AJP Response to CoNREPA Statement

Dear Colleagues,

The Association for Jewish Psychologists is truly saddened and angered by the letter that we all recently received, signed by Dr. Sherry Wang, Dr. Earl Turner, and Dr. Milton Fuentes, from the Coalition of Racial and Ethnic Psychological Associations (CoNREPA) and specifically endorsed by APA Division 45, the Asian American Psychological Association, the American Arab, Middle Eastern and North African Psychological Association, the National Latinx Psychological Association, the Association of Black Psychologists, and the Society of Indian Psychologists.

For our colleagues, who have experienced so much discrimination, misunderstanding, exclusion, persecution, death, amidst so many tremendous losses throughout history, we are disturbed to hear that they believe that they can dictate to Jewish psychologists who we are, in what ways and why, we have been persecuted, discriminated against, murdered, and expelled from our homes, century after century, millennia after millennia.  And, they also apparently believe that they can now dictate to us as to which groups we can and cannot belong on APA Council, regardless of how we can best serve APA and despite our Association Bylaws.

We have learned from all of our colleagues, over many years of productive dialogues and informational workshops and symposia on Council, that others cannot define a group to which they do not belong. For example, one of the tenets is that those who say that “Blackness is merely a skin color” are denying Black cultural identity, history, and the uniqueness of the Black experience.

In many ways, Jews and African Americans share a history of oppression, most famously and most recently recognized by Martin Luther King. That oppression, however, is not attributable to all of the same factors. 

To say, as our colleagues do, that our history of “discrimination” is due, solely, to our religion, is both factually incorrect and myopic. Our history of oppression goes way beyond religious oppression.  Yes, in ancient times, we refused to worship many Gods and we refused to worship tangible representations of godlike figures. We were loyal to one G-d. But we were oppressed and murdered for thousands of other “reasons.” We (instead of the Romans) were accused of killing Christ because Judas (like Christ and all of the Disciples were Jewish) betrayed him.  Throughout the ages, and through the second World War, we were also accused of “blood libel,” the preposterous allegation that Jews murdered Christian boys so that we could use their blood to make matzoh.  Throughout the ages, we were murdered and/or expelled from countries because we were falsely accused of “cheating” in the practice of one of the only trades which we were allowed to practice: “money lending.” Shakespeare perpetuated this myth in his “Merchant of Venice,” written 1596-1598. We were murdered not because we had a different religion, but because we had “Jewish blood”.

The Holocaust, the most pernicious and successful extermination of Jews, in history, murdered Jews because Hitler convinced thousands that the Jews were responsible for the German loss in WWI and Germany’s severe economic downturn.  Boats of Jews fleeing murder in concentration camps, in the late 1930’s, were not allowed to enter the United States, Canada, England, South America, and Palestine, and were turned back to their countries, that were murdering them, much as current immigrants’ fleeing persecution, today are being expelled from and physically beaten inside the United States.

Even in the 1950’s and 60’s, the true beginning of the Golden Age for Jews in the United States and the world, Jews, despite our whiteness, were “restricted” from certain neighborhoods, schools, restaurants, hotels, clubs, Universities, and psychology Ph.D. programs.  Princeton University, as many other elite Universities, maintained quotas for Jewish students, ending only in 1964, just a few years before Princeton made the decision to accept women students.

As you can see, our oppression is not just about religion, but it is about our cultural and racial ethnicity, our minority status, and how that was exploited to scapegoat us throughout history. Indeed, under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, particularly Title VI, federal agencies and courts treat Jewish people as a protected group based on shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, rather than solely a religion. While Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits workplace discrimination based on religion (including Judaism), Jewish people are also protected under Title VII and other federal statutes based on race, ethnicity, and national origin. Courts and the EEOC recognize that anti-Semitic discrimination often targets Jews as a distinct ethnic or ancestral group, not just a religious one. 

Our colleagues’ letter adds definitions and conditions that were not present when our colleagues brought their petitions for inclusion as Ethnic Psychological Associations in APA and it implies that the 2021 Apology from APA is their rationale for asserting that Jewish ethnicity is nonexistent. Moreover, our colleagues state that any focus on Jewish ethnicity “obscures” the focus on the racism that has been endured by people of color. It astonishes my Jewish colleagues and me that our colleagues of color believe that we, together, cannot fight both racism and antisemitism. It astonishes us that learning about our culture and our ethnicity somehow takes something away from their culture and identity and their fight for equity, diversity, and inclusion.

In fact, reciprocity is the point. When the Apology was made in 2021 to APA psychologists of color, acknowledging APA’s complicity in systemic inequities and harm toward communities of color, APA leaders made explicit statements that Jewish psychologists would receive recognition of discriminatory practices against them within the next few years.

Our objective is to work with our colleagues of color, not to work at cross purposes.  We are stronger together.

Our colleagues say that Jews are not underrepresented in APA. Yet, no one really knows how many Jewish psychologists are in APA; that’s not data that are collected.

At the same time, it is true that there are many Jewish psychologists, despite our being a tiny minority in the U.S. (2.4%) and even a tinier minority worldwide (.2%). Historically, many Jewish people were excluded from other professions, like medicine and law, due to prejudice (and not because of where or how we prayed).  Science was one area that was accessible to Jews.  Achieving self-actualization, therefore, as any individual might want to do, many Jews became prominent in the development of the discipline of Psychology in the United States.

But AJP’s quest for affiliation is not about numbers. Our Bylaws do not state that an Ethnic Psychological Association exists because of “underrepresentation” in APA.  Rather, our Bylaws state that an Ethnic Psychological Association will be “affiliated with APA … if the Council deems that it is in the best interests of the Association … to be so affiliated.”  Why is it in the best interests of APA and the communities we serve to affiliate with the Association of Jewish Psychologists?  As our NBI states:

1. The inclusion of AJP can generate new insights on antisemitism, trauma, and intergroup relations.
2. We can support the continuing development of culturally informed resources and training.
3. We can strengthen APA’s ability to address identity-based harm across communities.
4. We can enhance cross-group collaboration among Divisions, SPTA’s, EPA’s and caucuses.

The discussion that we are having, right here, is a good case in point.  There is very little understanding of the history and culture of the Jewish people among non-Jews.  That lack of knowledge unfortunately, perpetuates negative stereotypes and negative interactions. Our culture includes common languages (Hebrew, Ladino, Judeo-Arabic, Judeo-Persian, Yiddish), a common history, a common religion, common traditions and rituals, common values, a rich history of literature, music, art, a shared, geographic land of origin, Israel, supported by archeological, anthropological, linguistic, biblical evidence, as well as ancient narratives provided by contemporary scribes.

Are there Jews of color? Yes, certainly.  Although 12-15% of Jews in the U.S. identify as Jews of Color, 68.2% of Israeli Jews (Mizrahi+Ethiopian+mixed+Soviet) come from non-European origins and would be considered as "of color" in the U.S.   Since APA prides itself on being an international organization, it is important that we take the complexity of Jewish “color” into account. At the same time, you assert that Jews of color should make their home in your psychological associations.  With respect, your ethnic psychological associations do not have the authority to tell Jews of color in which organizations they should make their professional home.

Interestingly, much gets made of some Jews who do not agree with AJP’s attempt to be affiliated asan Ethnic Psychological Association. Again, this reflects a lack of understanding of the bedrocks of Jewish culture and education.  Our culture values truth-seeking through discourse, arguing different perspectives, and holding varied positions on all kinds of issues. In the same vein, many in our AJP are as critical of the politics in Israel as they are of the politics in the United States.  All are welcome because differences of opinion are a part of our culture. Indeed, AJP’s Mission Statement attests to that diversity. No other Ethnic Psychological Association in APA is requiring its members to be single-minded on any one issue.  Nor is it demanded of any other Ethnic Psychological Association in APA that it represents every single person of that same heritage, culture, or racial identity. We, in AJP, are joined with APA in its important endeavor to dismantle racism and hate against marginalized and minoritized populations.  We also want to dismantle antisemitism and discrimination against Jews. One of the very important ways in which we can begin to do that is to educate our colleagues about our culture and ethnicity.

We believe that hurtful communications, such as our colleagues’ recent letter, reflect a serious lack of understanding of the Jewish experience and a diminution of the pain of antisemitism. Our colleagues articulate an overly-limited definition of Jewish people as well as an overly-limited concept of privilege, narrowed by what they are seeing in some areas of the world today.

We hope that the many dialogues, conversations, discussions that we have had, and that we continue to have, with our colleagues in Division 45 and in the current APA Ethnic Psychological Associations, and all of our colleagues on Council and in APA, will elucidate issues that have not yet been made clear. 

We are always open to dialogue, especially dialogue that comes from a space that is open to learning, mutual exchange, and the integration of new information.

With hope for a better future for all of us,

Beth

Beth N. Rom-Rymer, Ph.D.

President, Association of Jewish Psychologists

On behalf of the Board of the Association of Jewish Psychologists