How Many Jews of Color Are There? Recognizing Jewish Diversity: Science and Controversy
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First, this paper contends that, in 2013, the best estimate of the percentage of Jews who are Jews of Color (JoC) was about 6%, and in 2020, it was about 8%. We rely on two sources to support this conclusion: national Jewish population studies and local Jewish community studies. This paper also presents evidence that members of some groups (Hispanic Jews in particular) may not consider themselves to be “of color,” and Black, Hispanic, Asian, and “other” Jews differ from one another in significant ways. Treating these different groups under one umbrella may not lead to the best policy decisions. Second, we published a short piece on Jews of Color in the 2019 American Jewish Year Book to bring attention to the increasing diversity of American Jews. This was followed by a column in eJewishPhilanthropy. A controversy ensued upon publication of this column. In this paper, we respond to some of these charges and talk about the lessons we learned from this experience.
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Demographic studies show a significant non-white Jewish self-identification.
“even though demographic studies show a significant non-white Jewish self-identification (Belzer et al. 2021;Russell, Feldman, and Kaplan 2026;Sheskin 2024).”
From Introduction: Folklore and Ethnology of Antisemitism (2026) · cites this paper as Sheskin 2024
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Research works printed but not linked: 5
- Bitton, Mijal. 2023. Personal Reflection: Am I a Jew of Color? Negotiating Competing Definitions of JOC. Contemporary Jewry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12397-023-09478-x. · DOI
- Brodkin, K. 1998. How Jews Became White Folks: What That Says About Race in America. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
- Phillips, Bruce A. 2018. Intermarriage in the twenty-first century: New perspectives. In American Jewish Year Book 2017, vol. 117, ed. Arnold Dashefsky and Ira M. Sheskin, 31–119. Cham: Springer.
- Sheskin, Ira M., and Arnold Dashefsky. 2019. United States Jewish Population, 2019. In American Jewish Year Book, 2019, ed. Arnold Dashefsky and Ira M. Sheskin, 135–231. Cham, SUI: Springer.
- Sheskin, Ira M., and Arnold Dashefsky. 2023. United States Jewish Population, 2022. In American Jewish Year Book, 2022, ed. Arnold Dashefsky and Ira M. Sheskin, 155–257. Cham, SUI: Springer.
Cited by
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Introduction: Folklore and Ethnology of Antisemitism
Bronner, S. J. (2026) · Jewish Folklore and Ethnology · doi:10.1353/jfe.2026.a995104
- Authors
- Sheskin, I. M., & Dashefsky, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Miami (US)
- University of Connecticut (US)
- Corresponding author
- Sheskin, Ira M.
- Venue
- Contemporary Jewry
- Published
- 2024-09
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 509-529
- ISSN
- 0147-1694 (ISSN-L)
- 1876-5165
- OpenAlex
- W4403317625
- Cited by
- 1
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1
- FWCI
- 0.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Contemporary Jewry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Demography › Jewish Identity and Society
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Race, Genetics, and Society
- Keywords
- Jewish diversity, Black Jews, controversy, racial identity
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