Jewish entertainers to the Academy: 'Include Jews in diversity standards'

Jewish entertainers sent an open letter to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences on Tuesday.

In it, some 260 signees, including David Schwimmer, Julianna Margulies, Josh Gad, Michael Rapaport, and Marta Kauffman, among others, critique the Academy for failing to include Jews as an "underrepresented" group in its diversity standards, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

Standards for underrepresentation 

In September 2020, the organization issued a new initiative - a set of inclusion and representation standards that determine a picture's eligibility for the Best Picture award.

Starting this year, in order to compete in the Best Picture category, a film will have to abide by the Academy's standards.

According to the Academy, "The standards are designed to encourage equitable representation on and off screen in order to better reflect the diversity of the movie-going audience."

The standards list includes underrepresented groups such as LGBTQ+, women, and ethnic and racial groups such as Asians, Hispanics, African Americans, Native Americans, and Native Hawaiians. 

However, it omits any mention of Jews.

Criticizing the Academy's standards

In their letter, the members of the industry voice their concern over the exclusion, stating, "While we applaud the Academy’s efforts to increase diverse and authentic storytelling, an inclusion effort that excludes Jews is both steeped in and misunderstands antisemitism.

“It erases Jewish peoplehood and perpetuates myths of Jewish whiteness, power, and that racism against Jews is not a major issue or that it’s a thing of the past,” the letter continues. 

The signees argue Jews are, in fact, an ethnic group: “Jewish people being excluded from the Motion Picture Academy’s Representation and Inclusion Standards is discriminating against a protected class by invalidating their historical and genetic identity.

“The absence of Jews from ‘under-represented’ groupings implies that Jews are over-represented in films, which is simply untrue," the signees claim.

The letter ends with an appeal to the academy: “There is a duty for the entertainment world to do its part in disseminating whole and human depictions of Jews, to increase understanding and empathy in viewers in these dangerous times. We ask the Motion Picture Academy leadership to do its part in advancing a just cause that has been ignored for too long.”