The family of the Jewish student killed in the 1991 Crown Heights riots condemned as “shameful” a street festival jointly planned by black and Jewish leaders to commemorate that racial unrest.
Norman Rosenbaum, whose brother Yankel was stabbed and killed on Aug. 20, 1991, used the term in a statement sent to the website Crownheights.info.
“The decision to hold a ‘Community Festival’ to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Crown Heights Riots is shameful and a disgrace,” he wrote. “It is an insult to the memory of Yankel Rosenbaum who was murdered in the early hours of the riots for being a Jew. The late Mayor (Ed) Koch first called the riots for what they truly were — a pogrom! And it should never be forgotten, that pogrom was not a Community Festival!”
The Aug. 21 neighborhood festival, One Crown Heights, is sponsored by civic groups and elected officials, along with the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Children’s Museum, according to the Forward.
A notice that appeared on the neighborhood website COLlive.com and elsewhere promises “fun for all ages” with “kosher and nonkosher food.”
Yankel Rosenbaum was killed by a group of black men during violence that erupted after 7-year-old Gavin Cato was killed by a car in the motorcade of the Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. During the three days of violence that followed, nearly 200 were injured.
Community activist Yaacov Behrman, in a statement on Crownheights.info, credited blacks and Jews with coming together to mend the wounds.
Still, he said, “holding a neighborhood fun day to commemorate the riots is inexcusable and shamefully low.” — jta