Ep 59: Jewface and Jewish Characters in Media

The Joyous Justice Podcast

On this week’s episode, Tracie and April discuss the recent discussion on the concept of “Jewface” that followed a recent podcast by Sarah Silverman on the topic. They discuss a few different perspectives on the topic and reflect on the patterns within the portrayal of Jewish characters in media.

Check out our discussion/reflection questions for this episode: https://joyousjustice.com/blog/jews-talk-racial-justice-ep-59

Find April and Tracie's full bios and submit topic suggestions for the show at www.JewsTalkRacialJustice.com

Learn more about Joyous Justice where April is the founding and fabulous (!) director, and Tracie is a senior partner.: https://joyousjustice.com/

Read more of Tracie's thoughts at her blog, bmoreincremental.com

Check out the original Sarah Silverman podcast on Jewface here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jewface-iron-dome-mr-mom/id1533130572?i=1000537086147

Read the Forward article by Benjamin Ivry about Sarah Silverman here: https://forward.com/culture/476527/does-sarah-silverman-actually-have-a-point-about-jewface/

Check out Manishtana’s response to Sarah Silverman here: https://www.jta.org/2021/10/13/opinion/the-jewface-debate-about-casting-non-jews-as-jews-betrays-an-ashkenazi-bias

Read more about what spawned Sarah Silverman’s critique, here: https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/kathryn-hahn-jo an-rivers-showtime-1235069552/

Learn more about the cast of Black-ish here: https://abc.com/shows/blackish/cast

Learn more about Suits and Jewish identity here: https://forward.com/life/169757/the-jews-in-suits/

Learn more about the history of Blackface here: https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/blackface-birth-american-stereotype