How Can Jersey's Urban Citizens Organize if They Have No Place to Meet?

As the online articles of summertime shootings in New Jersey's neglected, jobless and isolated inner cities begin to ramp up, so do the ignorant, hostile comments that adjoin them. To many Internet readers, these forums are either wholly ignored or regarded as more or less useless - being the sum total of random ranters with too much time on their hands. But even from a non-scientific point of view, they do matter, because in some form, they represent documented, and occasionally comprehensive reactions and discussions from concerned Garden State citizens of all kinds.

One kind of comment, however, seems to be more common than all the others. For within the collections of comments that state things like "a tragedy for a girl who had her whole life ahead of her," and "minorities continue to ruin places where we used to leave the doors unlocked," there is one that is worth genuine analysis. It varies, but usually states something like "This violence will continue until the people of Newark/Camden/Trenton/Paterson etc. no longer tolerate it."

It's an interesting assumption, because not only have I come across it often on sites like NJ.com and NorthJersey.com but I've heard it countless times in other places. Apparently, according to a sizable minority of those willing to publish their opinions on the issue, crime in New Jersey's cities is a result of a lack of civic awareness, pride, activity or organization on the part of our urban dwellers - or all of those things combined.  

It's interesting. Though most posters do not identify where they're writing from, I think it's safe to assume that many, if not all of them, do not live in these depressing cities, rife with crime and poverty. These posters have little idea of the places they're talking about. That's too bad, because you no longer have to physically go to Trenton, Newark, Camden or anywhere in New Jersey to get a feel for its topography. You can simply visit Google Maps and take a virtual walk around the streets, and witness the extent of the devastation firsthand. And if one has even more time on their hands, I believe they can even use Google Maps to view a series of photos of the same places over time, to see how a specific neighborhood, lot, etc. has changed.

The problems of New Jersey's urban centers are complex, of course, and go backdecades. But as a former Newark Central Ward teacher and resident, I have to be honest here: if you're going to accuse Newark or Camden's people of a lack of civic spirit or capability to organize, you need to look at the physical geography of such places. In short, what kinds of conditions and structures are present that could enable people to organize and, say, challenge poverty, crime and corruption in such cities?

It's a good question, because it matters. America's Revolutionaries had their taverns, where they passionately debated and organized against British rule. Abolitionists and later Civil Rights leaders had their Churches, which functioned as vital incubators of organization and leadership. Newark's former Jewish community had huge, active community centers, especially along what was once High Street (Now MLK Blvd.)  

All of these institutions - and that's what they were - required time, energy, funding and organization - and space. And now, for the most part, they're gone. Swept away in a tide of history and drowned out by poverty. Aside from their homes and places of employment, most of our state's urban residents lack a "Third Place," where they can simply socialize, which in a free society is the first step in tackling any problem as a community.

Think about it another way. Say you're a Newark Central Ward resident, and you want to start some sort of council or club or action group. Where would you meet? Really, where?

Want to discuss the issues? 

Don't bother arranging a meeting at 

Newark's Starbucks; it closed in 2009.

In the 1920's and 30's, many of Newark's great community gatherings took place in its schools. But under the regime of State Superintendent Cami Anderson, whose contempt for all forms of democracy and civic expression is well known, today this is almost an impossibility. In fact, some parent organizers have even been arrested for posting material on school grounds. It's a tragedy, because much of the city's finest physical structures are completely off limits, or nearly impossible to attain, for meeting, debating and organizing.

Okay, so what about other publicly oriented businesses like cafes and coffeehouses? Well you can forget about these too. The last coffeehouse in the Central Ward - a Starbucks - closed in 2009. The event was regarded as so devastating that it was even covered by the New York Times.

And what about the Churches? Yes, there are still some churches active in our inner cities, but aside from Sunday services, they offer few other services for even their own parishioners. And from a practical perspective, from my years and years of walking around Newark and Paterson, I'd say that most Church buildings are locked and sealed shut during the week.

So how are the people of our urban areas supposed to organize if they cannot even find a place to congregate?

I hope there are some meaningful replies to this blog...am I completely wrong here? Am I on to something?  

As If We Have Enough Problems Already: White Supremacists Are Again On The Rise

It’s been a pretty active week for white supremacists both in the United States as well as in Hitler’s homeland, Austria. And though it may not seem believable to most civilized people, white supremacy has been experiencing somewhat of a very real reemergence, both on illegal and legal fronts.

On the illegal front, we’ve seen horrendous violence take place in Las Vegas, where three people – two police officers and a bystander – were shot and killed in cold blood by a white supremacist couple – who then in some kind of twisted act of Aryan martyrdom turned the guns on themselves. Before that, to apparently clear up any confusion as to their ideals, they placed a swastika on one of their murdered victims.

As investigators now sift through the computers, possessions and communications of the deceased couple, the degree of this crime – in that whether or not it is part of a wider, working, conspiracy, is yet to be determined. But I do believe that I am not being inaccurate at all when I state that there are probably many more well-armed, furious white supremacists out there, all playing out some stage of their fantasy of racial purity, white rebellion and Aryan destruction.

Meanwhile, white supremacists/Neo-Nazis are growing bolder in Europe, where

Strauche, Leader of Austria's Right Wing "Freedom Party." 

they’ve experienced a great deal of mainstream political success by winning elections to local, regional, national and even international bodies. This is especially true in Austria – which was completely part of the Nazi war machine in the 1940’s. There, the so-called “Freedom Party” has captured nearly 20 percent of the votes of the last national election (and larger percentages in others). And it’s only grown bolder in its proclamations and positions. For example, its party leader, Heinz-Christian Strauche has now declared that he’ll run for the mayoralty of Vienna. And just this past Sunday he had this to say on the prospect of an upcoming visit from Turkey’s president:

"We don't need Erdoğan in Vienna. I'll tell him right now: 'Erdoğan, stay at home'."

Strauche later accused Erdoğan of seeking to establish a "parallel society" in Austria. Interesting words, because they could have come directly from the mouth of the late anti-Semitic Vienna mayor, Karl Lueger.

These culprits, though on different sides of the globe, are literally on the wrong side of history. In fact, they worship a history that never happened, at least from the prospective that they understand it. Such individuals are convinced that in former days, when a more “pure” and homogeneous population existed, society was stronger and more vital. But what they fail to understand that the foundations of Revolutionary America – and the greatness that was turn-of-the-century Vienna, were founded in diversity. Allow me to explain further.

The two Las Vegas white supremacists also used a “Don’t Tread On Me” Flag to make their point, apparently harkening back to the rebellious spirit of the American Revolutionaries. But those Revolutionaries were a mixed bag of people - and in fact – all of colonial America was. It wasn’t just English – there were Dutch, Jews, Africans, Swedes, Germans, Native Americans and others. And those English – they hardly regarded themselves as so; rather they were carved up into numerous, rival religious and political sects that as late as the early 1800’s were furiously persecuting and competing with each other. If you’re in search of some kind of racial or ideological purity, Colonial and Early America is no place you’ll find it.

And what about those Austrians who are trying to convince their own people that Austria’s greatest days and glories were the product of some pure Germanic population? If you think that, you’d be wrong again. Any historian will tell you that Vienna’s vitality of the late 19^th and early 20^th century was a result of a massive cultural intersection of Germans, Jews and Slavs. Austria was once part of a heterogeneous empire of dozens of nationalities. It was at the city’s open and diverse coffeehouses and salons (many sponsored by Jewish women) that the greatness of the age was forged. It was where Jews like Freud, Herzl, Trotsky and Mahler produced and defended great ideas and made great art. It was in Vienna of the early 20^th century that gave birth to so many forms of modern expression, which were, by in large, produced by all the ethnicities and religious groups in the city.

These white supremacist are ignorant hypocrites. Like their failed Austrian master before them, they’re preaching not just hate, but lies – their history is a complete falsehood – a factually indefensible distortion. If they’re so bent on selling their views, they should be reminded of how things ended when they were last in charge. I believe it was with the sound of a single, suicidal gunshot in a bunker in ruined Berlin, capital of an obliterated nation.