Brooklyn, NY – Jewish Leaders Question Councilwoman’s ‘Knockout’ Jew-Black Comment

Brooklyn, NY – Jewish leaders have denounced the comments made by councilwoman Laurie Cumbo regarding the cause for “knockout game” violence.

The Brooklyn councilwoman published a letter on Tuesday stating that various black residents in the Crown Heights community said they feel threatened by the growth of the Jewish community, and that the rising tension between the two groups could be the cause for the outbreaks of violence in the last few months. Not everyone agrees with her statements.

The Anti-Defamation League called the post “troubling,” and said the post suggests anti-Semitic stereotypes.

Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of the Foundation for ¬Ethnic Understanding, said Cumbo’s comments were “groundless and baseless.”

One Jewish leader commended Cumbo for her truthfulness, but rejected her line of thinking.

Yaacov Behrman, Executive Director of the Jewish Future Alliance, commended Cumbo for trying to open the door to better understanding between the communities, but doesn’t agree with her line of thought.

Behrman stated, “We applaud Councilmember-elect Laurie Cumbo for being candid and bringing these perceptions to the attention of community leaders. We also applaud her suggestion that more should be done to bring the youth of Crown Heights together. But the housing crisis and the idea of transcending cultural boundaries among community youth has no place in a discussion of the Knock Out Game. To address this subject in a discussion of the current violence our community is not only inappropriate, it also can be misunderstood as excusing the violence.”

Assemblyman Dov Hikind said the comments were off base and did more harm than good.

“Some of your comments were downright counterproductive,” Hikind said in a letter to Cumbo posted on his blog. He continued to say, “Assemblyman Dov ­Hikind, said the comments were off base and did more harm than good.”

He continued to say, “Expressing, as you have, a sympathy for those who hold the success of the Jewish community in contempt—as a success “not their own”—almost rings as an apology for those who are committing violent crimes as a response to their resentment. Identifying members of the community as “Jewish landlords” is a stereotype with profound negative connotations.”