"I don't understand," said the old man at the next table in the restaurant, "why they persist in building . . . where no one wants them to build? Why stir up all that trouble?"
Well, here is why:
A week before my bar mitzvah, the City of Ogdensburg tore up the street in front of the synagogue. "Don't make waves," counseled the older (ex-European) members of the congregation. "Don't complain, keep your head down." My father snorted, "Ghetto mentality!" and called in a couple of favors.
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