Why does US media not celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month? - opinion

Did you hear about Jewish American Heritage Month? Well, if you’re like me, the answer is no. I discovered it because I was curious what would happen if I searched online for “Jewish history month.” But it’s been around for almost 20 years.

In 2006, then-US president George W. Bush proclaimed May as Jewish American Heritage Month. He believed in the crucial need for a month each year that recognizes over 350 years of Jewish contributions to America and its culture. 

I agree with former President Bush. We need Jewish American Heritage Month so we can honor a unique and ancient history, and celebrate the richness of Jewish heritage.

As an Ashkenazi and Black father, I am heartened that every February for Black History Month, all major streaming platforms curate films and TV shows amplifying Black stories for me and my children to watch.

I discovered King in the Wilderness, a 2018 HBO Films documentary about the last years of Martin Luther King's life, because the Max streaming service had a selection of films for Black History Month. I love the documentary and have watched it many times. But I might not have even known about it if Max had not made it easily accessible on its homepage.

The origins of Jewish American Heritage Month

The origins of Black History Month and Jewish American Heritage Month have much in common. Both grew and developed from the need to recognize and celebrate the achievements of Blacks and Jews in America.

I carry the legacy of my ancestors with me. Both Blacks and Jews have endured centuries of systematic killings and hate, but we have persevered and shaped the world. Yet, when May arrives, Jewish stories are not celebrated by major streaming platforms like Netflix. I couldn't find a single platform that honored Jewish American Heritage Month last year.

But doesn’t Jewish American Heritage Month deserve the same attention as Black History Month? What message is being sent when our stories are not given the platform they deserve?

IN THE MEDIA, Jews are too often represented with simplistic and antisemitic tropes. The 2023 film You People is rife with big-nosed, money-loving Jews. And why are most films available on streaming platforms about the Holocaust, as if the only Jewish story worth telling is one in which Jews are killed? 

Our stories are not only underrepresented but often misrepresented. On top of that, we are too often erased; on screen, we are played by non-Jewish actors. Sarah Silverman, in her podcast, said it well: “There’s this long tradition of non-Jews playing Jews, and not just playing people who happen to be Jewish, but people whose Jewishness is their whole being." 

This is not acceptable. The prevailing sentiment that to be Jewish in America is to be white is a dangerous oversimplification. When we see Jews as white, they become a part of an oppressor majority for whom accurate and intentional representation is not deemed necessary.

But data reveals something else. Hate crimes against Jews in America have been rising at a staggering pace for more than a decade. Based on FBI reports from 2013 to 2023, antisemitic incidents went up an astounding 1,075%, from 927 to 8,873 incidents. 

Interestingly, 2013 marked a low point statistically for antisemitism in America, the lowest recorded since tracking began in 1979. If Jews are part of an oppressor class, then it seems reasonable to conclude that antisemitic incidents would be more in line with hate crimes that are considered anti-white by the FBI. Yet, in 2023, there were 53 anti-white incidents.

So, if we go back to 2013, when antisemitic incidents were at an all-time low, that rate is still higher than the current rate of anti-white hate crimes.

The idea of seeing Jews as white has nothing to do with the actual reality of Jews; rather, it’s a color-coded way of seeing the world. It is long overdue for us as a country to challenge this notion and, by doing so, see Jews as a people deserving of complex and nuanced representation.

If media companies like Netflix and Hulu had a user-friendly, easy-to-find section of content celebrating Jewish stories during Jewish American Heritage Month, then more people could learn about the struggles and triumphs of Jews. It would foster a culture that values, admires, and loves Jews, and that proudly counts Jews as part of the American mosaic.

Media companies know that we often watch what is easy to find. Netflix has an individualized approach for every user’s homepage based on what we watch and like, which keeps us consuming content on Netflix longer. Streaming platforms, however, should help us discover stories we might not know we’re interested in yet are nevertheless relevant to us.

Stories can evoke deep emotions and transform our understanding of the world. The great writer Chinua Achebe makes this poignantly clear in his essay "Truth of Fiction,” where he explores the idea of “imaginative identification.” He explains that we can experience lives that are not our own. By using our imaginations, stories happen to us; it is an active process in which we become part of making the stories. 

He says: “Our imagination can narrow the existential gap [between personal experience and vicarious experience] by giving us in a wide range of human situations the closest approximation to experience we are ever likely to get, and sometimes the safest.” I think of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and The Night, two books that mean so much to me. I am grateful to be able to experience them by using imaginative identification.

And that’s precisely why streaming platforms should celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month. I hope that during this May’s Jewish American Heritage Month, we can easily discover Jewish film and television on streaming platforms like Netflix, Apple TV, and Hulu.

Then, millions of Americans who might know very little about the Jewish people can connect to content that depicts the tragedies and triumphs of its Jewish characters.  

The writer is working on a memoir called In Defiance of All True Things.