On Thursday, about 50 high schoolers from across the metro assembled in the auditorium of The Barstow School in Kansas City, Mo., just across the state line from Leawood, to see a play about antisemitism.
Starring three Johnson County students, “Thank You For Meeting Me Here” aims to show the impact hatred can have on both victims and perpetrators.
The play has been touring the Kansas City region at a time when reported instances of antisemitism are on the rise and some cities in Johnson County — and Johnson County itself — are adopting formal resolutions defining antisemitism and how to respond to it.
Play is based on real-life antisemitic incidents
“Thank You For Meeting Me Here” draws from real-life encounters of antisemitism and hate that local Jewish kids say they have experienced in area schools.
It centers on the story of two fictional high schoolers, Joni and Marcus.
Marcus has targeted Joni with antisemitism. To avoid being expelled, he has to apologize to Joni.
That sparks a conversation about what Marcus’s actions mean and how he has hurt Joni.
The play was written by Victor Wishna, a Kansas City-based writer and editor who also sits on the board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, which has been presenting the play.
Derek Gale, vice president and COO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, says the play aims at teaching kids what antisemitism is and how to combat it.
“I think that a lot of people understand that we’re a polarized country and that people have different beliefs,” Gale said. “But I don’t think that it’s widely understood the level of antisemitism that’s happening across our country, you know, within the state of Kansas or Missouri or within the Kansas City community.”
The teen actors say they’ve experienced antisemitism
On Thursday, about 50 high schoolers from Barstow, Shawnee Mission East and J.C. Harmon in Kansas City, Kan., attended the performance.
The play starred three local students — Ellie Goldberg and Jack Hancock of Blue Valley North High School and Nina McNay of Blue Valley Northwest.
Hancock said, in his view, hate usually comes from ignorance, and he wanted to be a part of the play to help dissolve some of that ignorance.
“You can really put it into any category of hate. You know, homophobia, all of the -isms and phobias in the world right now,” he said.
McNay said she’s witnessed a lot of her Jewish friends experience antisemitism and seen more of it on social media.
“I think a lot of the time people don’t realize the extent of antisemitism, they can kind of brush it off,” said McNay. “Or they don’t even realize that something is antisemitic when it just seems like a joke, or they don’t understand the background behind it.”
Goldberg, who is Jewish, said she has experienced it personally and finds it comforting to know the play is helping educate people.
“I’ve experienced so much bias and ignorance and hatred in my life that honestly most of the time I haven’t even understood it until recently,” Goldberg said. “So taking part in this play honestly has helped me feel better that people are getting educated.”
But challenges remain. Goldberg and Hancock — who are dating — say they’d heard and experienced antisemitic comments at school about their relationship in the past, but after performing the play for their own school recently, they say those comments actually got worse.
Touring play part of larger ‘Race Project KC’ initiative
The play has been running for about 18 months, and it has been performed in local schools across the metro.
Thursday’s performance was for students participating in Race Project KC, a program started by the Johnson County Library.
David Muhammad, a former Shawnee Mission East teacher, is now dean of student services for the middle and upper school at Barstow and co-director of the campus’s inclusion and diversity efforts.
He said he wants students to realize how important it is to have hard conversations about race and identity.
“We have to continue educating ourselves and we have to continue to realize that if we’re going to be empathetic, that we have to be okay with admitting when we’ve made mistakes and not become defensive,” he said. “And also realize that these little things can plant the seeds for bigger problems.”
How you can respond to antisemitism
Sarah Markowitz, director of education for the Jewish Community Relations Bureau | AJC, led a question-and-answer session with students at Barstow after the play Thursday.
She admitted taking a stand against antisemitism can be really hard.
Markowitz told the students that before speaking out, they should make sure it’s safe to do so. Don’t try to confront someone if it puts you in danger, she said.
She listed three methods she said students could use to more actively combat antisemitism in their schools and communities:
- Ask a question, like: “What did you mean by that?” or “Where did you hear that?” Markowitz says oftentimes when people have the chance to reflect on what they say, they realize their error.
- Interrupt and redirect. Change the subject. Say something like, “I’m not comfortable with this,” or “Let’s not go there” and change topics.
- Report the incident to a teacher or trusted adult.
