[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 89 (Monday, June 15, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1423]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ON INTRODUCING A RESOLUTION REGARDING BLACK-JEWISH RELATIONS AND THE 
        SHOOTING AT THE UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 15, 2009

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce a 
resolution expressing the sense of Congress regarding Black-Jewish 
relations and the June 10, 2009 shooting at the United States Holocaust 
Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Special Police Officer Stephen 
Tyrone Johns, an African American, was shot dead by a white supremacist 
while defending an institution devoted to Jewish history and to the 
eradication of all forms of hatred and violence.
  Madam Speaker, last week's tragic act of violence reminds us yet 
again that black Americans and Jewish Americans share a great deal in 
common. Our two communities have a long history of fighting injustice 
and hate, whether in the form of racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia, or 
any other form of senseless hatred. We have so often stood together, 
united in our desire to create a world free from the kind of violence 
that plagued this nation last week. When Jewish Americans helped found 
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1909 
and the Urban League in 1910, they did so out of a conviction that by 
mitigating the evils of racial intolerance all people would benefit 
from an America free of discrimination and committed to equal justice 
and equal opportunity for all. Indeed, W.E.B. Dubois told the Jewish 
Daily Forward in 1928 that ``the Negro race looks to Jews for sympathy 
and understanding,'' referencing the sense amongst both communities 
that in their respective histories they had endured similar challenges.
  A few decades later African Americans would denounce the Nazis' 
racial policies and fight against Hitler, while those of African 
descent were marginalized in Germany and, in a little-known twist of 
history, many African Americans found themselves prisoners in 
concentration camps. Jewish Americans have always been deeply grateful 
to the members of the Armed Forces who liberated the concentration 
camps, including African American soldiers who took part not only in 
freeing the camps but seeing to the health and well being of Jewish 
refugees afterward.
  Here in the United States, during the 1950s and 1960s, black 
Americans and Jewish Americans often stood side by side in the fight 
for civil rights and equal justice. Sometimes they even died for their 
efforts, as was the case with the infamous 1964 murders of civil rights 
workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner in 
Mississippi. Over 50% of civil rights attorneys in the South during 
those years were Jewish, and the two communities and their various 
advocacy organizations were often united against the inflamed hatreds 
and acts of violence of that era.
  Madam Speaker, last week's shooting exemplified the extent to which 
our two communities can be united on issues that profoundly and 
tragically affect us both. There is no doubt that the act of violence 
at the Holocaust Museum was directed against the very notions of 
equality, acceptance, and mutual respect that our communities 
constantly strive for. We both share a common historical narrative 
around discrimination, persecution, injustice, and hatred. But a 
significant part of that narrative also includes our efforts to 
overcome those hardships and together rise above the petty hatreds and 
tragic acts of violence that plague our communities.
  I hope that last week's shooting at the Holocaust Museum will not be 
dismissed as the random ravings of a crazed lunatic. But let us also 
not forget that there have been many more acts of violence here in this 
country since last week, and it is incumbent upon both of our 
communities--indeed, our entire society--to boldly confront not only 
the white supremacists but also the gang violence, and not only the 
anti-Jewish screeds but also the horrific racial diatribes littering 
the social conscience. We must not only improve security at the 
Holocaust Museum and other Jewish institutions but also put more police 
on the streets in our urban neighborhoods; not only redouble our 
efforts on education, training, and outreach but also take concrete 
measures to expand opportunities like college, jobs, and health care to 
all Americans. Let us once again have African Americans and Jewish 
Americans stand together for justice and equality.
  I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

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