JBroadway said: "Woah, I popped into this thread just to find out about rush info...what a bizarre series of twists and turns I've missed!
For the record: I'm an Ashkenazi Jew of Eastern European descent...and I'm white. Judaismis a religion, being an Ashkenazi Jewis an ethnicity, but neither are a race. It's a nuanced thing, but it's important recognize that nuance. I don't doubt that there are white Jews who don't consider themselves white, but they would be wrong. Possibly they feel that because Jews have historically been persecuted, that qualifies as being non-white, but persecution and racism are not synonymous. Anti-Semitism and racism have somewhat different histories, they often function differently, and they manifest differently in modern society.
One of the main overlaps is that white supremacists don't consider white Jews to be white. But I don't take my cues from white supremacists when checking a box on a form."
Thats a perfectly reasonable position to take re identifying as White--i always used to think of my White Jewish family as White Like Everyone Else-- but it isnt that simple. And I certainly don't get how anyone can declare Jews not to be a race-- Judaism is a religion, but there is a racial group of people that derive from Ashkenazi (Northern/Eastern/Central European) Jews and one that derives from Sefardi Jews. There are lots of Jews who are the product of inter-racial relationships, or who "opt in" and are 1000% Jewish as a result, but when I take a DNA test, 25% of my genes dictate that I'm of Ashkenazi Jewish origin. That isnt a religion or culture.