On April 13th, 1996 the CITE, the Center for International Teacher Education, offered an enjoyable educational trip to New York City. The itinerary included a visit to a branch of the National Smithsonian Museum of the Native American Indian, Liberty Island, and Ellis Island. These three activities introduced us to a lot of history and culture.

The first stop was the museum of the Native American Indian. Here we started off watching a brief film and went on a tour of the museum. The tour guide pointed out some of her favorite exhibits. One of the most interesting exhibits was a dress made of animal’s teeth. The little Indian girls would wear these dresses displaying these teeth, which indicated how good of a hunter the girl’s father was. It was a very prestigious honor for the little Native American girls to wear these dresses. Another interesting display was of the clothing that the men wore, which contained many different patterns and colors. Each pattern represented a word, for example, fire or water. When the different patterns are brought together they tell a story. Also there was a large display of the different types of moccasins the Indians wore on their feet. They were similar to our boots and shoes. In the display one moccasin was flat on the ground, while the other one was slightly elevated. This is because when they dance during their ceremonies one foot must always be kept on the Holy Earth. This museum presented the Native American Indian culture in a very unique and enjoyable way.

The next stop was Liberty Island, home of the Statue of Liberty. Because of the beautiful day there were many visitors. We wanted to venture up the statue but the line was over three hours long, so we walked around the lobby of the statue and marveled over Miss Liberty’s breathtaking appearance. Upon waiting to take the ferry to Ellis Island we observed the culmination of many cultures. We heard over ten different languages and saw people of many races. DING! DING! The captain of the ferry now loaded the passengers for the voyage to Ellis Island.

Once we arrived at Ellis we walked around viewing the artifacts and pictures of the immigrants who passed through Ellis Island. There are different rooms set up so you can also see the dormitories that they lived in. One of the neatest exhibits was the “Wall of Honor,” which is comprised of over 2,000 of the immigrants’ names. This was a wonderful tribute to their brave souls. Soon after we looked at this wall, it was time to board the ferry to head back to the mainland.

Upon reaching the City we loaded the bus and headed to the area around Rockefeller Center. We got an hour or so of free time during which we ate and checked out the scenery. This trip was very enlightening because it exposed us to many sites and cultures found in New York City.

Dear Editor,

The Black Student Theater at the University of Delaware, put on a production for the weekends of April 20th and April 26th of "Fires In The Mirror." The play was originally written in 1991, after Gavin Cato, a seven year old black boy was killed in a car accident. Due to the location and situation of the accident, which was Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and since the driver of the car was a Jewish man, and the boy who died was black, there were many complications. There were riots in the streets, and an innocent man named Yankel Rosenbaum was murdered for the sole reason that he was Jewish. He died at the hands of twenty black men screaming, "Kill the Jew," and "Hitler didn't finish the job." Yankel's death was malicious retaliation for an unfortunate accident that had no malicious intent.

I was extremely upset with biased feelings that were presented in the play. This may seem picky, but the man introducing the play did not even know how to pronounce the word "Lubavich," and to make matters worse he followed it with a comment of disregard such as, "or however you say it." I thought that was a very unprofessional attitude. Some of the characters in the play made the accident seem like a hateful act against blacks. Ironically, a few weeks before the accident Mr. Lipsh, the driver of the car, had risked his own life to rescue several black boys from a fire. The play neglected to include this point.

In fact, the play misconstrued many facts or left them out altogether. One of the characters was a pastor from Saint Mark's Church. He talked about how the Rebbe used to walk everywhere before the accident, but after, he feared for his life and had to be driven in a police escorted car. First of all, the character didn't tell you that the Rebbe Schneerson used to walk years ago, when he was young, and after his wife died he moved into his synagogue and did not walk at all, not to mention the fact that he was getting sick and about to have a heart attack. I ask you, how is the pope escorted? The Rebbe was an international religious figure; he deserved the same protection and respect as any other great religious leader.

Another character, a minister for the Honorable Louis Farrakhan, was making a speech and in it he compared the Holocaust to slavery. I was appalled. These were two very horrific, but separate events. They are not comparable. Worse than the comparison was the applause at the end of the characters monologue. I hope and pray that the people who inappropriately clapped were applauding a great performance and not the topic being discussed.

I appreciate the seriousness of this play, and the risk in putting on a play about such a controversial issue, but there was a lack of political correctness and tact. It was an important play to see and I am sure the people who walked out had a lot to think about. I wonder how their thoughts might change if they knew the whole story.