Four Brooklyn Teens Charged With Hate Crime

[Fredda Weinberg]

June 27, 2008

Four black teens were arrested on hate crime charges Friday, after police say they threw rocks at a bus full of Jewish toddlers.

Police say the teens hurled racial slurs and broke windows on the school bus last month in Crown Heights.

The three girls and one boy are all 14 years old.

No one on the bus was hurt.

The case is the latest in a string of incidents between black and Jewish residents in Crown Heights.

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/Boroughs/brooklyn.jsp

[emilyg]

1. Sad.

No place for this.

[Fredda Weinberg]

2. It's a replay of the 60's ... once upon a time, I was the kid on that bus n/t

[LakeSamish706]

4. Surprising enough, I agree with you... Don't care what the color...

There is absolutely no place for this kind of action...

[Fredda Weinberg]

8. Why is it surprising? I posted it in the hope that we could agree on something n/t

[LakeSamish706]

15. My reply wasn't to you .... n/t

[ingac70]

3. What kind of assholes...

throw rocks at a bus filled with babies?

[Fredda Weinberg]

9. We're easily recognizable and objectified. All you need is a stream of

support and nature does the rest. Remember, you have to be carefully taught ... well, these kids are. I've been crying out all silly season as the stats rose.

[babylonsister]

5. Who or what is fueling this? nt

[David Dunham]

6. These rock throwing kids should be locked up in a reform school

[Fredda Weinberg]

7. If you walk down Fulton Mall in Brooklyn, you'd hear it on the street

Apparently, caucasian Jews are imposters - the real ones ... oh, never mind ... it's a recycling of the old hatreds based on legitimate social issues. We live near each other, Orthodox and African - Crown Heights changed complexion in my childhood.

The fuel, my friend, is the current political climate. I hope we can be part of the solution here ... for me, it's ground zero, but I choose to live in this mixed 'hood. Monday, I'll probably be the only white on the 2 train from Flatbush Avenue, passing the station where my mother went to work after I started school ...

I'll be safe enough. The police cameras at the Junction, where I board, are impressive ... but I've met our precinct's hierarchy - most capable men and women. But that's just a sliver of Brooklyn - around us hate speech is open and shameless.

Public access is the worst - but passing it on the street is hard and I may soon be working there again.

[babylonsister]

12. So it's a black vs. white issue? If the white people weren't Jews,

would they still be fighting? I seriously am curious. And please do tell about the current political climate in your neck of the woods. I'm a NYer from LI, so I perhaps won't understand totally, but am interested.

[Fredda Weinberg]

13. We're not White and in ethnic dress, recognizable as targets

Black Hebrew Israelites (also Black Hebrews, African Hebrew Israelites, and Hebrew Israelites) are groups of people of African ancestry situated mostly in the United States who believe they are descendants of the ancient Israelites. Black Hebrews adhere in varying degrees to the religious beliefs and practices of mainstream Judaism. They are generally not accepted as Jews by the greater Jewish community, and many Black Hebrews consider themselves — and not mainstream Jews — to be the only authentic Jews. Many choose to self-identify as Hebrew Israelites or Black Hebrews rather than as Jews.<1><2><3><4>

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

And it's no fun to hear them talk about you every day on public access or better yet, walk by and pass for white because I dress secular. Nope, you won't have the same experience, but you can see the preachers on the street corners in Brooklyn and Herald Square, last I was there.

[Chovexani]

10. Those who forget history

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

My childhood church was at ground zero of those riots. This story is beyond depressing because it's like we haven't come any farther in fifteen years.

[Fredda Weinberg]

11. It was worse when MLK was killed. Yes, it happens over and over

Thank you for posting ... it might help and can't hurt.

[babylonsister]

14. Do you think that wiki link is accurate?

Is this true? Hmmm.

"one of the most serious incidents of antisemitism in American history".<1> The riot was also viewed as a pogrom by some members of the Jewish community.[

[Chovexani]

16. I don't know about the former. The latter is definitely true though.

At least among the Hasidim in the area.

Granted it's fairly biased (it's a wiki article, of course it is). It neglects to mention a lot of the anti-black stuff that led up to the riots (mostly around issues of real estate and economic development in the area). But it's still a relatively ok summary of what happened.