Thoughts on Two African American Officials Justifying Jersey City Kosher Deli Attack

The cruelty of last month's anti-Semitic attack at the kosher deli in Jersey City did not end with the death of two Jews, a Hispanic employee and a police officer. It has carried on in the form of two African-American officials justifying the attacks.


First there was Jersey City school board official Joan Terrell-Paige who in a Facebook post a week after the attack(which was subsequently deleted) referred to Jews as "brutes". Terrell-Paige went further by martyring David Anderson and Francine Graham, the two people responsible for the attack:

Mr. Anderson and Ms. Graham went directly to the kosher supermarket. I believe they knew they would come out in body bags. What is the message they were sending? Are we brave enough to explore the answer to their message?

Are we brave enough to stop the assault on the Black communities of America? My people deserve respect and to live in peace in this city.

Somehow I cannot imagine Terrell-Paige asking if we would be brave enough to explore Dylann Roof's message after he massacred the pastor and eight parishioners of the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Anderson and Graham were motivated to kill by their hatred of Jews just as Roof was motivated to kill by his hatred of African-Americans. Evil is evil. There is no bravery in excusing it. Ever.


Indeed, had any public official asked if we were brave enough to explore Dylan Rooff's message that person would have resigned within a matter of hours. But when it comes to Terrell-Paige not only has she not resigned but a vigil was organized on her behalf which took place last night. Vigils ought to be reserved for those who lost their lives not those who justify their slaughter.


Yet it gets even worse. John Flora, who is seeking the Democratic Party nomination in New Jersey's 10th Congressional District by challenging Democratic incumbent Donald Payne, Jr., also defended Terrell-Paige:


Rather than hastily demanding her resignation this was an ideal moment for our locally elected to sit down with Mrs. Terrell, clarify her statements, and be prepared to demonstrate empathy.


When Terrell-Paige says "the brutes of the Jewish community" "brazenly came on the property of Ward F Black homeowners and waved bags of money" what is there to clarify? Terrell-Paige has made her position loud, clear and unambiguous. As for our empathy, methinks it should be spared for those who are dead and cannot defend themselves.


Sadly Terrell-Paige isn't the only African American public official who justified the Jersey City slayings. Earlier this week, New Jersey NAACP official James Harris publicly blasted Hasidic Jews at a community forum characterizing them as “folks in long black suits and curly locks” who control the city council and school board. Note: there are no Jews on either body. Fortunately, Harris was publicly rebuked by Rabbi David Greenstein who stated, “If you take the word ‘Hasidics’ out and replace the word with ‘blacks,’ this whole room would be in an uproar. To generalize and to paint with that kind of broad brush, a situation that is so much more painful and complicated, is a sin.”
While Harris did state he was not speaking out on behalf of the New Jersey NAACP as of this writing the New Jersey NAACP has not sought to distance themselves from Harris.


So where is New Jersey Senator and Democratic presidential hopeful Cory Booker in this mess? While Booker did condemn the attack he made no mention of anti-Semitism. If he didn't mention it at the time of the attack why would take Terrell-Paige and Harris to task for their anti-Semitism? I guess Booker is still taken aback that Michael Bloomberg called him "well spoken".


This isn't to say that Terrell-Paige and Harris speak for New Jersey's African-American community at large. But when they make anti-Semitic statements and vigils are organized on their behalf with other public figures coming to their defense instead of being shamed and shunned it is a harbinger of things to come. If Terrell-Paige and Harris can get away with their defamation of Jews then you can be sure they won't be the last African-American public officials in New Jersey and elsewhere to make anti-Semitic statements. The floodgate will be soon unleashed upon us and most will try to wash their hands of it. All of which will lead to the social acceptability of anti-Semitism in the United States. If that happens then we can also expect more violent attacks against Jews in New Jersey, New York and everywhere else we dare to breathe.