It's probably something everybody will encounter once in their life. It's ugly and hurtful, but despite how negative it is, in the end, it will always teaches us a valuable lesson.
I've never been a big fan of the word. I always thought it was disgusting to say, like my mouth would taste of something bitter. I use to tell myself, "It's okay. It'll never happen to you." Of course, it did. Many times.
I remember the first time I experienced it. I believe I was still in Elementary School, enjoying the youth that I had. It was after school and I was waiting for my mother to come and pick me up from After School Day Care. I was minding my own business, playing with my girlfriends, when a boy that I had never been fond of approached our group. "Stay away from her," I remember him saying, "She's Jewish. They are going to Hell." Instantly, I wanted to cry. Why did my religion matter that I couldn't play with my friends. Of course, at the time, those simple thoughts were all I could think of. For the rest of the day, maybe the rest of the week, I felt sad. I didn't want people hating me because I believed in something different.
Recently, about a year ago, there was another occurrence. It may just be a coincidence, but yet again I was surrounded by my girlfriends, working on a class project pertaining to Economics. The kids next to our table were discussing World War 2, when a guy, who is usually silent, spoke up. "There was no Holocaust. The Jews are lying bastards." I felt like I was just hit by a thousand arrows.
I hesitantly turned to their group. My friends had grown very quiet. I guess it was up to me to set things straight. The boy noticed me, his eyes held fast to mine. I remember holding my hands into fists; I was outraged.
"There was a Holocaust. If there wasn't, then why did my family perish and never return? I'd think before I would speak, if I were you," I told him. In the background, my friends giggled. In all truth though, nothing was funny about what had happened. I felt insulted, like I was an experiment gone bad.
The boy just sat there and then finally spoke. "Whatever," he said. His friends stared at him, as if they were disapproving of what he had just said.
It ended up taking me the rest of the day just to calm down. But once I did, I began to think. People who say things like that are ignorant. It is because of arrogance that they allow themselves to make such idiotic statements. In fact, I kind of felt sorry for the boy.
I believe that these kind of things happen for a reason. It only makes you want to stand up straighter for the way you are. Arrogance is the key to Anti-Semitism. I bet if that boy had allowed himself the understanding, his view of my religion would have been seen through a whole different eye. Only through education and sharing, will Anti-Semitism and other forms of hatred be diminished.