Every time I see displays of racism towards Black people in the news, I think to myself: “I’m Jewish, so I understand. We had the Holocaust, they had slavery. There’s no way I’m racist. Or privileged.” Right? Wrong. And here’s the difference...

While we both may have been discriminated against in the past, it doesn’t mean our experiences are the same now, or that we “know what they’re going through.” I’m Jewish, but I look pretty white, so if I get pulled over by a cop for my driving, you know what I’m worried about?

I’m worried about the cop writing me a ticket, and what it’s going to cost me. Want me to be more honest? I’m also wondering if I can flirt my way out of the ticket. That’s privilege. Want to know what black people worry about when they get pulled over by a cop?... EXACTLY.

I don’t know what it’s like to black in America, and if you’re not black, NEITHER DO YOU. We don’t know the details of how exactly they feel marginalized. We think because we grew up watching Kenan & Kel, Fresh Prince, and listening to rap music, we get it. We don’t.

Now what do we do? We educate ourselves, and we teach our kids. It’s not time to defend ourselves. Take a seat, sit across from a black American, and listen. You don’t have black friends? You know they’ve been writing about this stuff for years, right? There is no excuse anymore.

Jews have museums all over the world dedicated to Holocaust remembrance. We teach it in schools. We sit across from Holocaust survivors & listen to their individual stories as they cry & tell us about how their parents got shot in front of their eyes. Listening is an honor.

We have recorded the names of 6 million Jews who were killed in the Holocaust. We preserve concentration camps to show people: “Look, this is where it happened. This is where they gassed us.” We shout and hashtag #NeverAgain at any and every opportunity.

So now’s your opportunity to engrave what’s happening into the fabric of our history, & never let it happen again. Amplify the black voices. Learn about their individual experiences, the injustices they’ve suffered, and the way they’ve been mistreated and silenced for so long.

You think just because your second grade teacher rolled a vintage television set into your classroom and played Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech on VHS, you understand their pain? He’s still dreaming. Turn on your flat screen TV & take a look at what’s happening.

You cannot just “not be racist” anymore. You must be antiracist. What does that mean? In the words of Ibram X. Kendi: “Like fighting an addiction, being an antiracist requires persistent self-awareness, constant self-criticism, and regular self-examination.” Let’s get to work.