Minding my business in science class and I hear the phrase “I’m jewish, I’ll pick up this penny!” or something along those lines. Meanwhile, I hold my tongue and inside my head, think about how awful people talk about jews.

I’m jewish. My mother is jewish and my father is catholic, but I don’t go to mass or temple. I do however celebrate the jewish holidays, along with the catholic/christian holidays. I also get really peeved when I hear or see someone portraying the jews in a negative light, and not in a joking manner.

The stereotypical “Money-grubber Jew” originally came from when Jews were made to handle the money that was considered “dirty”. When Jews came over to America they mainly knew about handling money... So jews got a stereotype from people who thought they loved handling money... but really they were forced to do that job, therefore forced to eventually be given that name... it sounds very convoluted. After that, the Jews who remained in Europe had to deal with a holocaust directly focusing on them. The jews were slaughtered and tortured, until the end of the war in 1945. And now, in 2013, someone has the audacity to make fun of the jews in a non-joking manner. I would understand if a comedian or someone were to make a quick joke on the jews, but if a child or adult were to say a prejudiced comment directed to the jews, meant jokingly but still offensive, I’m positive everyone that has a brain would be angry with them. Most children who say something racist or prejudiced usually get it from their parents, anyways. I would feel bad for a kid who had parents that hated all muslim people, and then the hate passed on through the kid. That goes with any comment on any race, too. If someone says that all christians only eat bread, or something equally idiotic, there would just be a larger uproar, because there are more Christians than Jews.

I believe that this wave of prejudice can easily be stopped, if people start understanding just how much the jews have been through, and how little patience they have with offensive comments. I want to be able to pronounce that I’m jewish at school without provoking laughs. Judaism is as legitimate a religion as christianity or islam, even though Jews make up just 2% of the U.S.

In the 1940’s when the holocaust was happening, Jews were still mistreated if they were refugees. No matter if they saw friends and family die in Germany or if they even escaped concentration camps, they were cast off just as “dirty jews”.

So, how can you help? Just tell people not be rude.
Stop using Jewish stereotypes, even if you are positive no one is around to hear them. The fact you want to use them is reason enough to feel comfortable to use them in a certain situation. Also, try to politely tell people who insult jews to be kind. If we all do this, we will all be happier knowing that we live in a kind, accepting country.