There was no outrage over that. In the comfortable suburbs, bias crimes remain a fact of life. Ann Schaffer, head of the Westchester chapter of the American Jewish Committee, says they still get hate letters. It usually comes from a few people but is a reminder of ugly memories of the Holocaust. We know that it is under the surface.
Hate crimes can be more vicious because they target an entire community.
It creates fear, it creates dissention in the entire community. Glen Hockley, president of the Mid-Westchester chapter of B'nai B'rith, has even stronger words about hate crimes. This is not a political issue. For Jews, there are stark memories attached to the swastikas that deface synagogues and public buildings. There are images of lost parents and family members who perished in death camps.