The Crown Heights Riot

The Crown Heights Riot

As a well-known rabbi was being escorted across town in a motorcade, one of the cars in the motorcade accidentally stuck and killed a Guyanese immigrant minor and his cousin. A Jewish volunteer ambulance arrived first and took the driver to a Jewish hospital and shortly thereafter another ambulance arrived to capture the children to a hospital. One of the children died shortly after getting to the hospital. The black community was unsettled that the driver of the vehicle was taken from the scene before the children and stated it was racially motivated. After the accident, violence erupted. An Australian Orthodox Jew, who was walking in the Crown Heights neighborhood, was attacked and killed by a collection of black men. This ultimately started riots and violence revolving encircling the racial and cultural tensions between the Hasidic Jewish community and the African and Caribbe an American communities. Today race relations have improved in the crown heights area. Much more support for diversity and racial reconciliation has been achieved over the years. The Jewish community in Crown Heights has grown since the riots, although the population is majority African and Caribbean American. More information: more info