I don’t understand hatred of Nationalities.. like Jewish and etc.

I don’t understand hatred of Nationalities..  like Jewish and etc.

I, once was told that we hate what we don’t understand..  Maybe in school we should have classes of learning about other nationalities.. not their nation so to speak, but the people who lived there at one time.      

I was raised  near Newport, R.I. area  (the town I lived in was Middletown) and we had all kinds of nationalities..   The three biggest were Portuguese, Irish and Italian.  Next came Jewish and then Greek.. and trailing up the road was, what was considered Yankee..  which was a gathering up the rest of the nationalities. Mainly English, and Norway, Sweden and etc.   I don’t recall many, if any Orient ones.

The Portuguese were mostly farmers..  the Italians were mostly fishermen, and the Irish were police officers..  Not all but there just seem that is the line of work that most did.  The Jewish were businessmen mostly.. Lawyers, stores owners, and etc.  Newport is the home of the first USA Synagogue. 

I don’t recall any hatred of any of the nationalities.  We also had quite a few blacks..   Middletown and Portsmouth being farming we didn’t have any black families that I am aware of.  Unless they were in the Navy, which Middletown and Newport shared with their bases.   Newport had quite a few, so I didn’t go to school with any blacks until high school.. 

Only prejudices I recall was when it came to marriage..  None of the different nationality like it when their children married out of  the different nationalities.  The harder one of the bunch was Greek..  We had in our high school class .. a Greek boy who married a Portuguese girl.. And it didn’t go well.   It was worse if it was a girl marrying a non Greek.. Didn’t want their children to have Greek blood and not a Greek name.

I am not saying they all loved each other..  but they tolerated..  had friends of different nationalities, but don’t recall any one hating each other.. If they did it was because of the person themselves… the man or the woman..  In schools, we all got along nation wise… great friends..  played football, baseball, and other sports..  worked with each other..  If there was a thicker line between them.. it was with the blacks.. there were blacks and whites that were good friends..  but not a lot of them.  

I was taken care of by a friend of my mothers, when I was under 12.. she was black, her husband was a chauffer for my great grandfather many years before..  I loved her to death.. so was the neatest lady.. and her house.. oh, God it smelt sooooooooooooo good..  she was always cooking.. if not cooking.. sewing.. I remember her dining room table, always having a sewing machine on it   iron board near by and something cut out and pinned on the table..  And next door was a girl my age.. so we palled around when we were young.. Then when I was in school, didn’t see Diane so much..But when I went to high school, there she was..  so happy to see her. She was so beautiful.   

But this hatred of Jewish people.. I don’t understand.  Mom and Dad had several and I worked for one of them.. he had a produce store in the Spring to Fall..  then he went to Florida in the winter.. beautiful wife.. she was French..  and delightful kids that I baby sat.  Only thing I remember in high school was they got a day off that we didn’t…  and of course they got Christmas off too.  But they got one of their holidays off..  no one was upset about that..

Why do we have this hatred that some are spreading.. These people who are being yelled at or worse, have lived here for YEARS… they aren’t here newly from Israel.   And then to stand in the roads and yell and scream at them..  I don’t care if you are from the Palatines.. if you feel that strongly, go back to your country and fight for your fellowman..  Not stand in a foreign country yelling your hatred at those who do not live in Israel.    Some of them never have. 

 Maybe we should learn about each other more..  if the adage is correct..