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New York Orthodox Rabbi Marc Schneier. (Nir Kafri)
Last update - 10:15 05/04/2008
Rabbi: Jews, more than anyone, helped black Americans achieve equality
By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Rabbi Marc Shneier 

American Orthodox Rabbi Marc Shneier on Friday spoke at a ceremony marking 40 years since the assassination of U.S. Civil Rights leader Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr., and championed American Jews' support of African Americans during the Civil Rights struggle, saying no community in the United States did more to support Dr. King and the struggle for equality for African Americans.

Rabbi Shneier, an Orthodox Rabbi at two New York synagogues, was the only Jewish leader who took part in the ceremony in Memphis, held a short distance from the Memphis motel where King was mortally wounded by a sniper's bullet while standing on a balcony.

Shneier said the event was an opportunity to commemorate the "famous historical alliance between African Americans and Jews in the United States."
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Shneier has long championed greater ties between the communities, and wrote the book "Shared Dreams" together with Dr. King's son Martin Luther King III on the subject of the Jewish-Black alliance in the United States.

Last August, Schneier made news when he joined with hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons to produce a short film to combat negative stereotypes of Muslims.

Several months earlier, Schneier and Simmons, the founder of Def Jam records, produced a short film on anti-Semitism which was shown in schools across the United States. The film featured appearances by rap stars such as Jay-Z, and was widely considered a success.

Schneier and Simmons are co-presidents of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, which works to improve relations between Jews and other minorities in the United States.

Since its founding in 1989, the foundation has been particularly successful in improving relations between American Jewish and black communities.

According to Schneier, the fund has since turned its focus to improving relations between American Jews and Hispanics.

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      1.   orthodox 10:03  |  george 05/04/08
      2.   May the spirit of MLK find its way across the Atlantic..... 10:43  |  Swiss (Dino) 05/04/08
      3.   talk about self-centeredness 11:06  |  Sarah 05/04/08
      4.   Sarah, look at the history of the civil rights movement 13:10  |  Jackie 05/04/08
      5.   BLACKS AS HUMAN SHIELDS 13:10  |  Bob 05/04/08
      6.   how about the Jews` role in the slave trade? 13:26  |  historian 05/04/08
      7.   above 13:31  |  m. 05/04/08
      8.   So Sarah, you weren`t alive then? 13:54  |  MaryRose 05/04/08
      9.   Hypocrites. Try treating Palestinian equally first!! 13:59  |  POP 05/04/08
      10.   Too bad Jews can`t treat Palestinians equally. 14:28  |  POP 05/04/08
      11.   HE IS A LIAR 14:34  |  indrajaya 05/04/08
      12.   #9 Poops, give it a rest! Yada Yada Yada does it never end? 15:13  |  petra 05/04/08
      13.   True.. 15:54  |  John. D. 05/04/08
      14.   Past Deeds 15:59  |  Williams 05/04/08
      15.   # 6 historian...the Western African Kings 16:15  |  Lynn 05/04/08
      16.   There were Jews involved in the civil rights movement, but.... 16:18  |  Natallie Durson 05/04/08
      17.   Wolves in sheep`s clothing. 16:29  |  Cool B 05/04/08
      18.   A few questions for Rabbi Schneier 16:57  |  Maki 05/04/08
      19.   # 3 Sarah and # 8 "Historian" 17:03  |  petra 05/04/08
      20.   Jewish Lies 17:32  |  dan 05/04/08
      21.   # 11 True John probably `cuz the blacks are now like Wright! 17:43  |  petra 05/04/08
      22.   Orthodox mountebanks 17:51  |  joe slovo 05/04/08
      23.   more than anyone 18:33  |  Shmuelshachor 05/04/08
      24.   Swiss (Dino) #2 18:36  |  Bruce 05/04/08
      25.   A few answeres to Maki 18:53  |  Bruce 05/04/08
      26.   To joe slovo 18:55  |  Bruce 05/04/08
      27.   Jews Helped Black Americans 19:04  |  Steve Gure 05/04/08
      28.   historian- so called 19:12  |  pema 05/04/08
      29.   petra #13 and #15 19:32  |  george 05/04/08
      30.   How a bout it Historian #6? 20:31  |  bbl 05/04/08
      31.   Right Dan, cause all Jews are the same? 20:39  |  bbl 05/04/08
      32.   George #23 -- Here is an answer to one of you questions 20:45  |  bbl 05/04/08
      33.   It`s a waste of time... 21:12  |  Justice 05/04/08
      34.   Indrajaya 21:26  |  Yosemite 05/04/08
      35.   bbl #32 21:51  |  george 05/04/08
      36.   Yes, then they betrayed us! 21:56  |  Avram 05/04/08
      37.   POP palestinians invented in 1967. 22:05  |  Avram 05/04/08
      38.   before or after the slaughter of 14,000,000 aboriginal people 22:19  |  billy jack 05/04/08
      39.   Fascintation with Jews 22:42  |  Amir 05/04/08
      40.   May Israel treat not see its citizens based on the religious or 22:45  |  MLK 05/04/08
      41.   George 22:46  |  Amir 05/04/08
      42.   From a people obsessed with demographics 22:47  |  MAN ON A TREE 05/04/08
      43.   george @ # 1 `orthodox` 22:56  |  Akiva P 05/04/08
      44.   I thought it was common sense to be honest 22:56  |  Stu 05/04/08
      45.   Avram -- Jews should thank and be thanked by Black Nationalists 23:50  |  bbl 05/04/08
      46.   MLK -- Ithink you`re confusing religion with nationality 23:55  |  bbl 05/04/08
      47.   re 11 Indrajaya misled by her hate 00:02  |  Alan the real one 06/04/08
      48.   Stu 44 00:03  |  ChanahS 06/04/08
      49.   George -- why stick your head in the sand? 00:03  |  bbl 06/04/08
      50.   The further deucation of George 00:05  |  bbl 06/04/08
      51.   Billy Jack -- What could you possibly mean by that 00:08  |  bbl 06/04/08
      52.   Natallie -- hows your math? 00:12  |  bbl 06/04/08
      53.   amir 00:18  |  george 06/04/08
      54.   POP -- seems like you don`t know the difference between... 00:18  |  bbl 06/04/08
      55.   TO ALL JEWISH "FOOLS" 00:22  |  JOJO (USA) 06/04/08
      56.   Maki -- you are confused 00:23  |  bbl 06/04/08
      57.   akiva p 00:32  |  george 06/04/08
      58.   Who was largely responsible... 00:46  |  Maureen Ann 06/04/08
      59.   To joe slovo (back from the dead). 00:49  |  Gilad 06/04/08
      60.   Like half the talkback posts are from obvious antisemites 01:02  |  Steve Randolph 06/04/08
      61.   Why do Haaretz moderators allow talkback to be just anti-Jew hate 01:05  |  Steve Randolph 06/04/08
      62.   Maureen Ann Arabs Enslaved Everyone 01:14  |  Yosemite 06/04/08
      63.   Re:#45 Farrakhan Lied 01:20  |  Yosemite 06/04/08
      64.   Maureen 45 01:27  |  ChanahS 06/04/08
      65.   Rabbi Morris J. Raphall and his "Bible View of Slavery 01:55  |  Mr. Know-it-All 06/04/08
      66.   To MAN ON A TREE 02:00  |  Bruce 06/04/08
      67.   Dr. King sadly 02:00  |  Di 06/04/08
      68.   What should rice learn? 02:10  |  Di 06/04/08
      69.   fair is fair 02:30  |  hollingsworth 06/04/08
      70.   JDid Jews help blacks enough? 02:37  |  Patrick Warner 06/04/08
      71.   remember the fires 02:56  |  bri 06/04/08
      72.   Response to Indrajaya 02:57