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Behind the Aegis

(54,926 posts)
Wed Nov 13, 2024, 03:01 PM Nov 13

(JEWISH GROUP) My 7-Year-Old Was The Target Of An Antisemitic Joke. Here's What I Told Him.

“Dad, do I have short arms?”

The question came from my 7-year-old son during one of our morning drives to school. As a divorced father with limited time with my twins, these car conversations were usually a highlight of my week. But not this one.

“All Jews have short arms,” he continued. “That’s why they can’t reach their wallets.”

I slowed down the car, my heart pounding as I processed what I’d just heard. These were the same antisemitic “jokes” I had faced decades earlier.

What might seem like casual jokes can have harmful effects on children’s development. “Children exposed to discrimination can experience emotional challenges that affect their self-esteem and ability to form healthy relationships,” Reena B. Patel, a parenting expert and licensed educational board-certified behavior analyst, told HuffPost. “These encounters can trigger a domino effect, impacting everything from academic performance to social relationships and even physical health.”

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(JEWISH GROUP) My 7-Year-Old Was The Target Of An Antisemitic Joke. Here's What I Told Him. (Original Post) Behind the Aegis Nov 13 OP
I'm so sorry you and your 7 year-old had to go through this. SheltieLover Nov 13 #1
It isn't about me. I don't have kids. Behind the Aegis Nov 13 #3
Wow! SheltieLover Nov 14 #7
I'm not Jewish (although my great-great grandfather was) but I wish I hadn't read this. That's a hell of a LoisB Nov 13 #2
I have a good nose for a Jew Danmel Nov 13 #4
How many times I have been told "You are so generous for a Jew". Behind the Aegis Nov 13 #5
My wife brought up her children to never accept that kind of "humour" from anyone. BobTheSubgenius Nov 13 #6

Behind the Aegis

(54,926 posts)
3. It isn't about me. I don't have kids.
Wed Nov 13, 2024, 04:31 PM
Nov 13

It was just something I found, and brought back memories when I was around that age and had my life threatened because I was a "Christ Killer".

LoisB

(8,999 posts)
2. I'm not Jewish (although my great-great grandfather was) but I wish I hadn't read this. That's a hell of a
Wed Nov 13, 2024, 03:51 PM
Nov 13

disgusting "joke".

Danmel

(5,259 posts)
4. I have a good nose for a Jew
Wed Nov 13, 2024, 04:42 PM
Nov 13

According to a former coworker at the Suffolk County legislature. She's still there, I've moved on.

BobTheSubgenius

(11,809 posts)
6. My wife brought up her children to never accept that kind of "humour" from anyone.
Wed Nov 13, 2024, 11:59 PM
Nov 13

In the rare cases where there was a legitimately comical joke to be made, and the group it targeted was interchangeable with any number of other groups, she taught them to substitute "cannibals" instead, which I thought was rather clever.

Who knows any cannibals?

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