Research

The Jews of Color Initiative believes that a fuller picture of the JoC community still needs to be painted. We commission vital studies to fill research gaps and bring the nuance and diversity of Jews of Color into view. Our research is guided by principles of racial equity and justice, centers questions emerging authentically among Jews of Color, and is intended to generate practical change in the Jewish community.

Black Power, Jewish Politics: A Book Release & Communal Dialogue in Partnership with the Skirball Cultural Center

Join Skirball and the Jews of Color Initiative for the premier launch of the revised edition of Black Power, Jewish Politics: Reinventing the Alliance in the 1960s. This event will include a presentation and moderated discussion followed by a Q&A with Marc Dollinger and Ilana Kaufman.

Current Studies

Beyond the Count: Perspectives and Lived Experiences of Jews of Color

This report uses survey and interview data of a complex fabric of JoC identities, lived experiences, and perspectives. In the context of the national conversation about race in the United States, this study enhances American Jews’ understanding of their own racial and ethnic diversity and provides an opportunity to reflect on how systems of inequality are perpetuated in our own community.

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Research Articles

Research Methods

Beyond the Count Methods

The findings of this mixed-methods study are derived from two unprecedented data sources: the first national survey of Jews of Color and the largest dataset of interviews with self-identified Jews of Color to date.

Counting Inconsistencies Methods

Counting Inconsistencies is the product of a close analysis of American Jewish population and demographic studies from the past 20 years. For the purposes of this study, we approached all collateral associated with a population study, responses, and survey instruments as data that we would subject to analysis.

Research in the Field

JoC Leaders in Their Own Words: The Importance of Counting Inconsistencies

There are at least one million Jews of Color in the United States. That’s what the Jews of Color Initiative’s study, Counting Inconsistencies, found. From social media users to other Jewish population researchers, this number has been restructuring perceptions about Jews of Color.

Reflecting on Emerging Research as Jews on the Margins

An important and exciting part of the Jews of Color Initiative is our ability to advance research about diverse Jewish communities.

Research that Got us to This Moment: We Stand on the Shoulders of Others

But just because Jews of Color have been under-considered by researchers doesn’t mean we’re the first to pay attention to our community. In fact, several studies and other writings paved the way for us—and our research team—to have a foundational understanding of the JoC community. Using our own familiarity with past studies and connecting with our research team to see which writings on Jews of Color helped inform their knowledge of the community, we’ve developed a list of some research studies and books from the 2000s to today that shaped research on Jews of Color, and on whose shoulders we stand.

Research Recap

Why Qualitative Interviews Will Change How We Understand the Count Me In Survey

Qualitative interviews not only provide more detail but reveal the lived experiences of identities. “Our interviewees tell us not just what they experienced, but how they experienced it—how it made them feel, how it shaped how they relate to the space they experienced it in.”

Research that Reflects Us: Dr. Dalya Perez Shares Her Role on the Research Team and Her Hopes for Next Steps

For Dr. Dalya Perez, it was a no-brainer to join the research team of our ongoing Count Me In study...This work also offers a place of healing for Perez’s own life experience navigating identities that are seen as incompatible.

Asking Different Questions and Finding Remarkable Answers: A Dive into Our Study Counting Inconsistencies

Without having the number of Jews of Color in the U.S., we would continue to face that recurring question, continue to be dismissed as just a tiny fraction of the community. Establishing a data-driven analysis of the number of Jews of Color also helps direct resources toward the community.

Conducting Your Own Research?

Share your survey or poll as a resource on our Community Board.

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