Questionnaire
  3. “Collectors, Nightlights, and Allies, Oh My!” (Marisela Martinez-Cola, JD/PhD) 
Accessible resources for the youth: 

Antiracist Baby (Ibram X. Kendi) 

This Book is Antiracist  (Tiffany Jewell) 

Crossover Series (Kwame Alexander) 

Young Adult Literature:

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely

I am Alfonso Jones by Tony Medina

Middle grades; 

A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramée

Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes

New Kid by Jerry Craftf

Resources for parents: 

Raising White Kids (Jen Harvey) — article here: ‘Raising White Kids’ Author On How White Parents Can Talk About Race 

Books to Teach White Children and Teens How to Undo Racism and White Supremacy

 

Document created by: 

Anna Stamborski, M. Div Candidate (2022) 

Nikki Zimmermann, M. Div candidate (2021) 

Bailie Gregory, M. Div, M.S. Ed.