Rabbi discusses being Black, Jewish in America during virtual talk with Oberlin College's Chabad

OBERLIN — Raised by his Jewish mother and Black gentile father in Arizona, Yonason Perry grew up straddling two worlds. His earliest upbringing was not deeply religious. "Growing up, I was more connected to my father's culture. They had been more welcoming than my mother's culture in the beginning," Perry told members of Oberlin College's Chabad group in a virtual talk Monday night. As part of a Black History Month series, students and alumni listened intently as Perry, now a rabbi living in Los Angeles, talked about his experiences with racism and acceptance. "We talk so much about the length and breadth of the Jewish community and the diversity we have," but don't always hear from Jews of color, said Rabbi Shlomo Elkan, who leads Chabad at Oberlin. Perry said as a kid he had negative run-ins with police. He was stopped for walking in his own neighborhood, and he was treated more harshly than others because of the color of his skin, he said. At a young age, Perry got "the talk" from his father: "These people will kill you and nothing will happen to them," he was told. Perry said he has known people of color killed by police. Today, he still gets nervous "for no rational reason" whenever he sees officers on patrol. At 19, Perry was introduced to Chabad and found immediate acceptance. The Black community is "very much about authenticity," he said — when he steeped himself in study of the Torah, Black peers were supportive. The same couldn't always be said of the Jewish community. Perry said he remembers being laughed at, and told to prove he was Jewish. Chabad, though, provided unquestioning acceptance, he said. Anti-Semitism reared its head at the university he attended, said Perry, who did not attend Oberlin College. He said he felt more discrimination at that level than anywhere else. There is still tension with some blood relatives over his identity, he told students. America, said Perry, is often described as a melting pot where cultures meld together. That hasn't always worked out — the nation's history is marred by segregation, and still struggles with what it means to appreciate what makes cultures unique. America should be about celebrating one another's cultures, he said, not being colorblind. "God made us all different for a reason," Perry said. His request to students: Be kind to everyone, and "a light unto the nations." Perry said Jewish people are called to be good, to be compassionate to others and to foster unity wherever they go. Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.