A bimonthly column in which members of the community offer insight on topical Issues.

Beyond

Hillel Day School
graduate Yakini Whitehead
says Judaism is colorblind.

RUTH LITTMANN STAFF WRITER
GLENN TRIEST PHOTOGRAPHY

akini White-
head, 14, con-
verted to Judaism
with her family in
1987. She switched
from Detroit's public
education system to
Hillel Day School as a
second-grader. This
June, she became the
', school's first black
Jewish graduate.
Religiously unaffiliat-
-oed prior to the conver-
sion, the Whitehead family
chose Judaism because
they identified with its
values, traditions and

ancestors. Currently resi-
dents of Oak Park, the
Whiteheads attend the
Downtown Synagogue.
When you started
Hillel, what were your
first thoughts?
I was scared, nervous
about being in a new place
around people I didn't
know. But I'm sure my
classmates felt the same
way I did.
Did you feel different
as a black Jew?
No. Not really, because I
don't pay attention to col-
ors. Not unless someone

.

wants to show them to me.
My father taught me to
look at people for who they
are, not what they look
like on the outside.
How was Hillel most
different from public
school?
It was more serene.
Everyone was more
together, more family-like.
In Hillel, everyone knows
each other. Yes, there's
gossiping. But still, the
thing you have in common
with everyone else is that
you're Jewish.
Have you experienced

racism from within the
Jewish community?
Not personally. I'm sure
there are people in Hillel
who do think that way, but
I didn't focus on them.
Basically, the kids acted
to me the same way I
acted to them. At first, I
didn't want to be friends
with anyone. I wanted to
be by myself. Not because
I was prejudiced, but
because I just wanted to be
by myself. So the other
kids acted the same way.

BEYOND RACE page 80