Why JFS needs anti-racist education

We left JFS five years ago; in our time at JFS we learnt briefly about the transatlantic slavery, and then in elected classes later at JFS we learnt briefly about the struggle for civil rights in the USA. We urge JFS to elect diverse modules and incorporate such education into other subjects to make the curriculum more inclusive.

We do not intend to take away from JFS’s Jewish education; it is because of our Jewish education at JFS that we seek to learn more. From testimonies received, it is clear that students are driven in part by the education we received on Jewish history and consequently want to learn more about other minority groups and the struggles they have faced and continue to face. 

As noted in the letter, we think that even the Jewish education could be diversified, to better understand the experience of groups such as the Mizrachi and Sephardic Jews. 

The letter also explains how other subjects could be changed too, and how workshops, unrelated to the curriculum, could help in achieving a more anti-racist education at JFS.

In our experience, the need to fight against antisemitism was often discussed, however this never went hand in hand with discussing the importance of fighting against other forms of xenophobia and racism. 

We were taught the importance of Jewish values, such as always seeking justice and loving thy neighbour. In practice, JFS fell short of incorporating this into their education. We were taught our important history as a Jewish people but insufficiently about other forms of inequality and oppression in throughout history and today.