(JEWISH GROUP) Among 260 Signatories of Letter to Film Academy Critiquing Jewish Exclusion from Diversity Standards

Julianna Margulies, Greg Berlanti, Mayim Bialik Among 260 Signatories of Letter to Film Academy Critiquing Jewish Exclusion from Diversity Standards

Amid Israel's ongoing war with Hamas, Jewish entertainment figures have come together to issue an open letter to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences criticizing their exclusion from being specified as an underrepresented group.

"An inclusion effort that excludes Jews is both steeped in and misunderstands antisemitism," reads the letter, organized by the group Jew in the City's Hollywood Bureau for Jewish Representation. "Jewish people being excluded from the Motion Picture Academy's Representation and Inclusion Standards is discriminating against a protected class by invalidating their historic and genetic identity."

The Academy's standards, unveiled in 2020 as part of its Aperture 2025 diversity initiative, describes a number of identities that it considers "underrepresented groups": women, LGBTQ+, having cognitive or physical difficulties or being deaf or hard of hearing, as well as underrepresented racial or ethnic groups. The standards, which ask productions to submit self-identifying demographic information about its cast and crews in order to qualify for Best Picture consideration, do not ask for religious status. The JITC letter explains that being Jewish is not always a matter of faith. "While many mistakenly believe that Judaism is only a religion, Jews are actually an ethnic group, with a varied spiritual practice that not all observe. Jews are an indigenous people to the Middle East with a continuous presence there for over 3000 years."

The racial or ethnic backgrounds outlined in the Academy standards are Asian, Hispanic/Latinx, Black/African American, Indigenous/Native American/Alaskan Native, Middle Eastern/North African, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. The final bullet point in the list of racial or ethnic groups qualifying for the standards is "other underrepresented race or ethnicity."

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Good for them!