A Heartfelt Plea for Respect

Naomi Kitchen, a senior in the Taylor Allderdice High School in the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh writing in the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle:

I love Pittsburgh’s Jewish community with all of my heart. It is because of this love that I so fervently want us to be better. I ask this for myself and for other Jewish children of color: When you see us in Jewish spaces do not give confused, cold looks. Look at us like we are yours, because we are.

I grew up in Squirrel Hill and graduated from Allderdice. This piece couldn’t have been easy to write and really spoke to me.