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Adam Eli, a community organizer and writer in New York City shared a video on Monday after a subway ride.
In it, a man yells for Eli to remove his kippah because he is supposedly "desecrating the name of God."
Eli instead chose to film the interaction.
The man follows Eli out of the subway and to the corner block, yelling at Eli.
"Take your kippah off! This is not Judaism!"
Meanwhile Eli is asking the man to leave him alone. Luckily, some other people stand in front of the man, allowing Eli to cross the street.
However, sharing the video was meant for more than just shaming the man in the video.
As Eli explains, he spent a long time having to hear people tell him he couldn't be who he is, and he isn't going to back down on that now. While it may seem like society has become more accepting, we still have a long way to go.
Next, despite all the abuse he took, Eli points out that he is still privileged. Trans and non-binary people are still assaulted and subjected to hatred like this every day.
It's important to point out not just the fights that affect you, but the work we still must do to have everyone treated equally.
Despite how far we've come as a society, there are still a lot of negative sentiments for different marginalized groups. Anyone who is not cisgender, heterosexual, White or male experiences a very different version of modern life than someone who is.
Just recently, a British politician tried to argue that gay people shouldn't be seen on television until after 9pm. And of all people, Piers Morgan had to be the one to shut him down and call out his bigotry.
Eli was thankfully safe after this incident, but there are many times people aren't when they're attacked over their identity.
We need to do better.
At this time, Eli has not filed a police report about the incident, but it's likely the viral video has done more to combat this kind of attack. Spreading the word and keeping people from becoming complacent is very important.
Eli did have something he wants to share with the man in the video.
"No one gets to tell me when and where I get to wear my kippah."
This shirt, available here, shares his sentiment.
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Listen to the first four episodes of George Takei's podcast, 'Oh Myyy Pod!' where we explore the racially charged videos that have taken the internet by storm.
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