The term “white” in reference to race should mean “European.” If it just means “white colored skin,” that means it should also apply to alabaster princesses.
But for some reason, Middle Eastern Jews are identified as “white” in the news media – particularly when they’re caught in a scandal.
Like, say, if they’re caught pretending to be black.
BBC:
A US academic whose work focuses on Africa and the African diaspora has said she lied about being black.
Jessica Krug, an associate professor at George Washington University (GWU), admitted that she was in fact a white Jewish woman from Kansas City.
“I have built my life on a violent anti-Black lie,” a blog post written under Ms Krug’s name read.
The university said it was investigating the blog post but would not comment further.
Ms Krug’s case, which has drawn surprise and condemnation from those who know her, bears strong parallels to Rachel Dolezal, a white race activist who claimed to be black.
Ms Dolezal first made headlines in 2015 when her parents outed her as white.
The former civil rights activist and African studies instructor had kept up the pretence of being African American for years, but said she “identified as black”.
Writing in a Medium post published on Thursday, Jessica Krug said she had falsely assumed identities “that I had no right to claim: first North African Blackness, then US rooted Blackness, then Caribbean rooted Bronx Blackness”.
“To an escalating degree over my adult life, I have eschewed my lived experience as a white Jewish child,” she wrote.
She described this behaviour as “the very epitome of violence, of thievery and appropriation, of the myriad ways in which non-Black people continue to use and abuse Black identities and cultures“, adding that she had continued the pretence even in her personal relationships.
She blamed her lies on mental health issues and trauma experienced in her early years, although she said this was not an excuse for her actions.
Her academic work, including the 2018 book “Fugitive Modernities: Kisama and the Politics of Freedom”, focuses on the politics and culture of African and African diaspora societies.
According to media reports, Ms Krug also used the name Jessica La Bombalera as an activist.
So, here’s the thing: she’s gone from pretending to be black to pretending to be white. She isn’t any more a standard white European than she is a standard negro.
Why is pretending to be one okay, and pretending to be the other is “the epitome of violence?”
When Jews identify as “white,” I feel that they are committing violence against me.
And that is not okay.