states and Puerto Rico who filled out an online survey. “Beyond the Count: Perspectives and Lived Experiences of Jews of Color” presents data on 1,118 self-identified Jews of color living in 47 U.S. This week, the Jews of Color Initiative (JOCI) released a new research study that is sure to spark even more conversation about the identities and concerns of ethnically and racially diverse Jews. More than a year has passed since then, and while some progress has been made locally to empower Jews of color, much remains the same on the national level. This debate was happening against the backdrop of the racial justice protests following George Floyd’s murder, a time when sensitivities around race were already heightened. The pushback from the (white) demographers prompted its own pushback from Jews of color and their allies, who saw an attack on the study’s findings as an attack on Jews of color themselves (since Jewish demographic studies can impact how institutions allocate funds), and an ill-timed one at that. (That figure rose to 8% in a new Pew study that came out earlier this year.) “Counting Inconsistencies,” a meta-analysis of previously published local and national Jewish population studies, raised the hackles of some members of the community, including prominent demographers who argued in a May 2020 article that the percentage of Jews of color was actually closer to the 6% reported by the Pew Research Center in 2013.

Two years ago, the Bay Area–based Jews of Color Initiative rocked the American Jewish community boat when it released a study proposing that 12% to 15% of American Jews are people of color.

We are not alone 2019 trailer