(Jewish Group) David Schwimmer admits he 'never felt white' growing up Jewish in America
During an appearance in the TV documentary, David Baddiel: Jews Don't Count, the Friends star acknowledged that he has been afforded the privileges of a straight, white man even though he never felt like one.
"I've never felt white. Never. I'm highly aware that I pass as white and I enjoy a lot of the privileges of being a straight white man, able-bodied, I get it, I understand and I'm very aware of my privilege," he told British comedian Baddiel.
He then noted how civil rights activists Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, who were Jewish, and James Chaney, who was African-American, were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi in 1964, two years before he was born. Schwimmer often thought about the case because he had a similar surname to Schwerner.
"The fact that in my own country, just a couple of states away, just being Jewish, even though I wasn't religious, my life was at risk. For me, I never felt white because, for me, white means safe," he stated.
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