Abstract
Jewish people are a small diasporic group with diverse expressions of identity aligning with constructs like religion, culture, race, and ethnicity. They can be racialized in various ways depending on context. In addition, antisemitism (prejudice, hostility, and/or discrimination toward Jews) is central to White nationalist and White supremacist ideologies (Schlosser & Ancis, 2008; Ward, 2018). Jewish people are also often categorized – by others and themselves – as White, especially in the United States (U.S.). Such complexities have been termed paradoxical position (Altman et al., 2010), a unique and understudied experience. Using interpretive phenomenological analysis (Smith & Nizza, 2022), the current study asked: (a) What is it like for White American Jewish people to be a part of a racialized minority in the U.S.? (b) How do White American Jewish people experience the relationship between their racial and Jewish identities? (c) How do White American Jewish people navigate relationships within racialized power structures, and (d) What impact do racialized power structures have on the lives of White American Jewish People. Experiential themes revealed: (a) ways Jewishness can be meaningful to Jewish people, (b) how White American Jewish people navigate relationships to power and privilege in unique ways, (c) how commonly used racial categorizations can feel inadequate for many White Jewish people, even as they grapple deeply with issues of power and oppression, and (d) how experiences of marginalization and minority stress are present and often invisible to Jewish and non-Jewish communities alike. Implications for research and clinical work are discussed.