About

"Early Life" Wikipedia Section is a section found in biographical entries on Wikipedia that describe events of a person's early life, such as their date and place of birth and their immediate family. Due to the information of a person's ethnic and religious background often readily available in the "Early Life" section, it has been used to check whether a certain person is Jewish, often by those seeking to spread anti-Semitic sentiment. In the late 2010s, dog-whistle memes referencing the section received spread online, with the phrase "Early Life" being used to reference Jewish ethnicity.

Origin

The earliest discovered 4chan^[1] post in which a user referred to the "Early Life" section of a Wikipedia article to check whether a person being discussed is Jewish was posted to 4chan's /pol/ on January 27th, 2014, although the practice did not gain widespread popularity until 2019.

Between 2014 and 2019, multiple posts in which users referred to the "Early Life" section on Wikipedia were posted on 4chan,^[2][3][4] primarily on its /pol/ board (examples shown below, left and center).

In August 2015, the first post^[5] in which the ethnicity check was followed by the phrase "every time" was made on 4chan's /pol/ (shown below, right), with the phrase and its variations often used in such posts in the following years.

The practice saw an initial increase in usage in early 2018, with a number of posts made on 4chan^[6][7] through the year (examples shown below, left and right).

On October 6th, 2019, an anonymous 4chan^[8] user posted the earliest meme that referenced the practice, a Nut Button edit. On October 28th, 2019, iFunny^[9] account Politically_Incorrect reposted the image, with the post gaining over 240 smiles (seen below).

Spread

The practice continued its spread in certain online communities such as 4chan and other imageboards and iFunny in 2020, with memes reflecting its spread. For example, on February 28th, 2020, iFunny^[10] user YourBoyAlucard posted a Wojak comic that received over 210 smiles in one year (shown below, left). On March 1st, 2020, an unknown Redditor posted a meme in the /r/PoliticalCompassMemes subreddit,^[11] where it gained over 650 upvotes prior to being deleted (shown below, center). On November 23rd, 2020, Facebook^[12] page Cutting Edge Darkcel Quotes Over Stock Doge Images posted an ironic Doge meme that received over 460 reactions and 120 shares in nine months (shown below, right).

Memes referencing the practice of checking the "Early Life" section continued to be circulated in 2021.

Related Memes

In Case You're Wondering, Yes He Is

In Case You Were Wondering, Yes He Is is a catchphrase used to surreptitiously indicate that a certain person is Jewish, usually done with the purpose of promoting anti-Semitic sentiment by establishing a connection between a certain set of sociopolitical views and the ethnicity of the person supporting them. The dog-whistle catchphrase achieved popularity with those seeking to spread the sentiment in 2024, being used in quote posts and comments on X / Twitter.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References