POINT OF VIEW

Looking at Black Lives Matter from one Jewish perspective

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Imagine that you had the power in a life-or-death situation where you could save only one of two people from drowning. The person who could be more easily saved was Black, the other was either a loved one or a friend.

Who would you save? I would bet my bottom dollar that, even though Black lives matter, you would save your loved one or friend. That’s the way it actually is in real life.

“Black lives matter” is a fine slogan in the abstract, but all lives matter — even those of Hispanics, Jews and cops. And if the slogan “Black lives matter” really did matter to its proponents, why are thousands upon thousands of Black people still being murdered each year in Democratic-controlled cities such as Chicago and Philadelphia — not by white cops, but by other Blacks?

Not a damn thing is being done by the Black Lives Matter movement to cut down on this slaughter.

One more point on Black Lives Matter: In the course of its many months of so-called “peaceful” protests, many innocent people throughout this country were assaulted, beaten and even murdered.

Many businesses — even in New York City, and here in the Bronx, with many being owned by minorities — were looted, pillaged, set on fire, or otherwise destroyed.

But so what? The cause is just. Who the hell cares about its innocent victims? They’re just collateral damage.

Now, let me address the issue of race relations from my personal perspective. I am a white, Jewish, retired city elementary school teacher who taught in a predominantly Puerto Rican/Black Bronx school district for 30 years. The main interactions I have had with Black people in my life were with Black teachers, administrators, school personnel, parents and students.

These experiences were normal and mostly pleasant.

Now for the negative experiences. In 1968, the newly created community school board in the Black, Ocean Hill-Brownsville section of Brooklyn fired its Jewish teachers and replaced them with Blacks. This was a violation of the United Federation of Teachers’ contract with the city, and led to a 36-day strike by the UFT.

During those times, I walked the picket line in front of my school, and was called a “Jew bastard” and other expletives — many, many times by harassing Blacks.

Also during that time, Julius Lester of WBAI radio interviewed Leslie Campbell, a history teacher who read a poem written by one of his students about Al Shanker, the head of the UFT, titled “Anti-Semitism: Dedicated to Albert Shanker” which went as follows”

“Hey, Jew boy, with the yarmulke on your head. You pale-faced Jew boy, I wish you were dead.”

Between Aug. 19 and Aug. 21, 1991, the Crown Heights “pogrom” occurred in Brooklyn during which time Orthodox Jews were viciously attacked by mobs of Blacks, and which resulted in the brutal stabbing murder of Yankel Rosenbaum.

Black mayor David Dinkins sat on his behind for three days doing absolutely nothing because he was advised by Al Sharpton to let the community “vent its rage” on the Jews.

Sharpton, who is a Jew-hater and has used such slurs as “Hymie Town” and “Diamond Merchants” to refer to Jews, is a very influential person in the Black community and the Democratic Party. He is a buddy of former president Barack Obama, and has spent much time as a house guest at the White House.

Democratic candidates — including Jews — routinely grovel before him and kiss his behind to gain his approval.

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan — an avowed hater of both Jews and whites in general — is also very influential politically. Not only is he a friend of Obama, but also has many friends and admirers in the Congressional Black Caucus.

Unfortunately, life is not all kumbaya moments. We Jews have much to fear from politically influential Jew haters like Sharpton and Farrakhan, and other Black anti-Semites such as U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar and U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib in the current radical-left Democratic Party.

And being a groveling, politically correct, self-flagellating Jew who submits to the intimidating tactics of Black racists is not going to help.

To the haters, a Jew is a Jew is a Jew.

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Alvin Gordon,

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