Too Many Jews: NYC Politician ‘Explains’ Racial Roots of Knockout Game
Laurie Cumbo, who was recently elected to represent Crown Heights in the New York City Council, released a disturbing open letter about the “knockout game” on Tuesday. Posted on her Facebook page, Ms Cumbo published her thoughts after attending a November community forum of religious, school, and other community leaders to address the knockout crime wave.
In her statement, the future member of the NY City Council evoked many anti-Semitic stereotypes, praising the success of local Jews but saying many in the local African American community were worried their Jewish landlords would evict them from their homes. According to Ms Cumbo, during her campaign she met with thousands of Jewish and African American/Caribbean residents, from whom she learned about a building resentment in the black community, which may be the root cause of the knockout attacks.
At the meeting, I shared that many African American/Caribbean residents expressed a genuine concern that as the Jewish community continues to grow, they would be pushed out by their Jewish landlords or by Jewish families looking to purchase homes. I relayed these sentiments at the forum not as an insult to the Jewish community, but rather to offer possible insight as to how young African American/Caribbean teens could conceivably commit a “hate crime” against a community that they know very little about.
Using politically correct versions of Jewish stereotypes, Cumbo notes her admiration for the Jewish community’s family values and unity that has led to strong political, economic, and cultural gains–but warned that success breeds resentment.
She added her belief that though the perpetrators should face justice, they are ultimately victims themselves of social injustice:
As an African American woman, this is challenging, because I recognize that it is Black children and not Jewish children that are playing the “Knock Out Game.” Why is this? In many ways governmental neglect, outside uncontrolled influences and failed leadership have led to the breakdown that so many young people of color are currently facing. I feel torn because I feel apart of the very system that has caused the destructive path that so many young people have decided to take while I am simultaneously demanding that they be arrested by that same system.
Cumbo pointed to a recent article in the Jewish Week as being harmful to the black youth in the community. In that article, she was quoted as saying, “Many [blacks living in private homes] talk about how proud they are, that no matter how many ‘bags of money’ were brought to their doors [by Jews] to buy their homes, they’re not selling.”
She concludes by complaining that other recent crimes in the neighborhood have not received the same attention as the wave of “knockout game” attacks:
As the media has recently focused our attention on the “Knock Out Game,” I am challenged with the reality that a 66 year old grandfather was shot and killed earlier this week while dropping off money in Fort Greene’s Walt Whitman Houses to help a family pay for Thanksgiving dinner. There was no public outcry or calls for swift legal action for this loss of life or for the dozens of others that were killed in the public housing developments this year in the District. I want us to move forward as a community and recognize that we must all come together across religious and racial lines anytime someone in our community is attacked.
This is a copy of the full article provided by the Conservatives at Truth Revolt
(Photo: Discovered on Truth Revolt)
