Faculty in the News

Professor Dollinger: Critical Race Theory Is Politicized Because It 'Threatens White America'

DEL MAR TIMES -- Tatum, widely known for her expertise in race relations, appeared in a webinar hosted by the Anti-Defamation League on August 5, along with Marc Dollinger, a member of the Jewish Studies faculty at San Francisco State University whose focus is on Jewish social justice.

Dollinger said critical race theory has become politicized because it “threatens White America.” But he said it’s about the system, not individuals personally.

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If you’re asking American Jews if they’re religious, you don’t understand American Jews

Prof. Rachel B. Gross writes about religion in Pew Research Center’s new study, “Jewish Americans in 2020,” in Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Read the article on the Jewish Telegraphic Agency website.

Photo: A woman with a tallit. Jewish traditional religious practice is fading among new generations of American Jews, according to the findings from the Pew Research Center's 2021 study on American Judaism.

Is the Jewish Deli the New Synagogue?

Rachel B. Gross finds Jewish life flourishing in unconventional institutions, including museums and restaurants.

Are sociologists and communal leaders looking for American Judaism in all the wrong places?

Rachel B. Gross argues that too many community studies and their authors see Judaism in decline because they measure synagogue attendance, ritual observance and other traditional behaviors and “fail to see it flourishing in unconventional religious institutions like museums and restaurants.”

Read the entire story in The New York Jewish Week website.

He claimed White Jews gained from White supremacy. Now he’s more popular than ever.

Religion News Service reports on the reaction to Marc Dollinger's new preface to his book Black Power, Jewish Politics.

Historian Marc Dollinger is on a quest to analyze Jewish complicity in racism.

(RNS) — In the days following the death of George Floyd, Marc Dollinger was suddenly in demand everywhere.

In addition to teaching classes at San Francisco State University where he is full professor, the blond-haired historian of U.S. Judaism was suddenly sought after for his insights on the racial reckoning happening across the country and the role American Jews play in it.

In the middle of a pandemic and amid an intensity that hasn’t let up, Dollinger parked himself in front of his home computer and hasn’t left.

Since May, the 56-year-old professor has led 80 Zoom lectures and workshops, speaking to synagogue groups, college students and interfaith leaders. He’s been invited to talks at Jewish community centers, historical societies and book clubs. He was interviewed by the NFL and by CNN’s Don Lemon. He spoke to German public radio and to a Mormon-Jewish dialogue group.

The subject, as always, is Jews and race, or, more specifically, whether white U.S. Jews share the blame for America’s racial injustices. These are weighty themes, and he expounds on them with a ready smile and a folksy demeanor.

The nation’s racial reckoning has challenged his own biases, but in this age of polarization, Dollinger remains that rare public scholar who owns up to his own biases with disarming candor.

Read the entire story on the RNS website.

Controversies about Jews and white supremacy are erasing Jews of color, writes Prof. Marc Dollinger

"In December, the Forward published an article about my most recent book, “Black Power, Jewish Politics,” with a headline that mentioned Jews in connection with white supremacy.

With those two words — “white supremacy” — the internet lit up. The article received over 100 critical comments. The Forward published an op-ed pushing back on the idea that Jews might have anything to do with white supremacy. In open letters, readers with a multitude of viewpoints debated the appropriateness of applying the term to Jews and to American Jewish history."

Read the story on the Forward website.

Marc Dollinger talks to "The Foward" about the role of the Black Church in the Georgia Senate race

“At some point you’re no longer attacking Warnock, you’re attacking the prophetic voice of the Black Church,” said Eric McDaniel, author of “Politics in the Pews: The Political Mobilization of Black Churches.” “It’s seen as an attack on the civil rights legacy of the Black Church.”

View the story on The Forward's website.

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