The Crown Heights Riots: Race Vs. Religion

*For my second blog post this weekend i will write about the Crown Heights riots because i neglected to write thoroughly about it yesterday.

This past week in class we watched a 90's film entitled Raising the Heights. This movie was inspired by the Crown Heights riots but instead of showing a dramatization of the riots, it had an entirely separate plot line that focused on the social tensions between the African American and Jewish residents at that time. It was interesting to see it in this way because it effectively showed how both sides applied the common stereotypes to the each other: the same stereotypes that made them a target for oppression. The Crown Heights riots wasn't directly caused by the authority, like it sometimes was in the past, but instead indirectly. Though Jewish people aren't AS oppressed as black people are in terms of the economy, it still isn't socially easy for them. They came to this country and settled in various places, and in the case of this subject throughout Brooklyn and the Lower East Side. They were able to situate themselves and build themselves up to the point that they have their own private establishments. In this country we get Christianity shoved down our throats no matter what by the right wing, so despite all the wealth that Jews inherit they still face some hate. What I also find to be interesting is that Jewish people were slaves once too so i think its crazy to see how people with similar roots can be at war with each other. You always have to take into account the religious prejudices that plague many religious groups.You can even see this referenced in music today.

Not the best example of music
 (Say Anything-Jesus Died a Jew lyrics)
You say you hate the shade of my face for my father's share crops
My people were slaves before yours invented hip-hop
Apologize but I'm in on the joke
Another brother to scoff at the dancing patterns of white folk

I think it should be understood to many that the safest person to be when it comes to being an American citizen would be a Conservative white republican (not just any white person). A perfect example that illustrates this would be in the film Raising the Heights when one of the African American characters confronted the female Jewish news anchor (who was ashamed to identify herself as a Jew) and  basically told her something along the lines of it being easy to hide your religion but not the color of your skin. You see that this affects the Jewish community as well especially when you have Conservative political pundits on television such as Pat Buchanan (who was recently fired from MSNBC because of this) who is a Nazi sympathizer and still believes that segregation should be in effect. This spewing of hatred can easily be found on television today and you see how much it is consumed daily because statistically Fox News is the most watched news network. It's impossible to erase this bigoted mindset from America when all we have to do is turn on the television.

Wattstax and the evolution of revolutionary music

                                                              Isaac Hayes- Soulsville
                                          (closing performance from the documentary Wattstax)

I took a bit longer to put up the post but its because i spent most of the day trying to find a way to watch all of the documentary Wattstax. This was about a music festival that took place in August 1972 to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the Watts riots. I feel kind of ashamed to have not heard of this festival prior because i think its way more substantial than Woodstock (which i find to be not as revolutionary). This documentary was well edited and included commentary from black residents of Watts, Richard Pryor and other black actors/comedians from the seventies. It starts off with an empowering speech from Jesse Jackson who tells the crowd that its no longer "burn baby burn" but "learn baby learn" which sets the tone for the rest of the documentary.Much of the subject matter discussed in between performances is about interracial relations and the liberation of African Americans. I watched this documentary with my mother,who loved it, and was able to fill me in on the names of the some of musicians. Much of the music was liberating and had a strong message while others were more upbeat (a way to tell the black community to celebrate, have fun and love themselves). The song that stood out the most and was the last one performed was Soulsville by Isaac Hayes.

 
Any kind of job is hard to find
That means an increase in the welfare line
Crime rate is rising too
If you are hungry, what would you do?

Rent is two months past due and the building that's falling apart
Little boy needs a pair of shoes and this is only a part of Soulsville

Some of the brothers' got plenty of cash
Tricks on the corner, gonna see to that
Some like to smoke and some like to blow
Some are even strung out on a fifty dollar Jones

A lot of this performance is mixed with more scenes of  Watts after the damage and even of residents lining up in welfare offices. I thought this was a strong way of ending the documentary because despite the funny and happy moments it reminded you of how serious the riot was and the social issues that caused it. It also reflects the same issues that were shown in the film Raising the Heights which was inspired by the 1991 Crown Heights riots (i intend to write an extra post on that later this weekend). I also think its great to see Hip Hop artists today like the one from the previous post and even more so Immortal Technique who try and spread these messages to enlighten us because these issues aren't getting any better (but unfortunately people are too busy listening to Drake or Lady Gaga).

A new class of poverty

 

Jacob Riis photograph from How the other half live

 

Watts Riot 1965

I didn't get to write last week due to issues with my computer monitor so now I will write twice as much despite the fact that I won't get that credit. Last week in class we started discussing Little Scarlet, a detective novel by Walter Mosley,in which the protagonist Easy Rawlins is assigned to solve the murder of an African American female. The story takes place in the 1960s when the Watts riots occurred. We also were able to watch Heat Wave, a 1990 film that is also inspired by the Watts riots. The first thing I wanted to discuss was an excerpt from Little Scarlet on page 218. This scene is crucial because Easy isn't engaged in conversation with another character but explaining to the reader how manipulative the ghettos of Los Angeles were (much like the idea of Hollywood being a manipulative society in The Day of the Locust). This idea of a hopeful place to live out the American dream is also brought up in the film Heat Wave. Easy brings up this idea of a "new class of poverty" because of how aesthetically deceitful the slums were. He mentions that the African Americans have cars,houses,lawns and electricity: factors that weren't prevalent in poverty 100 years prior. This wasn't the poverty that Irish immigrants faced in five points that was visually blatant in Jacob Riis' photography, this was/is a silent and systemic form of poverty. This was a way for the oppressors to brainwash the indifferent masses who were already becoming dumbed down by the media (another Day of the Locust correlation?)into believing that African Americans were getting along fine. This of course is still happening today on the same scale as it were back in the sixties. This is where I take what I got from the novels and film and bring it to a personal level. I am from Williamsburg,probably the second most expensive city to live in, which is now facing a massive amount of gentrification. I have experienced tons of situations with intolerant people in my own neighborhood as well as hearing about it from friends of mine. As a frequent visitor to my boyfriend's apartment in Williamsburg Houses (projects), I constantly have to face unecessary police cars parked in front of the children's playground that is located at the center of the buildings. This could be solely because of the socially demonized residents of the projects but it is also because of the four to five condominiums in a one block radius(I can't say I've only dealt with xenophobic behavior but It doesn't change my emotion toward the outcome of this change) .Many people and business owners have had to face evictions and local schools have had to be annexed or closed. There has been no help for our community and there is an awkward divide here. Things like this and the Occupy movement (which a friend from the projects was actively involved with) has made me see a great correlation between my neighborhood and Occupy and to what we have been studying in class. Things like this only come around in cycles and I do believe that we have been seeing on screen might come to life.


 I'm going to leave a music video this time named Hiipower by conscious Hip-Hop artist Kendrick Lamar. This video is chock full of footage from the civil rights movement and even has clips of riots and such. To me there is a correlation between the class work and the message/content of the song.

 Pull your guns and play me, let's set it off

Cause a riot, throw a Molotov

Somebody told me them pirates had got lost

cause we been off them slave ships

Got our own pyramids, write our own hieroglyphs

 

 Every day we fight the system

just to make our way, we been down for too long
But that's alright, we was built to be strong
cause it's our life
Every day we fight the system