How is Stoudemire Jewish? Through his Grandma Bessie, apparently
Ha’aretz is reporting that NBA star and newest Knick Amar’e Stoudemire is in Israel, exploring his Jewish roots:
Yesterday Army Radio reported that the Florida native plans to spend time in Israel learning Hebrew, having recently learned his mother is Jewish.
There is a lot of giddy coverage of this, but no one is explaining how his mother, the famously troubled Carrie Stoudemire, is Jewish. I spent way too long on this this morning, and figured out this much:
Carrie’s maiden name is Palmorn, and her mother is Bessie Palmorn ( 07/17/1923 - 01/07/1998). She’s buried next to her husband Jack at a V.A. cemetery in Bushnell, Fl. If it is true that Amar’e is “Hebrew through my mother,” Bessie’s first name might be a clue. And if in fact she is a Jewish grandmom, that makes Carrie (and thus Amar’e) Jewish by matrilineal descent. I found a Polk County, Fl. record indicating her name as “Bessie Thomas Palmorn,” but can’t find an obit for Bessie, which would tell me more.
That’s as far as I’ve gotten.
[UPDATE: I should have mentioned that Jack Palmorn was a member of First Institutional Missionary Baptist Church in Lake Wales. Fl.]
[UPDATE TWO: Stoudemire's agent tells TMZ, "I know there are some reports that he is Jewish, but he is not. He thinks there may be some Jewish blood on his mother's side and he is researching it."
[UPDATE THREE: Jack and Bessie were married in 1940, when inter-racial marriages were still illegal in Florida. I suppose they could have married in another state, or if white, she "passed." But now, combined with her apparent maiden name, and the agent's quote, I doubt she was Jewish.]
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JustASC is written by Andrew Silow-Carroll, Editor-in-Chief of the 
July 29th, 2010 at 11:36 am
I always thought Bessie Smith was Jewish.
July 29th, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Yeah, I was disappointed that her maiden name may be “Thomas” (although I was “Carroll,” so who am I to judge?). But if that is her maiden name, and her dad wasn’t Jewish, it could be that Bessie’s mom was Jewish and married to a non-Jewish “Thomas.”
August 2nd, 2010 at 6:00 am
Thanks for looking into this. Like you, I was confused when I saw the story, and found your article. I’ve looked into it a little deeper, and it’s a bit strange.
The Ha’aretz article on the subject says he “recently learned he has a Jewish mother.” “A” Jewish mother? That’s an odd phrasing. I was adopted at birth, and that’s how I talk about my birth parents.
But then the JPost quoted him as saying “I have been aware since my youth that I am a Hebrew through my mother.” Hebrew. Interesting choice of words. MWZA.com says, “His mother has claimed she has some Jewish heritage far back in her blood, but she had no specifics, or any evidence to back this up,” which sounds a lot like the claims of the antisemitic “Black Hebrews,” who claim that Africans are the real Hebrews of the Bible and today’s Jews are mere imposters.
October 28th, 2010 at 10:54 am
Yeah, I know Jack Palmorn. He was in the Marine Corps with me and I remember him telling me how he has this cousin named Amare Stoudemire who I think was a senior in high school at the time and he was so good that he’s going to the NBA out of high school. He was right! Jack Palmorn also mentioned he was Jewish.
January 16th, 2011 at 1:29 am
Yesterday Army Radio reported that the Florida native plans to spend time in Israel learning Hebrew, having recently learned his mother is Jewish.That
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