AOC the JAP

AOC, of course, being short for the "much beloved in these precincts" Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez.

JAP being an acronym that, I believe, took off in the 1960s and has nothing to do with orange meatballs and Nippon.

Soooo ....

Per the AOC Wiki page, as I first blogged a full year ago, I'm waiting for her likely ungrounded claim to have Sephardi Jewish ancestry to be deconstructed. And, since nobody else jumped in, I guess it's me doing this.

This isn't just on her. In New Mexico, many Hispanos claim to have Sephardi ancestry and its more likely that they're descended from Protestant Adventist converts of the late 19th century. And, as for a breast cancer mutation proving Sephardi Marranos in New Mexico? Uh, no, Jews haven't so often married within their religion as the story claims, among other things. Also, Smithsonian doesn't tell you that those families denied being Jewish, as NIH reports.  And the British Medical Journal notes the mutation arose more than once. It also tells you that this mutation has been found frequently in ASHKENAZI Jews, an entirely different kettle of fish. (Smithsonian's breathless story also fails to note this issue.)

There's just too much "looseness" to satisfy me here still. Beyond that, if the mutation goes back to before the start of the Common Era, it could have arisen in Herod's Idumeans or something. And, yeah, I'm going to go there — at times, it comes off like Oklahomans claiming to be one-eighth Cherokee. That's you, up in Massachusetts.

Seriously ... given that an estimated 3.5 million direct descendants of Marranos exist today? Scattered all over Latin America and beyond? I highly doubt her claims. And, I find it "interesting" that she made them between the election and starting office. She may sincerely believe what she said her family found. I'm skeptical.

==

Update, Aug. 10, 2026 

AND, it's not just me.

Forward had a serious "flags" piece at the time of her announcement. This:

But some experts say that even if Ocasio-Cortez says she has Jewish ancestry, there is likely no evidence — either documentation or family traditions — to support it. 

“All of this talk about lighting candles and sweeping the floors, it means nothing,” said Judith Neulander, a lecturer on Jewish studies and folklore at Case Western Reserve University. “If you go back in history and look at these things, it’s sad, but nothing holds up.”

Is the bottom line.

So why?

This, perhaps? 

Some ancestries are more coveted than others. Neulander calls Sephardic ancestry a “prestige lineage,” one that many people claim because it carries exotic, intellectual or otherwise special connotations. The fact that we think of it that way may have to do with Jewish elitism itself.

I would totally agree, whether or not the third sentence has any real basis.

The rest of the story dovetails with the links I have above about Spanish converts to Adventist Christianity, in the second generation or beyond, thinking that Adventist Saturday rituals were actually signs of Sephardi Judaism. Indeed, per the Forward piece, Neulander is the person who studied those legends.

Also, as I was wondering, per a Jerusalem Post piece, crypto-Jews were only "hunted" in the New World in Mexico (which included New Mexico within Spain, pre-1820) and Peru.

===

What? AOC might be  Just.Another.Politician.™? Quelle horreur!

Actually, we'll probably hear from AOC the Kabbalist next.