Attitudes to Racial Discrimination

From prejudice to racial discrimination

Racial discrimination means treating people unfairly because of their race, skin colour or ethnic background. It differs from prejudice: prejudice is a judgement or attitude, while discrimination is what people do. A prejudiced assumption that someone does not belong can lead to excluding them from a community or treating them as suspicious.

Discrimination can also operate through institutions. Policies and routine practices may disadvantage a group even when no individual openly expresses hatred. This matters because challenging racist language alone will not necessarily remove unfair treatment built into the way an organisation works.

Common humanity in Genesis 3:16–24

Genesis 3:16–24 describes the consequences of Adam and Eve’s disobedience and their departure from the Garden of Eden. Jewish interpretations can draw lessons about humanity, moral responsibility and care from this account, rather than reading it as a direct instruction about race.

A particularly important detail is Genesis 3:20: Adam names his wife Eve because she is the ‘mother of all the living’. In the Jewish creation account, humanity shares a common ancestry. This can support the argument that people of different ethnic backgrounds belong to one human family: no racial group has a separate origin that makes it inherently superior to another.

Genesis 3:21 describes God making clothing for Adam and Eve. The Chabad commentary interprets this as an act of kindness and mercy before their expulsion. Although both have disobeyed, God still cares for them. Applied to racial discrimination, this supports protecting human dignity rather than deciding that some people are unworthy of care.

The passage also describes human knowledge of good and evil and exclusion from the Tree of Life. Its judgement concerns human conduct, not skin colour. A Jewish ethical application is that people should be held responsible for their actions rather than condemned because of their ancestry.

These interpretations connect with B’tzelem Elohim, the teaching that human beings are created in the image of God. Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has argued that excluding even one person because of their skin colour is a collective failure. Human dignity therefore creates responsibilities for the whole community, not just for the person directly carrying out discrimination.

Why discrimination harms society

Racial discrimination harms both individuals and the relationships on which society depends.

• Exclusion damages dignity and belonging. Racist insults or repeated questioning of whether someone belongs can make them feel unsafe, humiliated or unwelcome. Within a religious community, this can obstruct participation in worship and communal life.
• Unequal treatment restricts opportunity. Discrimination in education or employment can prevent people from developing their abilities or gaining work. Disadvantage can then persist, while society loses the benefit of their contributions.
• Racial profiling undermines trust. Singling people out for security checks because of their appearance treats ethnicity as evidence of danger. Those affected may lose confidence in the organisations meant to protect them.
• Prejudice creates division and can encourage violence. Treating a group as inferior makes hostility easier to justify. Fear and resentment then weaken cooperation between communities.

From a Jewish perspective, these are not merely inconvenient outcomes. They also contradict common humanity and the dignity associated with being made in God’s image.

Jewish responses: words, listening and institutional change

In a 1963 speech during the American civil rights struggle, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel condemned racial thinking. He contrasted the different kinds of plants and animals in Genesis with the creation of one human ancestor. His argument was that humanity should not be divided into supposedly superior and inferior kinds.

Heschel also compared continuing racial exclusion with the unfinished struggle for freedom represented by the Exodus. This made opposition to discrimination a religious responsibility rather than an optional political interest.

The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism’s 2015 ‘Hearts and Minds’ programme brought these teachings into congregational discussion. Its approach was to reflect, relate and reform: examine personal and communal involvement in racism, listen to people affected, and work to change laws and policies that reinforce injustice. It recognised that Jews can experience prejudice while also participating in discrimination against others.

A British example is the Board of Deputies’ Commission on Racial Inclusivity, chaired by Stephen Bush. Its report, published on 22 April 2021, made 119 recommendations after investigating experiences within Jewish communal life. These included training teachers and youth leaders to tackle racist incidents, regular listening exercises, fair complaints procedures and an end to racial profiling at communal venues.

These proposals address different causes of discrimination. Listening helps uncover experiences that leaders may overlook; training helps people recognise and challenge incidents; complaints procedures make organisations accountable. The Community Security Trust supported the rejection of racial profiling, arguing that security should focus on behaviour, not colour. The recommendations were intended to produce change; their publication alone did not prove that discrimination had ended.

Is treating everyone ‘the same’ enough?

One approach stresses common humanity: refusing to judge people by race should prevent stereotyping and affirm equal worth. This fits Heschel’s rejection of racial superiority.

However, refusing to acknowledge race at all can conceal discrimination that already exists. If an institution ignores the different treatment people experience, its apparently equal rules may leave unequal outcomes untouched. This explains the emphasis on listening to Black Jews and other Jews of colour and examining institutional practices.

A justified Jewish response can combine both insights: everyone has equal dignity, but achieving fair treatment requires recognising and correcting actual discrimination. Equality need not erase individual or cultural differences.