NV neighborhood relations hero
Jewish Neighborhood Relations
FRIENDSHIPS AND TENSIONS
Our narrators shared memories of their relationships with non-Jewish neighbors—both positive and negative. Many recalled the powerful, formative education about other cultures and religions that they gained through their friendships with non-Jewish friends and neighbors. Alongside these positive interactions, many also remembered experiencing or witnessing antisemitism and discrimination.
Hear about neighborhood relations
“There was one Chinese restaurant in Dorchester, and [the owner] spoke Yiddish!”
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“Whenever you tell someone that you're from Dorchester, if they're not Jewish, they want to know what parish you're from. So, you need to know what parish you were from.”
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“Not a lot, but I do remember walking home a few times and getting called a Jewbagel.”
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“There was an incident on the Lynn Common where a Jewish kid, about my contemporary, got beat up very badly.”
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“I mean, once in a while, somebody would mouth off about a dirty Jew, or the usual consequences would follow. ... We knew it would always be there.”
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“There was friction with the non-Jewish contiguous area. A lot of it. We didn’t go there; they didn’t come to us ... It was part of the culture.”
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