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Published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, South Jersey
Commentary, on June 13, 2001. Let's honor changes in area population Having lived nearly four-score years in the Philadelphia area, and never more than 20 miles from where my family stepped ashore in 1912 from the SS Dominion, I have witnessed many sociological changes on both sides of the Delaware River. Perhaps nowhere are these changes more evident than where I live now, Cooper Plaza Apartments in Pennsauken. It's the same transformation that is happening all over America, a metamorphosis of the nation's ethnic, racial and religious makeup. Not too long before I moved from Voorhees to Pennsauken about 15 years ago, most tenants at Cooper Plaza Apartments were white. Slowly, the area's demographics began to change, from west to east, as whites moved away from Camden and Pennsauken.These changes in both ethnic and religious populations led the South Jersey Jewish Federation to abandon its community center next to Bishop Eustace Preparatory School in Pennsauken and relocate to East Cherry Hill at Springdale and Kresson Roads. As the migration east continued and older apartment buildings and houses emptied, new residents filtered in - African Americans, Asians and Latinos. Although some former residents of my apartment building may have left in response to this influx of new ethnic groups, nobody panicked. In fact, other white tenants frequently moved in to replace those who left, including recent retirees and people who worked at Rutgers University-Camden or across the river in Philadelphia. Today, Cooper Plaza Apartments houses a mixture of white residents, a substantial number of African Americans, and people of Asian and Latino heritage. This has all taken place quietly. There has been no racial or ethnic violence, no cross burnings, no slurs painted on doors. The residents are polite, friendly and intermingle in a manner that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. aspired to in his "I Have a Dream" speech. I thought about this and our country's changing demographics while sitting by the Cooper River in my favorite spot, a secluded 50-foot stretch of riverbank, bordered by trees on two sides. On this day, a father and his daughter came down to do some fishing. They were African American. He was a slim, wiry-looking man with a mustache, and he wore eyeglasses. His daughter appeared to be about 12 years old and also wore glasses. She had her school books with her. After a brief hello to me, they set up their fishing tackle, and she settled down on a log to do her homework. I couldn't help but notice how quickly she became engrossed in her books, looking up only in response to any suspicious tug on her fishing line. Meanwhile, across the river, boats from the Cooper River Yacht Club were raising their sails. With a father fishing, his daughter studying, the sailboats tacking back and forth in the background, and me sitting in my folding chair, it was a scene worthy of a Norman Rockwell painting. After about 30 minutes without a catch, though, the father had had enough. I couldn't let them leave without commenting on his daughter. "She really concentrates on her books. It's nice to see a youngster go at her homework like she does. What grade is she in, sixth or seventh?" "Everybody makes the same mistake," he said. "She's graduating from Woodrow Wilson High School and going to college. Every place she applied to wants her. She's going to be a doctor." He spoke casually, but there was no hiding the pride in his voice. The young woman is obviously one of those lucky people who will always look younger than they are. She looked at me and smiled as she left. "I'm going to Temple," she said shyly. I wished her luck and watched them walk away. What a wonderful father-daughter relationship, I thought. I could feel the warmth, affection and respect they felt for each other. Later, two little girls who appeared to be Latino tried their luck with the fish. Behind me, two women were chattering away in Spanish. This is how it should be, I thought. Different people of varied backgrounds peacefully sharing what America has to offer. Our founding fathers would be gratified. Sidney B. Kurtz writes from Pennsauken. © Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. Sidney B. Kurtz is the author of a family memoir, The Jewish Rectangle: An American Adventure. He lives in Pennsauken. |