You sound very patient and charitable. I would very quickly tire of implications that my race was less intelligent and of demands to justify my intellectual pursuits in light of my race.
I've noticed that people become inquisitive when I wear interesting clothing. (See my yarmulke essay, "Hat," in the anthology Nobody Passes.) But, of course, if I tire of hearing unfiltered comments, I can always "dress down" in T-shirt and jeans so that I look like any other white Jewish English-speaking American and then people who fit roughly in the same category stop analyzing me out loud. Clothes are easier than skin color, language and names, in that respect. With clothes, you can at least temporarily "give in" to social pressure if you need a rest break from standing your ground.
Multicultural education is definitely the way to go. In this secular age, it seems to me that a common motivation of white Jews who enter Jewish space is simply to be around people of a similar ethnic background. This perhaps unconscious attitude or assumption proves incorrect and unfair, because, of course, not all Jews share a similar ethnic background. I certainly hope you would never perceive a need to change your name or else stay home from shul just so you could have a relaxing Shabbos! It is everyone's responsibility to build "klal yisrael" by realizing that "Jewish" does not just mean "people who also have grandparents in Brooklyn." This awareness can be built, and when it is, we and our Judaism will be richer for it.
You sound very patient and charitable. I would very quickly tire of implications that my race was less intelligent and of demands to justify my intellectual pursuits in light of my race.
I've noticed that people become inquisitive when I wear interesting clothing. (See my yarmulke essay, "Hat," in the anthology Nobody Passes.) But, of course, if I tire of hearing unfiltered comments, I can always "dress down" in T-shirt and jeans so that I look like any other white Jewish English-speaking American and then people who fit roughly in the same category stop analyzing me out loud. Clothes are easier than skin color, language and names, in that respect. With clothes, you can at least temporarily "give in" to social pressure if you need a rest break from standing your ground.
Multicultural education is definitely the way to go. In this secular age, it seems to me that a common motivation of white Jews who enter Jewish space is simply to be around people of a similar ethnic background. This perhaps unconscious attitude or assumption proves incorrect and unfair, because, of course, not all Jews share a similar ethnic background. I certainly hope you would never perceive a need to change your name or else stay home from shul just so you could have a relaxing Shabbos! It is everyone's responsibility to build "klal yisrael" by realizing that "Jewish" does not just mean "people who also have grandparents in Brooklyn." This awareness can be built, and when it is, we and our Judaism will be richer for it.