Over the last fifty years, social norms have evolved such that overt expressions of many forms of prejudice are now taboo. If you live in world in which you rarely, if ever, encounter such prejudices, it can be easy to forget that hostile bigots who are proud of their attitudes and behavior exist. Especially if you are someone like me, a white male who grew up in an environment where nobody expressed such beliefs.
Tonight, I share a story, my first direct encounter with anti-Semitism, an incident that shocked me and made me think different about prejudice and discrimination. Note: I have changed the names in this story.