06/07/2020
Michael J. Nelinson

I am saddened by our populous’ inability to embrace historical perspective in their understanding of culture and history. I have been a resident of the Philadelphia area since 1982, when I came here from Bergen County NJ to attend college. Since my departure of NJ, I have been acculturated as a Philadelphian, living and dying with the Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, embracing cheesesteaks, pretzels with mustard and our beloved Wawa’s. As a social scientist, I have observed the political arena in the city and state and have spent time with both Arlen Spector and Ed Rendell. My interest in sociology was driven by my experiences at Temple University located in the heart of a marginalized community in North Philadelphia. To be honest, Black faces were not new to me as I grew up in the town that I refer to as the “cradle of integration,”, Hackensack, NJ, where I was part of a diverse population with large black and Latino communities. I grew up feeling that we were all the same, we may not have shared the same skin color or culture, but we laughed and cried together. Upon entering North Philadelphia, I got a revised education regarding race. My peers thought I was crazy running down Diamond Street as a late-night workout or coming home alone at 3:00 AM and getting off at the Diamond St. subway stop rather than the stop that was dedicated to the University. My schema regarding race, has always been “different,”I do not see color or race, I see people. Add to this that I am Jewish, a Holocaust expert, who has spent much of his adult life battling anti-Semitism on its many fronts, I feel a unique closeness to the emotional experience of hate and have examined its history and psychology to gain a personal understanding of something that feels antithetical.

The catalyst for this discussion lies in the actions of the City of Philadelphia, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the BLM protests and riots. Specifically, the removal and destruction of icons portraying Mayor Frank Rizzo, a notably imperfect leader, as are most, who is part of the fabric of Philadelphia in the turbulent times following the Civil Rights movement.

. Iconography, or the use of symbols to portray ideas is an intrinsic part of human history. To Christian’s, the cross inspires a powerful psychological response that ties them to the depths of their beliefs, for Jews a Star of David. Some of our icons are historical in nature and need to be understood in their historical context as a part of human development. Consider The Pyramids, Stonehenge, The Roman Coliseum, The Sistine Chapel, The Temple Mount: all of which have some meaning to history or to a particular culture, for art and architecture preserves our human history: and it must be viewed objectively in its appropriate context. Consider a few of the icons I just mentioned, The Romans threw Christians to the lions in the Coliseum, The Pyramids were built by African and Jewish slaves and the Temple Mount is one of the most polarizing locations in the world where Jews and Muslims will forever battle over its ownership. So why is it that Christians have not protested in Rome for the destruction of the Coliseum, or Jews and Ethiopians for the leveling in The Pyramids? Simply, they are part of history and they need to be preserved to maintain our connection to our past, in an honest fashion, reminding us of the imperfection of mankind and the policies and actions that shape our world. Notably, in cultures that are intolerant of other’s beliefs, historical icons are destroyed nearly daily to blot out the history and beliefs of a people who did not share their beliefs. In Afghanistan, where the silk road brought travelers and sojourners from all over the world, Hellenistic, Indian and any other non-Islamic icons have been destroyed by the Taliban, wiping out part of their own history intrinsic to their unique culture. Nazis burned synagogues, Crusaders destroyed Islamic and Jewish icons and the former Soviet Union destroyed the religious history of a large European and Asian population.

Going back to Philly, Frank Rizzo was the Police Commissioner during one of the most racially trying times in this country as the Civil Rights Movement altered the dynamic across society in terms of social norms regarding relationships between Blacks and Whites. During the entirety of history, governments chose policies with the best of their ability and only after the policy has been tested, do we discover whether the policy worked.  Regardless, we can’t go backwards, nor can we revise history to make it appeal to the people who wish to revise history.  The history of mankind is peppered with bad decisions that have injured part or all of the population.  Think about Native Americans who were wiped out in this nation’s pursuit of manifest destiny, rather than changing the history, we need to embrace the history and learn from its lessons. 

Frank Rizzo has been dead since 1991, his policies are part of the history of Philadelphia, just like “Philly Philly”, the 2008 Phillies, Wilson Goode’s bombing of the Move compound, Live Aid, The Constitutional Congress, The Liberty Bell and Billy Penn.  We need to embrace our history and learn from its lessons.  As a Jew I have to deal with the Holocaust and its horrors, while getting genealogy updates to my family tree of family members who were burned at Auschwitz.  I would never propose that we sterilize our history so I do not need to deal with its realities for it keeps me conscious of the human condition and how my connection to history mandates that we assure that “Never Again” is elevated to a conscious reality not just a benign slogan.

 I would be remiss if I did not offer a few words in solidarity with Blacks and any other part of humanity who believes that they are being mistreated.  I do truly feel your pain, racial bias is a sad reality that has extraordinarily complex roots in our great nation.  I will state that it is not just about slavery and social stratification, there are complex psychologies that are intrinsic to the human being that make this a much more difficult phenomena to discuss and overcome. I will nonetheless remain hopeful that we will find our way there, even though must of human history will not support this outcome.  Beware of the politicians who hijack our emotions for their own benefit, few are sincere allies as they act solely in their own self-interest. Our country is a uniquely heterogenous experiment that requires a great deal of nurturing if we are ever see an ideal relationship with such diverse sub-cultures.  The abuses of power that we see in our black communities by authority figures have been explained scientifically by the field of psychology as much as 55 years ago, but the government choses not to deal with science and instead uses the forces of emotion to gain a distinct advantage for their party and its interests.(Milgram on Power, Zimbardo The Stanford Prison Experiment)   The news media is an agent of the governmental and corporate structures that lead us down the wrong path, away from science and history and towards their interest in maintaining power.  

People Power!

Michael J. Nelinson