Unpacking Identity: Why “Other” is Sometimes the Best Answer

As often happens, I find myself overflowing with ideas after listening to a podcast episode, and today is no different. Yesterday, while listening to a discussion about Sephardi and Mizrachi Jews, the hosts briefly touched on how they would classify themselves—not just as Ashkenazi or Sephardi, but in broader terms.

Whenever you fill out a survey, there is almost always a question asking you to choose a racial category. Personally, I find these questions among the most challenging and even stressful to answer. Most surveys provide only a few predefined options for race. The question itself is problematic because “race” is a social construct that people invented. Scientifically, there is no such thing as discrete human races; genetics has shown that all humans are 99.9% identical at the DNA level, and genetic variation is often greater within so-called racial groups than between them. In reality, there is only one race on this planet: the human race.

Despite this, because some people look different from others, it has been human nature to categorize people based on appearance. Western European colonialists mostly established these divisions to justify keeping other groups at lower social standings than themselves.

This kind of “racial” categorization continues today, particularly in surveys. The racial choices often given include:

• American Indian or Alaska Native
• Asian
• Black or African American
• Hispanic or Latino
• Middle Eastern or North African
• Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
• White (sometimes listed as White or Caucasian)
• Other

I have difficulty classifying myself using any of these categories. The main question is whether I should consider myself white. In terms of appearance, I clearly look white. My family immigrated to America from Eastern Europe, where we had lived for generations, and our skin tone resembles that of most people of European descent. However, throughout those generations, our neighbors did not consider my family to be white.

Certainly, they did not use the categories listed above. More often, they used religious or nationality categories, but regardless, Jews were always considered “the other.” This exclusion culminated in the Holocaust—the ultimate example of Jews not being considered white. So, which category should I choose? The only other possible options are Middle Eastern or North African, or “Other.” Sometimes, I select Middle Eastern, as this may be the closest fit, since—barring intermarriage or conversion—most Ashkenazi Jews have significant Middle Eastern genetic heritage.

However, to reach my Middle Eastern roots, you would need to look many generations back. More often, I select “Other” when answering these questions. When offered a write-in option, I frequently enter “Ashkenazi Jewish.” I do this because surveys are often seeking not race, but ethnicity. My ethnicity is most accurately described as Ashkenazi Jewish, and I find this the most honest answer to the question of my race. While Ashkenazi Jewish is not a race, it may be the most accurate response available.

In the end, the question of race is deeply complex, entangled with history, politics, and evolving social attitudes. For many, these survey categories fall short of capturing meaningful identities or lived experiences. Striving for a nuanced answer is not just about personal honesty—it also highlights the limitations and ongoing challenges of categorizing human diversity in oversimplified boxes.