{"id":663396,"date":"2026-06-28T22:31:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T22:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/663396\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T22:31:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T22:31:10","slug":"what-does-allyship-look-like-right-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/663396\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does Allyship Look Like Right Now?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an era where identity<\/a> has become more complex, and there are so many ways that individuals can define themselves, how can we maintain our allyship toward individuals who experience oppression or marginalization?<\/p>\n

The concept of allyship is not new in our discipline. In fact, the American Psychological Association (APA) identifies a number of resources on their website about \u201cinclusive language\u201d and guides for addressing systemic racism. They explicitly define allyship as, \u201cPeople who recognize the unearned privilege they receive from society\u2019s privileging of Whiteness, male gender<\/a>, Christianity, heterosexuality, ableism, and other identities and take responsibility for advancing equity\u201d (\u201cInclusive Language Guide,\u201d 2023, General Terms, para. 3).<\/p>\n

Insights From Fellowship on Antisemitism and Jewish Identity <\/p>\n

I have been thinking of allyship specifically since recently participating in a Fellowship and Summer Institute on Antisemitism & Jewish Identity in Educational Settings at my alma mater, The George Washington University. One of the overarching themes from this program was the ways in which individuals who identify as Jewish may often feel compelled to hide this aspect of their identity, for fear<\/a> of being targeted or treated negatively.<\/p>\n

Another takeaway is that in the context of discussing marginalized identities, Jews as a group may not always be recognized. For instance, notions of systemic racism oftentimes bring to mind Black identity or other people of color (POC). This becomes sticky when reflecting on how to categorize Jewish people, as racializing this group has been one particularly pernicious way of demonizing and oppressing them historically. While it remains debatable whether or not Jewish individuals constitute their own separate race\u2014while keeping in mind the social construction inherent to any racial categorizations\u2014it may be less problematic to consider this group as one constituting its own ethno-religious category.<\/p>\n

Why does this matter? When considering inclusivity, it is imperative as allies to consider the spectrum of identities that may be vulnerable to marginalization or threat. In the case of American Jews, for instance, despite constituting 2% of our population in the United States, hate crimes against them have soared by 63% since 2023 (\u201cNew FBI Data,\u201d 2024). In fact, during the program I was participating in, I was appalled to hear how many faculty members representing academic institutions across our nation reported feeling uncomfortable being \u201cout\u201d as a Jewish person, for fear of reprisal or backlash by their colleagues, or even students.<\/p>\n

In looking at official publications on the APA website, I was pleased to find an inclusion of antisemitism in multiple places under literature about allyship and the many forms oppression can take (\u201cInclusive Language Guide,\u201d 2026). This is a critical recognition to see for our professional organization, as both the anxiety<\/a> surrounding the fear of being targeted for one\u2019s minority status, as well as if or when a person becomes a victim of discrimination<\/a> or worse, can take a significant toll on one\u2019s mental and physical health. <\/p>\n

The Complexity of Identity and the Need for Inclusive Environments <\/p>\n

Participation in this recent program at GWU has taught me that allyship can take multiple forms. Identity is complex, and even facets of one\u2019s personhood that may not be immediately observable\u2014such as one\u2019s religious or cultural affiliation\u2014need to be considered as we work to create inclusive environments in our professional and personal lives.<\/p>\n

Moreover, many ideologies that are known for promoting anti-Blackness\u2014such as white supremacy\u2014also center antisemitism as a core feature. Antisemitic tropes have run rampant in particular in digital spaces, oftentimes fused with conspiracy theories and other hateful rhetoric. The vulnerability of users online to become radicalized in ways that explicitly promote antisemitism is one of the central themes of my recent publication on identity development in a digital age (Aalai, 2026).<\/p>\n

Allyship, the APA reminds its readers, means using one\u2019s position to center marginalized voices and work toward justice. Actions are critical for allyship. As such, I wanted to take this time to invite readers to consider how inclusive their conception of allyship is, and whether there is room to expand which groups are part of our consideration as we continue to cultivate safe spaces in our respective spheres of influence.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Azadeh Aalai.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In an era where identity has become more complex, and there are so many ways that individuals can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":663397,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-663396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}