From WNYC New York:
Reverend Al Sharpton has decided not to speak on a panel to mark the 20th anniversary of the violent Crown Heights riots after critics — including the family of a Jewish man who died during the clash — fumed over his participation in the event this weekend.
Sharpton was scheduled to join City Councilwoman Letitia James, Rabbi Robert Kaplan and Rabbi Marc Schneier on a panel titled “The State of Black-Jewish Relations: Twenty Years After Crown Heights” at The Hampton Synagogue on Sunday.
In a letter to panel organizer Rabbi Schneier on Thursday, Sharpton said local detractors “want to engage in the business of division and distortion” rather than have a dialogue, and out of respect to Norman Rosenbaum and due to this distortion, he decided to opt out of the discussion.
The riots between blacks and Jews were sparked when a 7-year-old boy was killed by a car driven in a motorcade for a Hasidic leader in August 1991. Yankel Rosenbuam was a 29-year old Australian student who was stabbed to death during the melee that followed.
Sharpton’s role in the riots has been controversial.
Read the rest at WNYC New York