Both Slyomovic’s article and Race and Religion Among the Chosen Peoples of Crown Heights illustrate how public places play a large role in aiding people in expressing themselves, their religion, and their cultures. Starting with Slyomovic’s article, participants in the the Muslim World Day Parade proudly march down the New York City streets, the floats representing the three holiest mosques of Islam. It is interesting to note how on the outside, the streets may seem different from each other, but the mosques, on the inside, all embody the same teachings. The idea of public spaces being used to express one’s self can also be seen metaphorically. Many Guyanese Muslims have been seen singing a song relating to Islam, a song that uses the melody and some of the lyrics from a popular American song; in this case, the song is sung in a public place, and the song itself is derived from a song heard on New York streets, or heard in a public place.
Race and Religion also emphasizes the use of the public spaces to express one’s self, but also emphasizes the common separation of public spaces from private spaces. The Lubavitch Hasidic community is concentrated in an area of Crown Heights, but interaction of some sort between the Lubavitch and the Black community cannot be avoided. Both communities use the public space to celebrate holidays, be they cultural or religious, and to communicate and go about daily activities, such as shopping. The streets clearly reflect their values and teachings of both communities, some streets defining more of one community than the other..
Though the public space does, technically, belong to everyone, problems though not as often as one might think, can arise when the two communities collide, as seen in the aftermath of Gavin Cato’s death. Though interaction is inevitable, people are quick to distinguish boundaries, recalling Charles Price’s cry of “going up to the Jew Neighborhood”. Try as they might, a public space cannot truly belong to any one group, as seen in the fact that many Blacks and Jews do live right next to each other. The question is whether people ought to try to create spaces for themselves or not. As Jonathan said, people benefit by having places to congregate, as they can more easily follow their beliefs by interacting with and confiding in others who share the same values. However, how far should these centers of congregation stretch? Should a center be limited to a building used for worship and discussion, or be extended so that the community is tight-knit, with everyone sharing the same values and keeping to themselves (peoples similar to them). Earlier in the book, it was said that in 1969, the rebbe forbid Jews from sellsing or renting property to non-Jews “if there is a chance that this non-Jewish presence will damage the lifestyle or livelihood of a Jewish community.” In the end, people did end up living side-by-side with people of different faith.
As Goldschmidt concluded, the solution is not necessarily to have everyone interact and mix- doing so may just lead to more tension. Will mutual respect and understanding of the other keep the peace?
