A Black Jew Speaks: Enough Already

Let me be clear, because I don’t want there to be any confusion: I am Jewish. I come from Kohans—one of the oldest priestly lines in the culture. I’m also Black. And I’m done being quiet.

I’m tired of seeing the Jewish story dominate every narrative about pain and suffering—especially here in America. I turned on PBS today, and once again, it was another Holocaust special. And sure, the Holocaust was horrific. It was evil. But damn it, it happened eighty years ago.

Meanwhile, Black history in this country gets erased, minimized, and dismissed. We still can’t get real airtime for the transatlantic slave trade, the genocide of Native Americans, or the ongoing trauma of being Black in America. Where’s that programming?

And here’s the kicker: while we’re being told to “never forget,” the State of Israel—our so-called answer to Jewish persecution—is wiping Palestine off the map in real time. Right now. Today.

And yet, no one is allowed to talk about that without being labeled antisemitic. Even when the critique is coming from inside the house.

Let’s stop pretending Jewish power doesn’t exist. It does. In media, in law, in medicine, in politics. That’s not a conspiracy. That’s reality. And when you have that kind of power, you should be held accountable like anyone else.

Not shielded by historic trauma forever. We can’t keep using our pain as armor to ignore the pain we’re causing.

And don’t even get me started on how we police who’s “really” Jewish. As a Black Jew, I’ve been questioned more times than I can count.

And yet, when I used the name Craig Cohen in the Hollywood scene back in the day, doors flew open. More callbacks. More access. More attention—until I showed up in person and the assumption collapsed.

That tells you everything about how whiteness functions within Jewish spaces. Jewishness gets respect—until it’s attached to Blackness. Then suddenly, you’re “not really Jewish,” or worse, invisible.

This isn’t hate. This is truth.
And I’m done being polite about it.