When I was 5, my mom would tell me a story handed down, by all Jewish families, and one lesson. It’s simple.
Never tell people you’re Jewish, you’ll pass for being a shiksa.
I didn’t like this, one bit.
I was born of strong women, and, strong families. Those who fled the Ukraine, Russia, and Germany, and those who faced religious persecution.
In my head, I thought, “Why would I have to hide my origins? I’m Jewish, and Lutheran. I’m not told to hide my dad’s side, where they fled from France, and, they were Lutheran?”
To me at 5, it seemed like two stories one and the same, religion out of question. Just people who were brave, who would not CONFORM.
As time has gone on, it seemed less and less of importance to me, until 3 years ago, a cyberstalker began her crusade to destroy me.
Psychology of Anti-Semetic Behavior
To hate a group of people, just to hate seems to me like two things: A scapegoat for failure, and a sense of jealousy towards what one has, that you don’t. According to ADL:
Hostility toward Jews dates to ancient times, perhaps to the beginning of Jewish history. From the days of the Bible until the Roman Empire, Jews were criticized and sometimes punished for their efforts to remain a separate social and religious group — one that refused to adopt the values and the way of life of the non-Jewish societies in which it lived
Due to the fact Jewish people refused to conform, they were hated, feared, and persecuted. Even enslaved in Egypt, because,
“[the]…Pharaoh was still worried that his Israelite slaves would rise up against him.”
5 year old me, would look at this and say “that’s history!” Almost 20 year old me looks at this and say’s, “this is becoming history again…”
“APOLOGIZE OR LEAVE THE INTERNET”.
Relating back to my own personal experiences pertaining to the rise of antisemitic behavior, much of the themes of jealousy, failure, and fear strike my tale, too.
Jealousy = “I want to have her PR”
Failure = Trying for 3 years to crumble me, so the hate grows
Fear = The fear of me rising up against, and finding them, so anonymity is gone
STOP normalizing behavior like this.
What I Have Faced
What I have faced, is the normalization of Nazi-like behavior, and the acceptance of hating a religion, and race, just because. I have faced persecution on a level of beyond petty rumors, but of an actual life force, as an analogy.
In the last 5 months, the behavior has gotten worse.
We must bring awareness to this behavior, and prevent it from seeping further into our society, because, truthfully, all we have, is one another.
Lillee Jean
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