Upon being Jewish in the South
A couple years ago we moved from a suburb of NYC to The South. It’s not Deep South but it’s South enough.
At his new school my 16 yo mentioned he was Jewish. We are not observant or religious but it’s part of his identity. He didn’t realize the shit he would get every day. He grew up thinking being Jewish is no big deal, it’s different but common enough. Here, my son is possibly the first Jewish person some of these kids have ever seen in real life. Some of the kids (ones often wearing all camo or american flag clothing) tease him every day. Tease is not the right word. They snap heil hitler signs at him as often as possible. They say things like “Gas, hehe you know all about gas” or other weirdly non-funny holocaust themed jabs. not to mention stuff about space aliens and controlling the media. And of course, his nose.
What would you do in this situation? He knows in his heart that talking to the principal or teachers will get him more attention than he would ever ever want.
At his new school my 16 yo mentioned he was Jewish. We are not observant or religious but it’s part of his identity. He didn’t realize the shit he would get every day. He grew up thinking being Jewish is no big deal, it’s different but common enough. Here, my son is possibly the first Jewish person some of these kids have ever seen in real life. Some of the kids (ones often wearing all camo or american flag clothing) tease him every day. Tease is not the right word. They snap heil hitler signs at him as often as possible. They say things like “Gas, hehe you know all about gas” or other weirdly non-funny holocaust themed jabs. not to mention stuff about space aliens and controlling the media. And of course, his nose.
What would you do in this situation? He knows in his heart that talking to the principal or teachers will get him more attention than he would ever ever want.
46-50, F
