How I educate people who are not purposefully saying antisemitic things to me.

So, I almost don’t want to even label this as “antisemitism” because I think the situation I found myself in was more due to lack of communication and ignorance than outright antisemitism.

A bunch of us were hanging out after work and a colleague who is Asian referred to me as “white” as more of an insult and that I’ve never suffered as a result. I’m not sure if he was joking or serious. He knows I’m Jewish and I responded that I come from some of the most persecuted people throughout history. His response was “how could you? You’re white.” I responded “6 million Jews” and he kind of just shook his head and got quiet. I couldn’t tell if he was pissed or embarrassed. I decided not to go down the whole “ever hear of the Spanish Inquisition, antisemitism of Justin the martyr, Marx, expulsions from England and France,, “Jews will not replace us”, Cossacks, and rising antisemitism in Europe and the USA.

The thing is, I get that having white skin for the last 50 years has made being Jewish easier in the USA, but it also can feel like it makes antisemitism easier to swallow for people and stops people from empathizing with us when they say things that can be triggering for us.

My question is how to approach these types of situations while understanding that other minorities have experienced discrimination and racism, while also standing up for myself.