Date: Time Period: 1960s; 1995; 2000s; 2013-03-28; Interview recorded: March 28, 2013Material: Digital audio recording made using Zoom H2 digital recorder and Adobe SoundBooth.Dimension:
Total running time: 0:05:23
Description: Gerard Tate has seen many changes in the religions and ethnicities of local Queens residents, specifically in his hometown of Ridgewood. He mentions that only recently have Muslim and Hindu holidays been officially recognized in the context of public services, which is a change from his childhood. Growing up, he was only aware of three religions in New York: Catholicism, Protestantism, and Judaism. He remembers Ridgewood in the 1960s being entirely German, but says it was gradually more integrated with Italians and Hispanics, followed by Eastern Europeans and African Americans. Although Gerard now regards Queens as the most ethnically diverse neighborhood in the world, in 1995, he was stunned when he overheard some people in his neighborhood speaking a language he recognized from a trip he'd taken to Africa. During a walk in Flushing Meadow Park, he even saw two Ghanaian women sitting on a log selling things as they would at a marketplace in Accra and noted the irony that he could have just taken a Q58 bus to Flushing instead of traveling 10,000 miles to experience Ghanaian culture.
Date : Time Period: 1960s; 1995; 2000s; 2013-03-28; Interview recorded: March 28, 2013
Summary/Description : Gerard Tate has seen many changes in the religions and ethnicities of local Queens residents, specifically in his hometown of Ridgewood. He mentions that only recently have Muslim and Hindu holidays been officially recognized in the context of public services, which is a change from his childhood. Growing up, he was only aware of three religions in New York: Catholicism, Protestantism, and Judaism. He remembers Ridgewood in the 1960s being entirely German, but says it was gradually more integrated with Italians and Hispanics, followed by Eastern Europeans and African Americans. Although Gerard now regards Queens as the most ethnically diverse neighborhood in the world, in 1995, he was stunned when he overheard some people in his neighborhood speaking a language he recognized from a trip he'd taken to Africa. During a walk in Flushing Meadow Park, he even saw two Ghanaian women sitting on a log selling things as they would at a marketplace in Accra and noted the irony that he could have just taken a Q58 bus to Flushing instead of traveling 10,000 miles to experience Ghanaian culture.
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