How are your kids navigating the rising anti-Semitisim on campus?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC went to a school with a relatively large Jewish population and did not experience anti-semitism (at least anything overt). If you are worried about it you may want to explore colleges with larger populations of Jews and/or more diversity generally.

If a black parent came here asking about racism, would you also advise the black parent that their child should go to a school with a larger black population?

This is exactly it. No one would do that. But it’s acceptable to say things to Jews that no one would say to other groups. We are the victims of over half the hate crimes in the US, and yet people feel like it’s fine to minimize our experiences or basically say “go be with your own.”

Every time someone posts about racism on this board there is a chorus of people saying it's a hoax (or more recently a Smollett). And people absolutely would say to a black poster to send their kids to a school with more black kids so they would have more support. Unfortunately racism and anti-semitism exists. Having the support of people with a common experience does help, so I'm not sure why suggesting a school with a decent Jewish population is wrong or offensive.

Show me a post where someone responds to concern about racism with “just have your kid be around more black kids.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm pretty darn secular, but here's what advice I'm giving my own HS senior, applicable to everything:

Don't operate in a vacuum. Find community, and if you can't find it, build it. We're not the first group of people to be on the wrong end of hate/discrimination/etc. Not by a longshot. And frankly some of our friends have been dealing with worse in more recent history for longer. Be an ally. Learn what that means. Show up for people. Do that, and they show up for you.

I don't think you understand what the OP is asking. It almost sounds like you're diminishing the discrimination Jews have faced, which really is pretty insensitive. We're not talking about allyship here; we're talking about what it's like being part of a discriminated minority.

Hi. I did not intend to diminish the discrimination. I'm sorry that's how it came across. It is the furthest thing from my intention. I'm saying that LOTS of folks besides us (ME) have experienced this. And fostering allyship is a concrete way to combat it. I mean that. Not as a feel-good platitude. I mean it because I've personally found it to give me a sense of hope and community, opportunities for productive discussion, and feeling like we're actually doing something about it.

Ok. But OP is asking about how to advise Jews. In this case, non-Jews would be the allies, not Jews ourselves.

I think the pp is saying if Jews are allies to other minority communities, those communities will in turn be allies for Jews. I think it makes sense.

That’s funny. We’ve been allies to blacks and yet many tell us to shut up when we talk about our discrimination. Moreover, why is the answer to anti-semitism “just be nice to others.” Would you tell black people to just be nice to white people and then it’ll be ok? Don’t the other communities have a responsibility to not attack us?

Jews haven't been allies to blacks in a long time. Don't kid yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anecdotally (because my child is not college-aged yet) I've heard one parent say that their child was pushed in an alt-rightish direction because of the anti-semitism on campus. Doesn't make a ton of sense (given anti-semitism on the right) but I think this is a real phenomenon. Not so much that the kids become Ben Shapiros and Steven Millers, but that they create an identity out of rejecting identity politics/PC culture/cancel culture.

Steven Miller is more representative of the American Jewish community than you'd like to admit, so I'm not surprised by Jewish students having alt-rightish sentiments. I think it's a chicken/egg issue. I think much of what is viewed as anti-semitism from the left is really backlash for the prevalence of unspoken Steven Miller type sentiments in the Jewish community.

Wow. Ok. Way to miss the point ...

I don't think I'm the one missing the point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm pretty darn secular, but here's what advice I'm giving my own HS senior, applicable to everything:

Don't operate in a vacuum. Find community, and if you can't find it, build it. We're not the first group of people to be on the wrong end of hate/discrimination/etc. Not by a longshot. And frankly some of our friends have been dealing with worse in more recent history for longer. Be an ally. Learn what that means. Show up for people. Do that, and they show up for you.

I don't think you understand what the OP is asking. It almost sounds like you're diminishing the discrimination Jews have faced, which really is pretty insensitive. We're not talking about allyship here; we're talking about what it's like being part of a discriminated minority.

Hi. I did not intend to diminish the discrimination. I'm sorry that's how it came across. It is the furthest thing from my intention. I'm saying that LOTS of folks besides us (ME) have experienced this. And fostering allyship is a concrete way to combat it. I mean that. Not as a feel-good platitude. I mean it because I've personally found it to give me a sense of hope and community, opportunities for productive discussion, and feeling like we're actually doing something about it.

Ok. But OP is asking about how to advise Jews. In this case, non-Jews would be the allies, not Jews ourselves.

I think the pp is saying if Jews are allies to other minority communities, those communities will in turn be allies for Jews. I think it makes sense.

That’s funny. We’ve been allies to blacks and yet many tell us to shut up when we talk about our discrimination. Moreover, why is the answer to anti-semitism “just be nice to others.” Would you tell black people to just be nice to white people and then it’ll be ok? Don’t the other communities have a responsibility to not attack us?

Jews haven't been allies to blacks in a long time. Don't kid yourself.

Explain, please. How have we abandoned black people?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm pretty darn secular, but here's what advice I'm giving my own HS senior, applicable to everything:

Don't operate in a vacuum. Find community, and if you can't find it, build it. We're not the first group of people to be on the wrong end of hate/discrimination/etc. Not by a longshot. And frankly some of our friends have been dealing with worse in more recent history for longer. Be an ally. Learn what that means. Show up for people. Do that, and they show up for you.

I don't think you understand what the OP is asking. It almost sounds like you're diminishing the discrimination Jews have faced, which really is pretty insensitive. We're not talking about allyship here; we're talking about what it's like being part of a discriminated minority.

Hi. I did not intend to diminish the discrimination. I'm sorry that's how it came across. It is the furthest thing from my intention. I'm saying that LOTS of folks besides us (ME) have experienced this. And fostering allyship is a concrete way to combat it. I mean that. Not as a feel-good platitude. I mean it because I've personally found it to give me a sense of hope and community, opportunities for productive discussion, and feeling like we're actually doing something about it.

Ok. But OP is asking about how to advise Jews. In this case, non-Jews would be the allies, not Jews ourselves.

I think the pp is saying if Jews are allies to other minority communities, those communities will in turn be allies for Jews. I think it makes sense.

That’s funny. We’ve been allies to blacks and yet many tell us to shut up when we talk about our discrimination. Moreover, why is the answer to anti-semitism “just be nice to others.” Would you tell black people to just be nice to white people and then it’ll be ok? Don’t the other communities have a responsibility to not attack us?

Jews haven't been allies to blacks in a long time. Don't kid yourself.

Explain, please. How have we abandoned black people?

How about you guys move your debate to the politics forum? The issue here is not to adjudicate historical disputes about which group did what to whom (and even just writing that points out the stereotypical thinking this type of debate triggers) but to figure out how a student can navigate a potentially adverse social environment. That could apply to anybody if they move around enough and live long enough... Are there any good strategies?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC went to a school with a relatively large Jewish population and did not experience anti-semitism (at least anything overt). If you are worried about it you may want to explore colleges with larger populations of Jews and/or more diversity generally.

If a black parent came here asking about racism, would you also advise the black parent that their child should go to a school with a larger black population?

Well I wouldn't advise a black parent on anything to do with race because I don't have their experiences. And note that I said more diversity generally. Colleges that attract kids from various races, religions, geographies, etc. are likely to have fewer issues than those who are more homogeneous.

The OP isn't asking about how to solve antisemitism, she's asking for advice for her college bound daughter (if she's real - she may just be a troll trying to stir up anti Semitic comments).

Op here. I’m definitely not a troll - just a parent looking for advice from some BTDT parents or perhaps others in the community who have some advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Faulty premise. There is no rising anti-semitism.

Ehh. There's a growing nuisance of left-wing antisemitism among the progressive left. See Britain's Jeremy Corbyn and the shell of the Labour Party. Having lived in London it is astonishing the degree to which otherwise intelligent progressive people will trap themselves by failing to distinguish between a political issue, Israel-Palestinian relations, and the greater Jewish faith and identity. As if Jews are not allowed to be anything other than hardcore Israel supporting Zionists who murder Palestinians every day of the week.

For some reason, right-wing antisemitism gets a lot more press and while I don't want to seem to be downplaying it, the left wing antisemitism is more pervasive because it's hidden behind the walls of "progressive causes" and Palestinian rights activists. At least right wing antisemitism is more honest in viewing all Jews = bad whereas left wing antisemitism hides behind the Palestinian / Israel mess as their excuse.

That aside, at least on American campuses, I don't think this will be a particular problem. Every school has its wackos.

Op here. I'm not sure why you think the "left wing" anti-semitism is not an issue here. That's exactly what I shared in my original post. The articles talk about the insidiousness of the left wing anti-semitism and how it's affecting campuses here. I'm looking for some advice from parents of Jewish college students on how to deal with this.

Seriously stop. You are worried about nothing and inciting garbage. My kids JEWISH went to six different campuses, not counting graduate school. All over the country, only issues any had were at a southern school. That was with the conservative right wing. No college is perfect, they will meet all kinds of people with all kinds of thoughts, that's why they go to college to grow and learn. Keep your kids in the bubble you clearly live in and keep them home from college.

You are a bigot and an obvious liar. Shame on you.