I'm writing this diary, still trying to digest the news, so please excuse me if sometimes I sound incoherent.
On June 21st 1964 three young people were executed in Mississippi. They were shot by white supremacists.
Their "crime": They registered African-Americans to vote.
In those days, in the deep south, this "crime" was punishable by death.
I say executed and not simply murdered because these three young men were handed over to the KKK by the local sheriff after arresting them for "traffic violation".
Their names were James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner.
Two young Jews and one young African-American
Note the word in the picture: "Brothers".
45 years later, almost to the day, An African-American man, my age, Stephen Tyrone Johns was murdered. He was murdered by a racist piece of shit, while heroically defending the visitors to the National Holocaust Museum.
As a Jew, this gave me a pause. Here we have a black man being killed because of blind racist hatred in a place dedicated to the memory of the racist genocide inflicted on my people (and it is personal - my grandparents were holocaust survivors).
Which brings me a full circle to the murders of 1964. During these trying times the Jewish and African-American communities stood shoulder to shoulder in the fight for civil and human rights. They sacrificed together in the fight against racism and for human dignity.
Unfortunately, since the early 70's these two groups have separated and each went its own way.
In 1967 Israel won the six days war. There were two main consequences to American Jewry. First, the fate of the Jewish state was not in question anymore. The burden of safeguarding the future of the Jewish people has been somewhat lifted from their shoulders. Second, the United States has started supporting Israel and lifted its arms embargo. With this new found respect The Jewish population moved into the American main-stream society, not looking back and adopting some of the general population's racist attitude towards African American.
At the same time, the African-American community experienced a wave of radicalism. After the assassination of Martin Luther King, silencing his non-violence message, other African-American groups voiced more extreme views. The growth of the antisemitic branch of Nation of Islam and others did not help. From Jesse Jackson's "hymietown" remark, to the Crown Heights riot to just several days ago, when pastor Jeremiah Wright blamed the "Jews" for preventing him from talking to president Obama.
The bond was, and still is, broken.
Unfortunately I stumbled upon a a certain forum in a certain site. Not white supremacist but actually called "Brown Pride" and I found this comment answering "why Jews are racists":
jews are like fuckin niggers they been fucked over niggers were inslaved by spaniards and jews were burned in ovens till this day jews are a damned race like the niggers then again would you actually trust a nigger in your house no matter how p.c. u are deep inside ur gonna have that eye watch there animals anyways let them kill eachother [SIC]
Which goes to show that not only this disconnect is tragic, it is also unnatural and dangerous.
In Hebrew there is a saying that literally means if "we don't hang on each other we will be hanging next to each other"
So Here we are, June 2009. Stephen Tyrone Johns is killed because some a racist white "wannabe artist" holocaust-denying scum wanted to unload his hate and rage on the Jews. I can only guess the fact that Stephen was a black man was an unexpected "bonus" in his eyes.
As a security guard Stephen knew he was taking a risk. Unlike other Museums on the mall, the Holocaust museum is a prime target for racist violence and indeed, it gets many such threats. Stephen could have found other security jobs in this city - and god knows there are plenty of those around here. Yet he stayed.
So I want to believe, you know what - strike that - I know in my heart that he didn't just "work" there.
Nobody works in the Holocaust museum to "make a living". Yes, the employees get paid, but this is no ordinary workplace. This is no standard "How was your day in the office, dear" place.
As far as I'm concerned Stephen was a member, in the most active way possible, in the fight against racism. A black man standing, again, shoulder to shoulder with his Jewish brothers against the vile beast of hatred. The same way James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner fought together. And Stephen paid the price.
Let this tragedy be not just remembered as a hate crime statistics, but also as an event that will be the beginning of repairing and healing the rift between the communities. The same way the murders of 1964 were the catalyst for Hoover's FBI and the DOJ to start prosecuting KKK members, that until then rampaged the south with impunity.
And I think we have a great opportunity:
I wish President Obama, as the first black president, will bring together responsible Jewish an African American leaders and put the inspiring power of his presidency behind a real and concentrated effort to bring us together again.
And one more thing - I know that Stephen Tyrone Johns was married but I couldn't find any reference if he had children. If he had children does anybody know where and how can one donate to a college fund?
Peace.
UPDATE I: Thanks to Doodad here is a link for information about donations to Johns family: http://blogs.jta.org/...