In the 1930s, the Brownsville section of Brooklyn was a crowded, racially mixed, but oddly harmonious community; the kind of place where the notorious "Murder Incorporated" could prosper, yet a young woman would also still feel safe walking home from work at night. Dubbed America's "first ghetto," the area was dominated by black and white (mostly Jewish) teen gangs, who were united in an uneasy marriage based on the fact that both minorities were subject to discrimination from the larger general white population. Today, few whites live in Brownsville, and the melting pot where "everybody was poor" has been replaced by a neighborhood that is mostly segregated and limited to people of color. What happened? Richard Broadman's Brownsville: Black and White recounts the sad tale of misguided government projects which leveled vibrant neighborhoods and forced minorities into crowded, crime-ridden, high rise government housing. After WWII, Jews and other whites, seeking their share of the American Dream, moved up and out of Brownsville, leaving the area to cope with decay and a declining economic base. By 1968, the desire for community control of Brownville's schools led to bitter clashes with the teacher's union and charges of racism and anti-Semitism, as blacks and Jews--once allies in the cause of civil rights--became enemies. Presenting the views of black and white Brownsville residents, this program offers a timely, provocative look at a historical situation that could easily serve as a metaphor for the fractured state of today's race relations. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (S. Rees)
Brownsville: Black and White
(2002) 83 min. $295. UC Extension Media (tel: 510-642-0460, web: www-cmil.unex.berkeley.edu/media). PPR. Color cover. June 16, 2003
Brownsville: Black and White
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