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Why We Should Stand Up
Being able to value the differences in others and to support equity and inclusion is a lesson I am grateful to have learned so early in my life. My best friend is Jewish. Both of her grandparents escaped and survived the Auschwitz Concentration Camp during the Holocaust, and she continues their legacy and shares their story every chance she can. During our junior year, however, she was harshly discriminated against in an antisemetic social media post, and received multiple death threats just for being Jewish. Because of this, she lost her confidence, her happiness, and her overall self identity. She even lost a majority of her friends…some of them being of the Jewish faith themselves. Other than her family, I was the only person there to encourage her and to remind her of how important her beliefs and values are, and why she needs to continue sharing her grandparents story. My family is Christian, so it was very important for me to study and learn about the Jewish religion in order to empathize with how she was feeling. This gave me confidence to stand by her side, even while those in her own community stood against her. Being able to support my friend through this troubling time taught me about the inclusion of others and what needs to be done to support the differences in those around us.
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This is a personal piece about a close friend of mine who was discriminated against for being of the Jewish faith, and what I have done as a Christian to help support her and help her regain her self identity.