The opinions represented in this article do not represent those of the staff of CU Independent nor any of its sponsors.
I knew when I came to CU that there wouldn’t be as many Jews as I was used to growing up in New York, the Jewish mecca. But I was okay with that, because I was going to a school with people from all over the world who had the same desire as me to get a good college education. Then I hit the dating scene, and it was like an anti-Semitic 18-wheeler repeatedly drove over me.
(Kai Casey/CU Independent Illustration)
Growing up in New York, anti-Semitism was something that we learned about but not something that I had ever seen or heard of happening. I truly didn’t think that in America, Jews were still being persecuted for their religion until I came here. That may have been naïve of me to think, but, hey, it’s 2013, and America has come such a long way to achieve equality for so many people. I didn’t think that religious persecution still occurred.
Before I came to Boulder, I didn’t even know that the “k” word was referring to Jews in a derogatory manner, but then I kept getting called one by the guy I was dating. When I found out what it meant, it was like my world erupted into a million pieces; I became the victim of a hate crime and I didn’t know how to handle it. Breaking up with him didn’t change what he said to me or how I felt about it, but I tried forgetting it so that I didn’t think every guy on this campus was a complete asshole.
A year later, a completely different guy I was dating started telling me jokes like, “What’s the difference between a Jew and a piece of pizza? The pizza doesn’t scream when it goes into the oven.”
Except I wasn’t laughing. I was asked by his friends where my horns were and got made fun of for having a “Jew nose.” No one thought it was a problem. No one even bothered to tell him to quit it with the jokes aside from me. To them, it was funny, but it made me question whether or not I ever wanted to tell someone I was Jewish, let alone be Jewish. Once again ending things with him only removed me from hearing more of his hateful words but didn’t end the pain I was suffering from.
Most recently I received text messages saying, “Long live Palestine! The Israeli aggressors will get the karma coming to them!” I was told to relax because the senders were drunk. Why should I relax just because they were drunk? Does being drunk give someone the right to verbally harass someone? Why should I be forced to face such discrimination and not stand up for myself?
There is something that this campus is just not teaching the students here. Bringing people down based on their religion, sexual preference, race, etc. is the most awful act anyone can commit, yet it happens on a daily basis at CU and no one is stopping it. It truly amazes me how alone I can feel on a 30,000 person campus.
So my question is: how do we fix this? How does a “progressive” campus like ours stop these hate crimes from happening? The only answer that I can think of is that people need to remember what they learned in kindergarten: treat people the way you want to be treated.
Contact Guest Writer Rachel Messer at Rachel.messer@colorado.edu.
4 comments
A beautiful article on a subject that needs to be addressed. Antisemitism is not a thing of the past, ladies and gentlemen…our generation is no better than the previous few on the acceptance of the Jewish people in society. I, too, suffer antisemitism regularly. I’m not a student at CU, but this issue is not isolated to your campus…it’s on my campus, it’s within the Jewish community itself, it’s everywhere, and it grows every time Jews are asked where their Jew-Gold is, or where their horns are, or told another Holocaust joke.
I can’t imagine how you must feel, as these feelings can be deeply rooted in people and you can probably feel it. As an Asian American it’s definitely not the same, but I can relate.
When I was still in CU, someone published a “satirical” article about Asian Americans for the student newspaper. It literally had every stereptype in the book. What killed me was when my friends showed me and I freaked out, they told me to calm down because it was funny.
Lots of the Asian American students and others who joined us set up rallies, reached out to the media, and made everyone responsible face up to the sad excuse they called journalism. Fortunately, the newspaper reformed their practices and committed to making sure this never happened again. However, a lot of people, even some of my closest friends, didn’t understand at all why we were upset and basically said it was no big deal and that we should get a sense of humor.
It wasn’t so much the horrible stereotypes, the suggestions in the article that Asian American students should be retaliated against, or the sheer failure of satire that really got to me. It was the fact that no one cared how we felt.
It sent us the signal that it was totally ok for everyone to make us feel small, unimportant, and not worthy of their respect. Because it was funny.
I don’t think that this article is a just representation of the “jewish experience” that I have had at CU. I am deeply sorry that the author experience anti-semitism on the CU campus, but in my three years living in Boulder I have found that the community of Boulder is an extremely open one to all faiths and backgrounds. This is a broad generalization from one persons experience.
Perhaps this author should reconsider the social settings she is placing herself in. This article, while definitely representing one persons experience, does not represent how I or my Jewish girlfriend or Jewish friend’s feel about CU. This author should think about the type of people she is surrounding herself with (i.e people who would make such ignorant remarks like “where are your horns.”) I have made many Jewish friends and many non-jewish friends on the CU campus and although I have experienced anti-semitism in my past, it has never been from a CU student. If you feel alone on the CU campus there are many resources for you to meet other open minded people and Jews! (hillel house.)
Again, I am very sorry about the hateful experiences that this author has gone through in regards to her heritage, but I do not think that this a problem generally amongst CU and is instead possibly a problem with a particular group of CU students she is choosing to be surrounded by.
I still do believe though that everyone should be educated about all faiths in order to prevent ignorance and hate. But, CU in my opinion is still a beacon for progressive thought and positions (4/20, CWA, Tim Weis, skeptics society, Salman Rushdie, etc…) I maintain that CU is still a very forward thinking and open campus to all faiths, backgrounds, races, and opinions.
I don’t think that blaming the victim is ever the way to go about these situations. Just because one person had a more positive experience at CU as a Jew doesn’t mean that everyone will have that experience, the same way if someone has a negative experience not everyone will share in that. I don’t think the author of this op-ed intentionally chose people who did not accept her religion. Its unfair to allude that its her fault.
Anti-Israeli remarks are now considered to be a part of the “new” anti-Semitism and those text messages were probably sent because the senders knew the woman was Jewish–why else would they say it? CU has a lot of great things to offer but people cannot ignore the hate that goes on at this campus due to race, religion, sexual orientation. Just because you haven’t experienced it doesn’t mean it isn’t going on.