Lesson from Early Childhood Development; You're Black, You Must Be Rich

Anyone who grew up within 50 miles of NYC would be able to call it, the man's got New York Jew all over him. You know the look. Non Anglo Saxon, non-Northern European looking, white guy, with Jewfro. That's me. Back when I was growing up there were not a lot of us on TV, no Chanukah songs being sung at Christmas, and rumor had it that the Jews controlled the world money supply. The money supply? That was Jack and the Bean Stalk fantasy, my family were shtetle Jews by definition not rolling in the dough and no Jewish people we knew were.

We did however know a lot of rich black folks though. While we lived cramped up in small Garden Apartments, they lived nearby in big beautiful private homes. (Some of them were so rich they even had second homes in places we never heard of like Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard. That really messed with our young mind because we couldn't grasp the concept of anyone having a second home when we didn't even have a first one yet.)

Us kids all went to the same elementary school and as happens, over the years, we all did things together and we became a sort of one large family. This was in the days when ethnics and people of color were out of the main stream and we discovered a lot of empathy between us Blacks and Jews, I think it was because like us, they knew that they didn't quite fit the stereotype. I mean people said Jews were supposed to have money and be good academically but a lot of us were just getting by financially and others were just not bright the brightest bulbs in the box. Meanwhile badass ghetto types and super athletes were getting big media play and our black buddies had never even been arrested for a crime, never knew anyone who had, and were spending so much time studying that being Superfly or playing pro- basketball was not even a blip on the radar.

One good thing about being an oddity, non-wealthy Jewish kids with a lot of rich black friends, was we often got sympathy invites to their large welcoming homes for backyard BBQ's and playing with the dog because outdoor grilling in the Garden Apartments was a no-no -- and we were not allowed pets in the apartments. These outings were always a great joy and believe me when I tell you I was very grateful for them.

These early childhood cross-cultural experiences were so much a part of me and my friends that I never even gave it a second thought until recently when my wife pointed out "poor Jews, rich blacks" sounds counter intuitive. Of course she is correct. When we travel I still catch a "You're a New York Jew, you must be rich" some half conscious moron and that is not how identify myself as being. If it was all about my childhood identity with race what I would be hearing is "Hey, he's black. He must be rich".
Copyright © 2009 Marc Blatte author of Humpty Dumpty Was Pushed: A Novel

Author Bio
Marc Blatte, author of Humpty Dumpty Was Pushed: A Novel, a native and longtime resident of New York City, grew up in the Bronx, played baseball in the Roy Campanella Little League and was a protege of the bestselling author Ed McBain.

After a brief stint west of the Hudson at Kenyon College, Marc returned to the city that never sleeps to become a wunderkind of the songwriting industry, dubbed by legendary record producer Clive Davis as one of the "fortunate ones." He has composed material for major stars, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for best R&B Song.

He has shaken Joe Frazier's hand at Small's Paradise, danced with Sherry Lansing, fixed Debbie Harry's sink, met Henry Kissinger, and had an unexpected visit from the Wu Tang Clan. He has worked as a golf caddy, Rotor Rooter man, tenement superintendent, keyboard player in a lounge band, was a hip-hop white boy pioneer record producer . . . and lived to tell.

The father of three daughters, Marc and his wife Jeanne divide their time between New York and Nicaragua. He is currently at work on his next mystery featuring Black Sallie Blue Eyes.

Please visit http://writtenvoices.com/titlepage.asp?ISBN=0980139414 for more information.