Unfortunate Events

Unfortunate Events

If the united states culturally and racially is considered a “salad bowl”, then the state of New York would probably be the biggest salad bowl in the country. People from diverse countries and cultures from all over the world have zeroed in on the state as the place to call home. Millions of people, living side by side with different languages, customs and traditions, are working hard to fulfill their own versions of the” American Dream”.

So, it is always troubling when incidents of racially motivated acts of violence, or any kind of hateful acts for that matter, occur.

In late 2019, there were several incidents of anti-Semitic violence, some of which resulted in the death of the victims. These incidents were shocking and senseless. What was just as shocking was that those particular acts were perpetrated by African Americans.   

Why were these specific acts shocking?

When we talk about the American dream and the aspirations of the various cultural groups, all have experienced their share of discrimination and various forms of prejudice. The Jewish community has a long history, in this country and around the world of defending itself from the various forms of anti-Semitism. African Americans have fought a decades long battle for civil and human rights that continues until this day.

So, it stands to reason that these two groups have a shared history in this regard and have found ways to support each other to end the discrimination each group has experienced.

How?

During the civil rights movement in the 60’s and early 70’s, Jewish people marched alongside African Americans to protest and fight racial discrimination of all kinds. Some even died. The infamous account of the story of Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney stands the test of time is this regard.

What most people may not realize is that both Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were of Jewish heritage and they were also both from New York; Goodman from the upper west side of Manhattan and Schwerner from Pelham Park. James Chaney was an African American from Meridian Mississippi.

The murders of Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney, also known as the Freedom Summer murders, or the Mississippi civil rights workers' murders or the Mississippi Burning murders, involved these three civil rights activists, who were abducted and murdered in Neshoba County, Mississippi in June 1964.

The three men had traveled to the community of Longdale to talk with congregation members at a black church that had been burned. After the service they were arrested following a traffic stop outside Philadelphia, Mississippi for speeding, taken to the local jail, and held for several hours. They were then released and left town in their car. They were followed by law enforcement and others and the car was pulled over and all three were abducted, driven to another location, and shot at close range. The three men's bodies were then transported to an earthen dam where they were buried. All three men paid the ultimate price for their sacrifices towards the goal of achieving freedom from discrimination, prejudice and violence.

This is why the violent acts that occurred in New York fly in the face of this history of cooperation between the African American and Jewish communities.

When people are unaware of the historical accounts of the cooperation and achievements of other racial and cultural groups working together, (as in this story), or otherwise, there is more of a likelihood of occurrences like the violent events that happened in New York. Those violent events dishonor the memory and sacrifices made by heroes like Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner and cloud the history of cooperation between racial, cultural and ethnic groups. We can do better.

J3 recently had the opportunity to discuss those violent events that occurred in our home state of New York. As usual, our opinions were as diverse as the cultures and traditions of our state.

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