THE VIRUS IN ALL OF US Part Three: My father was a “beat cop”, he would walk the streets of the Homewood neighborhood with his “beat partner” mostly the 7am to 11pm shift. Homewood in the days of the mid 1950’s was a black neighborhood in Pittsburgh. My dad and his “beat partner” were white but in the mid 1950’s about 95% of the Pittsburgh Police Department was white, so this was really no big deal. My dad had grown up in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh in the early 1900’s and he was perhaps the 1% of the Jewish population of that section of town. He was subjected to ethnic name calling but being a big kid, and one who was very experienced in boxing ably took care of the bully’s who wanted to berate him because he was Jewish.So my father took with him, along with his billy club, holstered gun, and badge a sense of understanding how people often times prefer to see the differences in others rather what they might share commonly. He knew first hand after being called words like “kike”, “sheeny”, or “Jew boy” that the VIRUS IS IN ALL OF US, but maybe its potential to hurt could be at least modified. As he performed his policeman tasks patrolling the streets, stopping in the stores on the business avenues, and taking time to talk with the residents my dad knew that if he allowed differences to MAKE A DIFFERENCE, most likely he would not be very good at his job. Many neighborhood residents liked my dad, and my father knew a great percentage of the citizens of Homewood by name.However we don’t live in a perfect world crime happens, and some people would try to incite or create violence and as a policeman my father had to act accordingly. Mostly my dad would remain quiet about his “beat” but sometimes events of the Homewood neighborhood found their way to the local news stations or even in the Pittsburgh Press. Often times the stories were told as black versus white, good versus bad. When we asked about any occurrence my fathers response was, “Somehow people feel safer if they can place the blame of their fears on others.” I didn’t realize it then but my dad was well aware of the fact that THE VIRUS IS IN ALL OF US.
We never traveled on vacation much, I suppose a policeman’s salary back in the 1950’s did not provide a family of four kids and two parents the opportunity to go anywhere but the local swimming pools. My dad had become a delegate for the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and a few times when his fare was paid for by the FOP my family got to go along. It was Norfolk Virginia, our first opportunity to travel, my little sister Francie and I were there and the day included a visit to the Shipyards followed by a picnic. We were the only Jewish kids in attendance and for some families it was as if we were in an exhibition at the zoo. My sister and I were paper thin active as the wind and were fast runners. My dad signed us up for a few races and of course we won our separate divisions. The response from a few of the families was a bit of shock as they said loud enough for us to hear it, “Jews can run?”, guess they got it from the time they killed Jesus. Having grown up in a predominately Jewish neighborhood in Pittsburgh this was the first time I had ever been on the receiving end of anything anti-Jewish. My father came over to us and said, some people need to sound stupid because they know they are not smart. You both won and they didn’t, so all they can offer is hate. Once again my father knew that THE VIRUS IS IN ALL OF US, but hoped it hadn’t infected his two kids, yet
Mayhem has smothered our globe, yet again. A few people in power have been able to manipulate segments of a population filling the willing and the needy with poison, bile, and lack of conscience. As we have seen time and time again the very innocent, the people with NO power nor prestige have become non-persons only wanting to take refuge from the madness. Yet THEY have suddenly been the benefactors of mistrust, loathing fear and hate by people who believe difference is bad, enemies lie in wait, and you are not like me. THE VIRUS IS IN ALL OF US, and has now crept into the bodies and souls of this great nation of ours. Forgetting their ancestors who desperately sought refuge from tyranny and tyrants, THE VIRUS IN ALL OF US has taken memories and turned them into a form of dementia, denial and perhaps death. IS THE VIRUS IN ALL OF US?:(Part four to follow)
