Are You a Racialist?

Announcement: My app, the Amazing Jewish Fact-a-Day Calendar, was named one of the top 5 in its class by the Jerusalem Post. Here's the link.

You may have heard of Michele Norris, an afternoon host on NPR's "All Things Considered". As you can see from this image, she is a black woman.... ? Well, that's how I heard her describe herself once. But she looks whiter than I do.

She was on "Talk of the Nation" yesterday for a discussion on racism, fueled by the shooting in Florida.

What I would like to report to you is her closing line:

"I've learned that all over the world, they may not call it racism, maybe it's bias, maybe it's tribalism."

My question for your table is going to be: Is tribalism the same as racism?

But before I ask the question, let's ask a more personal question for most of the readers of this blog.

Question 1 - What does the phrase "being Jewish" mean to you?

Some will say that being Jewish means that you are always a potential target for someone.

Not a random target.

A premeditated, cold-blooded target.

Here is a photo of 3 of the victims of this week's assassination in Toulouse, with their now-widowed wife/mother.

Others will say that being Jewish means reaching out to the Jewish community of Toulouse. If you would like to do so, here is their info:

Collège et Lycée Ozar Hatorah
33 rue Jules Dalou
31500 Toulouse, France
Email: ozar31  @  wanadoo.fr  (remove spaces)

Michele Norris has an online project cleverly called "The Race Card" - the idea is to invite the public to submit 6-word statements about race. Here's the link.

Question 2 for your table: What 6 words would you submit?

Here are mine:

Racism is false, but racialism true.


OK, your turn again. As promised, here's the 3rd question for your table: Is tribalism the same as racism?

Shabbat Shalom.