The Crown Heights Jewish Community Council hosted an important meeting last week between Jewish and African American leaders in Crown Heights.
The meeting was designed to re-establish lines of communication within the community that had originally been set up in the aftermath of the 1991 riots.
At that time, an organization called Project Care was created jointly by leaders of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council and local Black leaders as a means of avoiding further tensions in the community.
Attending Monday’s meeting were Zaki Tamir, Fishel Brownstein, Chanina Sperlin, Eli Cohen, Rev Clarence Norman, Bob Mathews and Richard Green.
The meeting also included representatives of the Mayor’s office, the local Police Precinct, NYPD Community Relations Dept and Police Commissioner’s Office, the City-wide Jewish Community Relations Council and the Brooklyn DA.
In the course of the meeting CHJCC representatives sharply condemned a recent incident in which foreign visitors to the Jewish community apparently slapped one, and perhaps two, African American men on the streets of Crown Heights.
Although the Police investigation did not establish a racial motive in the attack, and alcohol was an apparent factor, many in the community feared that race might also have been a partial motive.
Richard Green expressed thanks to G-d that the incident had not developed into something more serious, but at the same time agreed with others in the room that it had served as a reminder that we should never sit back and wait for something to happen before reacting.
The police also asked the Jewish Community to make preparations in the future so that guests are made aware of appropriate behavior, whether it be observing traffic rules, consumption of alcohol, neighborly relations, or the dangers of leaving items in the shul that might be seen as a suspicious article.
The meeting concluded with an exchange of cell phone numbers and a commitment by all participants to keep their contacts alive and with the hope and prayer that community relations will be warm and without any uncomfortable incidents in the future.
When I see all those comments I am just wondering why JEXISH PEOPLE ARE SO RACIST AND I MY HEART I PRAY FOR GOD TO HELP ME SURVIVE AS A JEW AS A BLACK GOD HAVE MERCY I AM ASHAME OF MY PEOPLE
Calling someone an “African American” just because of the color of their skin is racist. The people we’re talking about haven’t been from Africa for many generations.. Would you like to be called a “Polish American” because your great grandfather was from Poland?
The term African American applies more to your South African friends (yeah, the White ones, too), for example, than to American Blacks.
If the CHJCC and its PAC cannot keep an individual such as Mendy Raitport from running a lone wolf campaign what’s the point of making any overtures to any politicians?? If we clearly cannot speak as a bloc, we are politically useless.
#11, was a police report filed or a call to 911 made?
this Tishrey a Youngrman from Israel got his head kicked in, for no good reason on Crown St between Albany and Kingston at 9 o’clock in the evening, by a gang of BLACK youth, he was treated by Hatzalah, and were the hell was the NYPD, or the BLACK community leaders.
It is important to keep communication instead of living alongside each other with negativity and contempt.
I commend the Vaad and the chairman Zaki Tamir for making strides in cultivating civil relationships with our neighbors.
They are African Americans not Blacks!!
rarely does jewish guilt do anyone any favors look at israel
its about time law was enforced
and stop making it a color issue
it just begets more misunderstanding and a inflammation of the youth
They got together to talk about JEWISH violence against BLACKS??? Are they serious? The Jews walk around constantly having to watch their backs for fear of what a black will do any time one walks by, and then they go and twist it all around cuz of one out-of-character incident to the contrary? This is outrageous!
Dear #1, #3, Everyone knows that the ‘Black’ community has too many ‘undesirables:’ criminals. We Jews, ‘Av navon ve’chochom’ should live up to a higher standard of conduct, if the slapping was unjustified. After all, HaShem made everyone. Needlessly slapping any non-Jew would certainly cause The ‘Rebbe’ pain…’The Rebbe’ certainly loves everyone who’s worthy of being loved…then again, there’s a love so deep we cannot understand…HaShem’s love. There is much truth though, in #1, #2 because the ’91 Crown Heights Riots’ were do to a great failure of government and sections of the ‘Black’ community. (The ‘slapping’ incident just happened,… Read more »
If they are addressing the question of a black man or two getting slapped, did they also address the assault form the previous Tishrei where a Jewish man had his head smashed by a black man driving by on his bike?
chanina was voted OUT why is he still involved? he did nothing for the comunity for that past 10 years..
Did the police express concern that the black community “make preparations” to not mug Jewish girls? I hope they exchanged website URLs too so that the fine representatives of l’umas zeh can monitor the comments of support.
Crown Heighters need jobs. There are so many CHers out of work. Every time I see the Vaad on this sites it’s for another photo op.
This is what we need the Vaad for.
What a lot of crap: “one of our drunken guests
slapped an African American”! What about all the African
Americans that beat, punch and call us names when they pass us by and are not drunk, or drugged!