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Someone asked me not long ago if Ashkenazim self-identifying as Middle Eastern constitutes erasure of Sephardim/Mizrahim.

I responded by pointing out that the entire question is absurd. Here's why...

African-Americans and native-born Zimbabweans, Nigerians, or Congolese… they are all African. To give just one example.

Sure, most African-Americans were born outside of Africa and (in the vast majority of cases) have not lived there for centuries. And yes, there is some cultural distance because of that. But guess what? African-Americans are still *African*-Americans.

There is absolutely nothing stopping them from identifying as African, or from reclaiming the African cultural traditions they forgot when they were brought to North America. And guess what? Many do, and have.

To give another example, consider Singaporean Chinese, Malaysian Chinese, and Chinese Americans. All of these groups live outside of China, and have largely assimilated to the cultures in which they live. BUT, they’re still Chinese-Americans, Singaporean Chinese, etc.

Likewise, Ashkenazi Jews are *Middle Eastern*-Europeans, *Middle Eastern*-Americans, *Middle Eastern*-Canadians, and so on and so forth.

All of the arguments I made above apply just as much to us. We’re not special here, and you can’t make a separate set of rules for us and us alone. That’s called racism.

And in terms of culture, our diaspora culture (yes, Ashkenazi culture is *diaspora* culture), let alone our root culture (i.e. Jewish/Israelite culture), is very much Middle Eastern. European-influenced? Undoubtedly. But still Middle Eastern.

I know I’ve said this many times, but it’s important and still bears repeating: Jews who live outside of Israel are called diaspora Jews for a reason.