How JoCI Grantee Research is Shaping Jewish Community Engagement
Collectively, these three studies conducted by JoCI grantees demonstrate the power of research as a tool for advocacy, ultimately driving tangible impacts on community offerings.
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 generates practical change in the Jewish community. We also make grants that support independent research studies advancing our communal knowledge of Jews of Color. Scroll down to learn more about grantee research findings!
Collectively, these three studies conducted by JoCI grantees demonstrate the power of research as a tool for advocacy, ultimately driving tangible impacts on community offerings.
Using a meta-analysis of national and community population studies, the findings affirm that at least 12-15% of American Jews are Jews of Color. This study also demonstrates that prior research systematically undercounted Jews of Color.
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.
In addition to commissioning our own research studies, JoCI proudly supports projects by independent researchers and organizations that expand our understanding of the intersectional experiences of Jews of Color.
Scroll down to explore reports from grantee researchers, or click the orange button to find opportunities to engage with ongoing research!
This secondary data analysis was designed to further explore the findings on the Latin-Jewish community from the 2021 Study of Jewish LA, commissioned by the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles. This project aims to provide deeper insights and a more nuanced understanding of the Latin-Jewish population, building on the foundation of the original study.
This powerful cohort of ten inspiring projects brings bold, intersectional strategies to the essential work of addressing antisemitism, rooted in the leadership, creativity, and bridge-building insights of Jews of Color.
This report is the first of its kind to comprehensively explore the unique experiences, challenges, and resilience of LGBTQ+ Jews of Color in Jewish spaces. “Threads of Identity” is both a love letter to LGBTQ+ Jews of Color and all the parts of who they are, as well as an offering of actionable steps for the Jewish community to honor the full spectrum of its members by creating spaces where all Jews feel like they belong and that fully embrace LGBTQ+ community members of Color.
The “Shades of Belonging” study examines the unique experiences of Jewish adoptees of color, highlighting the intersections of race, religion, and adoption for this understudied community.
In October 2022, a group of Jewish people of color advisors with clergy, ritual, and nonprofit experience convened to reflect on their experiences navigating Jewish end-of-life practices and rituals, and explore the idea of creating resources to support Jewish people of color during life’s most challenging moments.
We invite Jewish communal leaders and community members to engage deeply with our 2023 research grantees’ findings. Their research brings clarity to intersectionality in various sectors of Jewish life, painting a beautifully expansive picture of JoC experiences.
Being both Jewish and people of color, Jews of Color are dually impacted by racism and antisemitism as interwoven vectors of trauma. Yet no known prior research has studied the unique ways in which Jews of Color experience and are impacted by them together. The primary objective of this project — led by an all-JOC team of researchers, educators, and community organizers through the Mitsui Institute — is therefore to increase our collective knowledge and understanding of racism and antisemitism as intersectional impact forces on Jewish bodies — especially but not limited to Jews of Color.
Watch as Dr. David McCarty-Caplan presents the findings of this groundbreaking research, Shades of Belonging: Exploring Religious Identity and Sense of Belonging Among Jewish Adoptees of Color, and interviews two JoC adoptee survey participants on their experiences. This research project utilized qualitative and quantitative data to gain insight on the experiences of JoC adoptees and their racialized Jewish identity formation. The data collected from this research will work to expand our understanding of transracial adoption and racial equity.