Has The War on Gaza, Irreparably Destroyed Black and Jewish Relations?
Just asking…
Historically, relations between Black and Jewish folk have been quite complex.
And this is powerfully true on both sides of the Atlantic.
Here in the United Kingdom, older Brits are familiar with the term ‘Rachmanism’, when Peter Rachman — an immigrant himself from Poland — rented houses at extortionate rates to Black migrants who had come from the Caribbean, who couldn’t rent from the hostile natives in the late 40s, 50s and 60s.
This reality was also exacerbated by the fact that our man did operate as a loan shark, employing a man who would become Britain’s version of Malcolm X (Michael X) as his enforcer on the streets of Notting Hill and Ladbroke Grove.
And It was no different in America.
The distrust between the African American and Jewish communities did rear its ugly head in the New York housing system and in the music business.
Black Americans, just like their British cousins, couldn’t afford to live in decent houses and the ones they got were usually poorly maintained and quite dilapidated.
The view was that Jewish slumlords were at the forefront of taking advantage of poor Blacks.