Sunday, August 19, 2007

How Moses was a Satmar

Gavin Cato (circa 1984August 19, 1991) was an American child of Guyanese descent who was killed by a car driven by a Jewish driver, sparking the Crown Heights Riot. [1]
Seven year-old Cato and his cousin Angela were both struck, but she survived her injuries. Underlying racial tensions in the area and perceived inequality in the way the Jewish driver and Black pedestrians were treated at the scene led to three days of rioting. The driver fled to Israel before being charged, and the rioting led to the death of 29 year old Yankel Rosenbaum hours later.

Time has passed and wounds have healed. Cato's father met with the Rosenbaum family and lamented their losses together. On the anniversary of Gavin Cato's passing, YFP offers a video of a Satmar father trying to convince his son to wear a flat hat, Satmar style. Fathers are universal....be they Guyanese or Jewish.

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