20 Years After Violence, Crown Heights Residents Reflect (VIDEO)

On Aug. 19, 1991, in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights, Gavin Cato, a 7-year-old Guyanese boy, was struck by the motorcade of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, leader of the Chabad Hasidic Jewish movement based in the area. Hours later, Yankel Rosenbaum, a 29-year-old Orthodox Jewish graduate student, was surrounded by black rioters and stabbed to death. Three days of violent upheaval followed.

Twenty years later, though tensions have cooled and community mediation efforts persist, black and Jewish residents of Crown Heights largely keep to themselves, Nate Lavey reports.

Thanks to The Jewish Daily Forward for the video:

Living Apart in Crown Heights from The Jewish Daily Forward on Vimeo.

Comments

[forbiddenplanet]

03:36 PM on 08/23/2011

The race to the bottom (no pun intended) of who suffered most is useless. All those that came here with nothing (including Jews and AAs) should work together to better their lives. Many do, btw.

[CDL1]

04:47 PM on 08/21/2011

All these tensions would go away if these two groups would just have sex with each other and make babies. It would be the best of both worlds for the kids and better for everyone in general. Thats the kind of world I'm fighting for.

[Bucket-Of-Love]

06:20 PM on 08/21/2011

Nice idea, cdl1, but not likely to happen, like....ever.

Insular (i.e., carefully delineated, circumscribed) culture is perhaps the most foundational aspect of Jewish existence. In terms of this discussion, this is especially notable, since Crown Heights is the seat of Lubavitch movement, the largest organization of Jews in the world.

The integration that you indicate will have to be achieved through tolerance between respective groups.

[clarendon67]

03:13 PM on 08/21/2011

I'm going to try to be reasonable here but, let's look at what happened. A 7 year old child was killed in a car accident by an Hassidic Jew. This man ran away to Israel before the police could even question him. When the people of Crown Heights saw what happened they became enraged and took to the streets, where Mr Rosenbaum was killed. The black people in Crown Heights felt their lack of power, in that, here is a child who was killed and the person who did it did not even face any kind of questioning. They felt powerless and their powerlessnes was exacerbated by the likes of Al Sharpton. The riots did nothing for the black people of Crown Heights seeing that it took away the injustice of Gavin Cato's death and turned it into the murder of Mr Rosenbaum. By the way did that man ever return from Israel.
Two innocent people were killed in Crown Heights, one person paid the penalty and the other person did not.

[andrewsullar]

04:50 PM on 08/21/2011

One man was lynched the other died in a car accident. This is the first and last time in history blacks saw a car accident and lynching as the same thing. You say the mob killed an innocent Jewish man because the driver fled to Isreal. Actually the mob killed him 2 hours after the accident. Also, the driver was acquitted of wrongdoing by a predomidantely BLACK grand jury.

[Bucket-Of-Love]

05:45 PM on 08/21/2011

"Two attending police officers, as well as a technician from the City ambulance, directed the Hatzolah driver to remove Lifsh from the scene for his safety, while Gavin Cato was being removed from beneath the station wagon.[9] According to the New York Times, more than 250 neighborhood residents, mostly black teenagers, many of whom were shouting 'Jews! Jews! Jews!', jeered the driver of the car and then turned their anger on the police.[10] Some members of the community were outraged because Lifsh was taken from the scene by a private ambulance service while city emergency workers were still trying to free the children who were pinned under the car. Some believed that Gavin Cato died because the Hatzolah ambulance crew was unwilling to help non-Jews."

"Later that evening, as the crowd and rumors grew, people threw bottles and rocks to protest the treatment of the children. At about 11:00 pm, someone shouted, 'Let's go to Kingston Avenue and get a Jew!' A number of black youths then set off toward Kingston, a street of predominantly Jewish residents several blocks away, vandalizing cars and heaving rocks and bottles as they went.[13]"

(continued....)

[eternalhealth1]

09:51 AM on 08/21/2011

To really get a understanding on this problem, you would have to go back more than 20 years. It is very sad that a seven year old and a twenty-nine year old were killed in this senseless violence. If you go back further, you will see that the violence was the norm in NY. Just research "The Gangs of New York". Do you know that it blew my mind when they showed the actual Newspaper articles at the end of the movie. Just think now: These are the descendants of those people. If you want economic power: live for, of and by each other. Ask some extended family members to move in with you and share everything you have. Make sure the bills are paid together. Watch out for one another. Live you culture. I think Williamsburg still has Public Schools that are still separated by Gender. One for Boys and one for Girls. As we would ride by on the J train, and notice that we were literally in another country. They petioned their local Board of Ed to separate the schools according to their culture and because they are the majority who pay taxes there; of course their wish was granted. Crown Heights is an extremely beautiful area to live in. If you don't want to shop locally, New York has a great Transit system so that you can shop where you want.

[Ian Gord]

02:15 PM on 08/20/2011

Crown Heights, another big scar on the legacy of Al Sharpton.

Why this hustler is given any forum for his hate is incredible.

[papapj]

11:46 PM on 08/20/2011

...You get a forum for yours, he gets a forum for his....only his is much bigger...jealous?

[Bucket-Of-Love]

02:31 AM on 08/21/2011

He was hustling since he was Little Reverend Al.

[eternalhealth1]

01:51 PM on 08/20/2011

Violence is wrong. It was wrong for the 7 year old boy and the man who were killed. I lived in Bushwick during those years and when we went to Williamsburg or Prospect Park we did not disrepect anyone or cause any violence. After 20 years you should try to get along. If you do not like the area move to another part. When I lived in Brooklyn; I quickly realized that there certain areas I could not visit because of the violence against Blacks. I did not want to get killed, so I stayed away from those areas. If there is anything wrong in the area that you are living in, just move. We are not orignally from here and were stolen from Africa. You are always welcomed in you own homeland.

[Matt12]

11:07 AM on 08/20/2011

How ironic that the West Hampton Synagogue(yes, there’s a very wealthy one there) is sponsoring a Forum On Race Relations to mark the 20th anniversary of the Crown Heights riots. Of course, the African-American community of Crown Heights is light years removed from the money loaded West Hampton residents.

[pkafin]

05:37 PM on 08/22/2011

And this is ironic in what way?

[NoShiteSherlock]

09:04 PM on 08/19/2011

Murder is wrong period...... to kill an innocent man is wrong. Feeling racial tension? Move! 20 years later i still don't have a Hasidic Jew for a friend and when I go to Williamsburg or Crown Heights they still look past me and it does not bother me nor do I feel any ill will towards them. I cannot force myself down anyones throat. Brown people are seperatists with the BET, Black Planet, Black People meet and so on. If white people had any of the aforementioned lawdhamercy! Al Sharpton would be on it quicker then a fly on doo doo.

[UnknownSolider]

04:15 PM on 08/22/2011

BET is not black owned, Black Planet was founded by a person who was half black and half jewish........ White people can do whatever they want, and have done whatever they want despite whatever concerns blacks or native Americans may have wanted or said....... see slavery, and Manifest Destiny

[NoShiteSherlock]

12:37 PM on 08/25/2011

I have had the great fortune of traveling outside of this country. Because of this I am not stuck on the slaveywhitemankeepinusdown nonsense. There are good and bad people everywhere.What white people do because I manifest my own destiny is of no concern or consequence to me. Slavery has its residual problems that we as a people need to let go of and progress in order to move onward and upward. It isn't an excuse to seperate ourselves when the main color of this country is GREEN. My money is just as good in the hood as it is in Beverly Hills. Hate begets hate seperatism is a form of hate IMHO. Anything catering to one race should not exist that is the only way that we will truly learn to live as one.

[Euphoria123]

08:15 PM on 08/19/2011

I love how that lady totally justifies what those thugs did wow. Most Jews that came to this country had nothing, zero. And they made something out of themselves and thier communities and still someone excuses violence against them because "they owned stores" ugggh

[TYRANT357]

12:47 AM on 08/21/2011

Odd, blacks had less than nothing when they were brought as SLAVES to this country. To add INSULT to INJURY, the Jewish man who RAN OVER and KILLED Gato Cato escaped to Israel, so he was NEVER TRIED for the MURDER.

[JoshInPgh]

01:18 AM on 08/21/2011

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavin_Cato

"A Grand Jury composed of 10 African Americans, 8 Caucasians, and 5 Latinos found no cause to indict Lifsh. District Attorney Charles J. Hynes explained that under New York law, the single act of "losing control of a car" is not criminal negligence, even if death or injury resulted. Lifsh waived immunity and testified before the Grand Jury.[4] About an hour after hearing Lifsh’s testimony, the Grand Jury voted not to indict him.[22] Subsequently, Lifsh moved to Israel, where his family lives, because his life was threatened.[23]"

[CDL1]

04:29 PM on 08/21/2011

Not just the jews, but the Koreans, Chinese, Lebanese, Cubans, etc. etc. The major difference between all of tha above mentioned groups and African Americans is the rampant negrophobia in the US that places limitations on many AAs. Some can break out of the social box placed upon them, but its hard and requires alot more work from them than it does for other minority groups. Of course the US is so racist agains AAs that many will just blame Black Americans for their particular socilal standing while at the same time wanting nothing to do with them in any way. Black African immigrants have it a little better than AAs becuase they often come in with a sense of national or ethnic community. They also often arrive with a better educational background than AAs already living here. Thats why more of them end up going to university or landing better jobs than AAs.

[bryanwhite1214]

04:05 PM on 08/19/2011

Thuggery=heathenism. Do not become like the people who used to lynch us, who were too decadent and lazy to do their own work, and now blame us for the state of the american economy. Do not become like the savages who killed 6 million innocent people. Do not become like the people who wish for the return of the condfederacy, and to this day want to fly a traitoruous flag b/c of the lost cause.

[riverhouse]

08:09 PM on 08/19/2011

What does that mean?

[Da-king]

03:41 PM on 08/19/2011

There was no real relationship any way these Jewish people are around Black folks to exploit them like they have been doing for centuries.

[22Keys]

05:19 PM on 08/19/2011

Please stop with that non-sense. The Jews were never involved in the slave trade or any other movement to oppress black people.

[Euphoria123]

08:18 PM on 08/19/2011

Jews did own slave ships and were involved in the slave trade (also Africans were selling their own, slavery still continues in some parts of Arfica etc.), but guess what. Those people are long dead now and not one person in Crown Heights was there.

[andrewsullar]

08:08 PM on 08/19/2011

Blacks lynched an innocent Jewish man and all you can do is spew anti-Jewish hate? You have learned nothing from your own people' history.

[John Prewett]

11:38 PM on 08/19/2011

No, Blacks did not kill Yankel Rosenbaum and Anthony Graziosi.
Blacks are decent law abiding people who happen to have Blackish skin.

Nxggers killed Yankel Rosenbaum and Anthony Graziosi.

See Chris Rock's "Black people versus Nxggas" UTube. Chris explains it very well.

[TYRANT357]

12:49 AM on 08/21/2011

Jews MURDERED and INNOCENT CHILD but I don't see you mentioning anything about that.

[srooge]

03:38 PM on 08/19/2011

Time for new riot but start it at Wall Street.

[JBDenver]

03:12 PM on 08/19/2011

I guess things are looking up in "Hymietown" - Jesse Jackson's words, not mine.

[Bucket-Of-Love]

02:23 AM on 08/21/2011

So why repeat it?

[CDL1]

04:38 PM on 08/21/2011

Becuase he/she/it wants you to think that Jesse Jackson is racist. He/she/it is saying that it is ok to be racist towards blacks because they are all racists anyway, just look at how thier leaders behave.. Conbaggerpubs are sneaky little people, gotta see through their coded language...

[JBDenver]

12:37 PM on 08/22/2011

I repeated it because there seems to be a notion that racism only flows in one direction - towards the black community. Racism is "multi-directional" and should be addressed when flowing in any direction.

[brooklyncitizen]

01:56 PM on 08/19/2011

ANd the same divisive issues continue today..the difference is that the gentrification of Crown hts. (now divided into Crown Hts. north and the rest of Crown Hts) has blurred the line between the two community groups.
But still same old same old.

[JoseAnd911World]

01:06 PM on 08/19/2011

Take A Look At This: WABC news van loses its microwave mast during the '91 riots in Crown Heights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2Px24S9y4U