I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HURT more: The antisemitism directed at our seventh-grade son or Our public school administration's attempts to silence us about what happened to him.
Both seared like a brand.
As a documentary filmmaker and journalist, much of my work has been reporting on the worst of humanity.
My late mother named me after the civil rights worker Andrew Goodman, who was killed by racists in Mississippi. It was her way of telling me to at least try to be part of the solution.
One thing I've covered for years is antisemitism. I'd considered myself lucky because, until recently, it never came in any large dose for me or my family.
I live in Westport, Connecticut, with my wife and three children. We moved here because it has a reasonably large Jewish population and well-regarded public schools. All was well until things changed dramatically for my son last year.
It started with a run of taunts against him in sixth grade. Then in seventh grade came a repeated, daily effort to kick him off the lunch table. "Vote him off!" was chanted. The insults and digs grew. Each day he came home more despondent.
It got worse, progressing from general bullying to targeted antisemitism. One student, whom my son considered a friend, invited my son to sign up for his "camp" which had "great showers"-"Camp Auschwitz." He said another Jewish classmate of theirs had already signed up.
My son, who is just 12, found this concerning and upsetting, but this was a new friend, and he hoped this interaction was not indicative of anything more.
Later, the same boy was at our house with my son watching the satirical show South Park. In one of the episodes they saw, a character dressed as Hitler shouts:
"We must exterminate the Jews!" This boy then proceeded to say, "We must exterminate the Jews!" to my son on a regular basis at school.
この記事は Newsweek US の January 05 - 12, 2024 (Double Issue) 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Newsweek US の January 05 - 12, 2024 (Double Issue) 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Wendi McLendon-Covey
AFTER 10 YEARS OF PLAYING BEVERLY GOLDBERG ON THE GOLDBERGS, Wendi McLendon-Covey was not eager for a break. \"I need to go do a job where I can just throw everything at it and then come home totally exhausted.\"
'I'm the Highest Earner in Esports'
Johan \"NOtail\" Sundstein has won over $7 million but says, \"I don't really crave that status.... I play for my own reasons\"
AMERICA'S BEST Weight Loss CLINICS & CENTERS 2025
WHETHER IT'S FOR MEAL PLANS, PROFESSIONAL guidance or access to medications like GLP-1s, weight loss clinics can offer personalized assistance for those hoping to make sustainable lifestyle changes.
AMERICA'S MOST ANTICIPATED NEW VEHICAL 2025
WHETHER IT'S A NEWLY IMAGined sport utility vehicle or the re-emergence of a highly regarded halo car, the vehicles coming to market in 2025 prove that Americans' attitudes about personal transportation are diverse and are being served from all angles.
'THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE'
What Donald Trump's historic U.S. presidential election victory means to America - and the world
Trump Won, Mainstream Media Lost
A broken business model exacerbated by a collapse in influence has the Fourth Estate entering another Donald Trump term in trouble
Can Alternative Therapies Treat Cancer?
Doctor and breast cancer survivor Liz O'Riordan addresses misinformation around managing the disease
Falling for Romance
A new book, Nora Ephron at the Movies, celebrates the writer/director best known for her iconic rom-coms and strong female characters
Cracking the Norse Code
Walrus DNA has shown that Vikings were likely the first to have encountered Indigenous North Americans
Monumental Shift
The discovery of 165-million-year-old crystals Easter Island has upended the longheld notion of how the Earth's \"conveyor belt\" moves