On August 9th Mike Brown was shot by officer Darren Wilson. Also on August 9th Orthodox Rabbi Joeseph Raksin was shot to death in the streets of North Miami Beach. He was on his way to synagogue that had recently had swastikas painted on it. I'll bet most of you never even heard about Rabbi Raksin. There weren't any protest, no looting, no rioting. No chant's of no justice no peace, no Jewish thugs in the streets setting fires to businesses. Not a word from the president or the attorney general. And not a word from so called civil rights activist like Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson. Not much coverage or prejudgment by the media. No need for police in riot gear. I am posting this to expose the double standard as well as to demonstrate the reaction of two very different minority communities. Mike Brown and Joseph Raksin are minorities. Both of these minority groups have been persecuted throughout history and still are today to some extent. They have both suffered extreme prejudice, racial injustice, and horrible atrocities. There communities responded in completely different ways. One responded in a civilized way . And the other in an uncivilized way. Was Michael Browns death a hate crime? We do not know at this point but many people have already made up their minds that it was. What about Rabbi Raksin? Was his murder a hate crime. The Miami Beach police say it was a robbery gone wrong. How the hell did they reach that conclusion. Most people in the community believe he was killed because he was a Jew. But they are not in the streets protesting throwing rocks and bottles at police. And why hasn't the AG gone down to Miami Beach to console the family of Joseph Raksin? I blame the race baiters and the media for inflaming the situation in Ferguson. Please don't get me wrong. Both of these incidents are tragic. I just want people to understand that Michael Brown was not the only one who was killed on August 9th 2014.
Rabbi Joseph Raksin shot dead on way to Miami shul | Jewish Telegraphic Agency
People have been shot for more than a prayer bag but I cannot find a comfortable argument that supports the police claim. Saying "there is no evidence" followed by assurances not in evidence is as misleading as what the Ferguson cops have done. Saying there is "no evidence" dismisses it when it definitely needs looking into.
I also have to agree with the comments in the article, and yes I have seen Jewish men going to Schabad and no, they do not immediately leap to mind as a target for a robbery. That claim is ludicrous it was broad daylight and witnesses deny a scuffle.
All similar to the issues in Ferguson.
So why no riots?
Hmmm...I can only venture an opinion based on living among both peoples. It has to begin "In the beginning" in a theological observation. We begin of course with Exodus and the reason why Moses had to get his people the hell out of there. Persecution. We can look throughout the bloody and sometimes sordid affairs in the bible and find more persecution. We see it into the occupation by the Romans, the Diaspora and of course to modern times, Dachau and, for the Russian Jews, Siberia.
I will not say Jews are used to it, no one should become used to that kind of abuse. But there is a racial and religious acceptance; I've seen it on the faces of colleagues in Montreal during the 1973 war, fear not for ones self or even family but for a peoples, about an entire race becoming extinct. The words "it's happening again" all to familiar and frightening. I have been to Dachau, and while it is a tale for another thread, it stands there as a monument to an unspeakable horror against a race of people.
Blacks in the US, I would venture to say have nothing to relate to there. Blacks here would, those who are several generations Canadian came here through the famous Underground Railroad [I loved it in school in the US we all heard about this great underground railroad but when asked none of my teachers had any idea what happened to them when they got here.] They have a much different perspective.
I have lived here now since 1967. I could no more speak for American blacks than I could walk to the moon. we really don't have colour barriers here. There may be racism, usually against Chinese or Indians so I cannot relate. What I do know that when we were lined up, shoulder to shoulder facing fixed bayonets demanding some CHANGE MAN, there was no colour barrier. We were asking why so few women could get into law school, we won. We were asking why mostly black kids got sent to Vietnam. we won. We were asking why there were no black football quarterbacks or astronauts. I'd say we won there too.
And there, my friend is where I offer an explanation as to why no hysterical outcry over this good man of God. I do not get the feeling, in talking to American blacks, that they feel they have won anything, even though they have a black in the White House. I do not get the impression that with most blacks they believe they are any further ahead. Certainly they have made great gains, light years compared to Jews, but the stats do not bear that out, most men in prison are black and not because they "are that way."
The sad truth is it is fashionable to be part of the black cause. Run up the flag for a defense fund and you'll get $ from all sectors, black, white, Christians of all colour. Launch one for a Jewish kid and 95% of the contributions will be from Jews.
Now why is that?
