JEWISH
In getting at the truth of her filmmaker Lacey Schwartz a generation juggling
BLACK
own complex heritage, captures the ethos of multiple identities BY RAHEL MUSLEAH
Lacey Schwartz grew up in Woodstock, N.Y., comfortable in the suburban world of bar mitzvahs and Hebrew school. Despite her light brown skin and tight curls, she believed she was the daughter of two white Jewish parents. Her appearance, they explained, was the legacy of her swarthy Sicilian great-grandfather.
photo by James Adolphus
It was not until she was 18 that she pressed her mother for the truth, and found out that her biological father was black—a family friend with whom her mother had had an affair. The revelation changed her life. Today, the 38-year-old Harvard law school graduate and resident of Montclair, N.J., identifies as black or biracial, as well as Jewish. “I never really struggled with being Jewish,” she says, “but how I can be Jewish AND…”
Schwartz unveils the devastating impact of her family’s secrets as she wrestles with identity and race in "Little White Lie," a coming-of-age documentary she wrote, produced and narrates. It is traveling the film festival circuit and airs March 23rd on PBS’s Independent Lens (Littlewhiteliethefilm.com). Though her story is highly personal – sometimes agonizingly so – it reflects the ethos of a contemporary generation juggling multiple identities. “It’s important to be able to talk about differences in an age where identity politics is increasingly complex,” says Diane Tobin, founder and chief executive of Bechol Lashon (In Every Tongue), an organization that promotes Jewish diversity. Schwartz is national outreach and New York regional director for the organization, which
Lacey Schwartz and her mother Peggy in a still from the documentary film "Little White Lie"
JW Magazine | jwmag.org
21