Earlier today, a Twitter Moment expanded upon the idea that Gal Gadot, the Israeli star of the new Wonder Woman movie, is a person of color. In an unsurprisingly controversial article, ComicBook.com stated just that: Gal Gadot, because she was born in Israel, is not white but in fact a person of color. To quote, “Simply put: LOOKING white, doesn’t mean you ARE white.”
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Thankfully, journalist and artist S.I. Rosenbaum jumped into the conversation as fast as Wonder Woman herself. In a 25-tweet-long thread, the self-proclaimed Ashkenazi Jew explained clearly and thoroughly the differences between religion, nationality and ethnicity, and what it means to be white and to be a person of color.
Rosenbaum starts off strong with a callout.
This article is complete, unadulterated bullshit https://t.co/ncr0te5MgS
— S.I. Rosenbaum (@sirosenbaum) June 1, 2017
Then, she perfectly explains what ComicBook.com couldn’t.
First of all. Israeli is a nationality, not an ethnicity. There are Israelis of all different backgrounds just as there are Americans. >
— S.I. Rosenbaum (@sirosenbaum) June 1, 2017
Second: Judaism is both a religion & an ethnic heritage. Jewish ethnicity comes in several distinct flavors that parted ways ~2k-1k yrs ago>
— S.I. Rosenbaum (@sirosenbaum) June 1, 2017
Ashkenazim are one type of Jewish ethnicity. That's what I am, what Gal Gadot is, and what Natalie Portman is. >
— S.I. Rosenbaum (@sirosenbaum) June 1, 2017
We have many of the privileges of "regular" whites. Probably the best way to think of Ashkenazim in America is "white passing." >
— S.I. Rosenbaum (@sirosenbaum) June 1, 2017
Claiming that Gal Gadot is a "person of color" is totally specious and an insult to people of color who need representation in media. >
— S.I. Rosenbaum (@sirosenbaum) June 1, 2017
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The full thread can be read in the Twitter Moment, but to summarize, in Rosenbaum’s eloquent words, “NOT BEING WHITE DOESN’T MEAN YOU ARE OF COLOR. It’s not a dichotomy. It’s not all about melanin, though that’s part of it; it’s also about personal history and heritage.”
Both ComicBook.com and the author of the article have yet to respond to the thread or take down the article itself.
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