Anti-Racism Can't Heal Black-Jewish Divide. What Can?

I have always had one foot in -- and one out -- of the worlds of black America and Ashkenazi-Jewish America. I grew up Christian while observing many Jewish customs. I was raised to keep the holy days of the Torah and to shun mainstream Christian traditions such as Christmas and Easter. At the same time, as a black American, I carry a historical memory of slavery and Jim Crow and the freedom struggles that emerged in response. My education included the poetry of the Harlem Renaissance and the inspiration of Martin Luther King Jr., who believed in waging spiritual warfare against racism and hatred. Like Am Yisrael, Dr. King believed in building "The Beloved Community," a society based on justice, equality, and love of one's fellow human being.