An Open Letter to University Presidents
5 min read
As a Jew of color, I believe both Black and Jewish communities are equally unknowledgeable about the intricacies and intersectionalities of the other community.
The response to Jonah Hill and Kenya Barris' Netflix feature film "You People" has been a mixed bag. Many find the film lacked nuance and played into harmful stereotypes of Black and Jewish identities.
The Cohen family played into many of the assumptions and antisemitic beliefs some Black people hold about Jewish people, antisemitic beliefs held by a significant portion of American and European society. From accused pedophiles in the synagogue and outsized wealth, to Jewish white privilege and the lack of cultural competence that made Cohen's well-meaning desire to be inclusive read as awkward, a little racist, and full of hesitation to address antisemitism.
The film exploits and exasperates existing tensions that legitimize anti-Black and antisemitic beliefs for the purpose of entertainment.
I've heard this hesitation to stand up against antisemitism echoed when I teach about Racial and Ethnic Diversity and inclusion in Jewish spaces, especially among teens when we discuss navigating antisemitism as it intersects with anti-Blackness and racism more broadly. Concerned about being perceived as racist, Jews often hesitate to address the disinformation, ignorance, and bigotry in an antisemetic comment.
Similarly, the Mohammed family played into a lot of the assumptions and stereotypes I've heard echoed about Black people in the Jewish community, especially related to Farakhan and the sensationalization of the prominence of antisemitic beliefs associated with extremist sects of Black Hebrew Israelites and The Nation of Islam.
The film roots Black identity in perpetual trauma. Black joy is seldom highlighted in the media. Black characters are often written one dimensionally to serve as the magical negro who helps the protagonist have a life-altering revelation. In this case Hill's character is repeatedly confronted on the topic of his consumption of Black culture and later realizes that loving a Black woman (or really Blackness) is not enough to fix racial or antisemitic trauma or challenge the assumptions that lead to tension between the two communities.
It's possible that Hill and Barris intended the film to be problematic. The tensions between Black and Jewish communities highlighted in the film echo conversations that have been ongoing in the media for the last two years about the responsibility of prominent Black and Jewish people to address their influence regarding the proliferation of antisemitic disinformation and beliefs online. There is concern that Hill and Barris are exploiting and exasperating existing tensions that legitimize anti-Black and antisemitic beliefs for the purpose of entertainment.
Critics of the film suggest You People centers Jewishness and Blackness in fixed positions adding to the narrative that there is only one way to operate within these constructs of identity.
There is no one way to be Jewish.
There is no one way to be Black.
”The problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.”
As Chinmamanda Ngozi Adichie writes in her book Americana: "The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.”
“You People” left us with a messy suitcase full of unresolved historical and epigenetic trauma between Black and Jewish communities. In my experience Black and Jewish communities are generally equally unknowledgeable about the intricacies and intersectionalities of the other community. In this case art mimics life, as neither family makes any significant effort to fully unpack the origin or legitimacy of the beliefs they held.
We don't often frame antisemitism or anti-Blackness in historical context which enables these ideas to be presented without nuance.
If we intend to build lasting communities of allyship and understanding we must all be willing to question and deconstruct the biases we believe about the community we have internally labeled each other.
The relationship Black Americans have with Jewish Americans is tangled in the construct of whiteness. The relationship American Jews have with whiteness is complicated by the conditionality of Jewish whiteness and the existence of Jews of Color; which puts the community in a unique position regarding the topics of privilege and racism.
The single-story narratives we tell about our communities often erase or overlook significant elements, identities, and historical moments where Black and Jewish identities intersect. We need to investigate and unpack these stories that cause us to fall prey to internalizing or replicating isms that harm ourselves and each other.
We can't allow the extremists, bigots, and provocateurs in these communities to distract us from being actively engaged in the work of dismantling antisemitism, anti-Black racism and white supremacy more broadly. Most people just want to do the right thing and make a lot of mistakes in trying to figure out what exactly that is. But we can't change what we refuse to acknowledge.
The reality is both Black and Jewish communities are diverse. Both peoples are diaspora communities. Both communities have shown massive resilience in the face of oppression. Both of these communities have complex relationships to the construct of whiteness. Both communities have been influenced in some way to believe half truths and outright misinformation about the other.
There are people, like me, who hold both of these identities. There are interfaith and interracial families in both these communities. It is our duty to ensure that every willing person has access to a seat at the table.
Building community requires all of us to have a holistic understanding of our own community's beliefs, histories, and values, and how they may intersect with or are challenged by the beliefs, histories and values of another community.
Cultural competence is a lifelong practice. It's going to take a lot of tense, uncomfortable, and humbling conversations to move forward. Perhaps "You People" serves as a starting point for a much-needed discussion.
