# If modern Jews of Aramaic descent are considered "white" is it plausible to argue Jesus was white? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 14, 2013, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-modern-jews-of-aramaic-descent-are-considered-white-is-it-plausible-to-argue-jesus-was-white/676331 "2013-12-14T23:06:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-modern-jews-of-aramaic-descent-are-considered-white-is-it-plausible-to-argue-jesus-was-white/676331/41 "2013-12-20T01:32:04Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Ethnically, he’s Jewish because his mom was Jewish. But who knows what race his dad was. 😃 Well, doves _are_ pretty white… ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-modern-jews-of-aramaic-descent-are-considered-white-is-it-plausible-to-argue-jesus-was-white/676331/42 "2013-12-20T04:31:43Z")
Given who his dad was, I’d expect him to be semi-transparent. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-modern-jews-of-aramaic-descent-are-considered-white-is-it-plausible-to-argue-jesus-was-white/676331/43 "2013-12-20T05:26:21Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > I just watched [a 3 min clip of James Baldwin](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0L5fciA6AU) this morning, and it reminded me that people’s perception of you is mostly shaped by their own perception of themselves. **Nzinga, Seated** ’s comment on the “whiteness” of her Israeli (former)friend probably has a lot to do with how she self-identifies as a black woman… Funny, James Baldwin is one of those authors we both loved and used to discuss all the time. I love that clip you just linked to. It is DOPE the way he broke it down right there. He was a genius. But I don’t think my situation applies to that clip at all. He is saying that what we fear and create for ourselves, we project onto others. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t trying to project black culture onto my friend. Quite the contrary, he seemed to perceive that I was trying to horde black culture for myself. ETA: I mean, I just realize that I left a lot out of the story, but it would be a major hijack. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-modern-jews-of-aramaic-descent-are-considered-white-is-it-plausible-to-argue-jesus-was-white/676331/44 "2013-12-20T19:51:20Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Funny, James Baldwin is one of those authors we both loved and used to discuss all the time. > > I love that clip you just linked to. It is DOPE the way he broke it down right there. He was a genius. But I don’t think my situation applies to that clip at all. He is saying that what we fear and create for ourselves, we project onto others. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t trying to project black culture onto my friend. Quite the contrary, he seemed to perceive that I was trying to horde black culture for myself. > > ETA: I mean, I just realize that I left a lot out of the story, but it would be a major hijack. And frankly, if your friend felt so strongly about it as to end a friendship over it, I would hope he’d first say to you, “This is something I feel very strongly about and you may not realize that. Please drop it.” If you kept pushing AFTER you knew he felt strongly about it, that’s a whole other story. (Or kettle of fish depending on one’s proclivities.) ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-modern-jews-of-aramaic-descent-are-considered-white-is-it-plausible-to-argue-jesus-was-white/676331/45 "2013-12-20T20:01:49Z")
Nawth Chucka, first of all ‘whitin’ words’ was funny as hell. Forgot to tell you. The thing is, we would just fall into these conversations where we would challenge each other and be so aggressive and fiery. It was a really passionate friendship, overall. We had promised each other to stay away from race altogether, but we kept breaking that vow until we broke it one time too many. So it wasn’t really a matter of me pressing the issue, it was a matter of us BOTH pressing the issue. After one really bad time, after we made up, I said to him, “One day, race is going to end our friendship if we aren’t careful” and yep. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-modern-jews-of-aramaic-descent-are-considered-white-is-it-plausible-to-argue-jesus-was-white/676331/46 "2013-12-21T00:10:14Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Because Jews are the epitome of a group which is white at face value but which gets re-labeled “not white enough/eeeek/killkillkill” with additional information. I quote **Nava** , but could have any of the others on this point: In _Portnoy’s Complaint_ Phillip Roth explains the cliche true joke about the love affair of modern Jews and Chinese food: “hey, to them we’re just another white guy.” I understand the truth in that joke. ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-modern-jews-of-aramaic-descent-are-considered-white-is-it-plausible-to-argue-jesus-was-white/676331/47 "2013-12-21T20:22:32Z")
Joshua of Nazareth was probably as white as [Vince Lombardi](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rj-7xsUffxQ/UEkB5tkt2II/AAAAAAAAJuE/f1ZzAb1jxtk/s1600/VinceLombardi_color.jpg). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-modern-jews-of-aramaic-descent-are-considered-white-is-it-plausible-to-argue-jesus-was-white/676331.md?page=2)