THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Friday, April 1, 1983 49

Hillel Foundation at U-M Protests Daily Article on 'JAPs'

By HEIDI PRESS

The Bnai Brith Hillel
Foundation at the Univer-
sity of Michigan has with-
drawn its advertising from
the Michigan Daily, the
university's student-
operated newspaper, to pro-
test what it calls the paper's
error in judgment in run-
ning a feature article
entitled, " `JAPs': Are They
Fact or Fiction?"
According to Hillel Direc-
tor Michael Brooks, the ar-
ticle "conveys the consistent
and mistaken impression
that the visual aspect of an
obnoxious stereotype is
specifically a Jewish trait."
The article, by Phillip K.
Lawes, describes the
Thursday night bar scene at
a couple of nightspots popu-
lar particularly with Jewish
students at U-M.
However, the article
gives a none-too-
flattering description
of the scene, and by im-
plication casts a negative
light on the Jewish
students and ultimately
on all Jews as well.
For example, the author
of the article describes the
crowd thusly: "Tonight, as
on every other Thursday
night, the crowd is 80 to 90
percent Jewish. It is also,
according to some opinions,
quintessentially `JAP-y.'
"The people in the bar
certainly fit the `JAP'
stereotype visually. Their -
affluence is reflected in
their trendy clothes and
conspicuous jewelry. Ex-
pensive tans are in evi-
dence. Much conversation
turns to winter vacations
spent in Florida or the
Caribbean. Visually, the
predominantly female
crowd — coiffed, made-up,
and dressed way beyond the
local norm — simply -daz-
zles.
"A `JAP' . . . is a Jewish
American Princess . . . Be-
cause of their unique char-
acteristics, they are a con-
stant source of harmless
mirth."
The author continues
. by giving his own defini-
tion of the so-called
"Jewish American Prin-
cess":
"A ',TAP' . . . is sup-
posedly a Jewish woman
from a wealthy family, loud
and obnoxiously abrasive,
but an unbearable whiner.
Shallow and vacuous, she is
yet ruthless and cunning.
Since her main purpose for
being in college Is to trap
some promising (Jewish)
law or medical student into
marriage, she is denying a
place here to some guy who
would put a Michigan edu-
cation to real use . . . A fool-
proof method of spotting
one: either look for a woman
wearing a $600 outfit in the
graduate or law libraries, or
in the occasional English
lecture, wearing an expen-
sive string of pearls with a
sweatsuit that has never
seen the inside of a gym."
On the other side of the
question, the author states:
"Jewish American Prin-
cess. The term is clearly de-
rogatory, clearly an ethnic
slur. Still, it finds such wide

degree of use. Everybody —
Jews and non-Jews alike —
uses it with one degree of
malice or another. It pops up
casually in innocuous con-
versations and is, on occa-
sion, expelled through
clenched teeth in overtly ra-
cist contexts. Reactionary
bigots and nice-guy liberals
alike employ it.
"One reason for its
near complete social ac-
ceptability is that it is
usually the most benign
of racial epithets. `JAP'
does not carry the
malicious sting inherent
in the other racial
epithets that so enrich
the American popular
lexicon.
"In addition, this is one
epithet that was created,
and in large part promoted,
by the same group that- it
satirizes. As is true of all
ethnic groups, members of
the Jewish community tend
to look negatively on the use
of the term by outsiders .. .
"Another reason is that
the all-important visual as-
pect of this stereotype is
validated with far greater
frequency than any aspect
of any other stereotype, ra-
cial or otherwise. Few
people have seen a group of
Poles turning a stepladder
to screw in a lightbulb or a
shiftless black sitting on a
stump eating watermelon.
"On any given day, how-
ever, it is quite easy to find a
fastidiously dressed Jewish
woman — or a whole group
of such women — on this
campus, depending on
where one looks. Since
people seldom test a
stereotype exhaustively or
at any depth, this amounts
to an automatic validation
of the `JAP' perception."
In his letter to the Daily
editor-in-chief Barry
Witt, a copy of which was
received by The Jewish
News, Brooks called the
article "Not merely of-
fensive or tasteless. It is
also dangerous ..."
Following the publication
of the article, many angry
letters and phone calls were
received by the Daily. Five
days after the article ran,
the paper published many of
the letters, most deriding
the paper for printing the
article. Two of the letters
showed a positive response
to the item.
On March 16, Witt wrote
in an editorial that the
paper hadn't made an error
in judgment in running the
item, and in the interest of
fair play published letters
with the opposing view-
point. He stated in part:
"The Daily has been asked
to do a number of things in
order to respond to the reac-
tion the paper has received
to the `JAPs' article: We've
been asked to apologize for
running it, or to admit mis-
take in omitting certain 'vi-
tal' statements, or to at least
recognize and acknowledge
the reaction that has taken
place.
"We are unconvinced
that we erred in running
the story, but we have
recognized that people
reacted in various ways

to this story — like many
others — by publishing
their letters.
"Any good newspaper
welcomes letters or other
commentary from its
readers — not because it
makes for interesting read-
ing (though the letters col-
umn is very popular) — but
because a newspaper recog-
nizes that there's a lot to be
said. For a publication to re-
fuse to run dissenting opin-
ion would be the height of
arrogance; in effect, it
would be saying that the
newspaper's word is good as
gold and what anyone else
has to say is irrelevent .. .
"This column itself is not
intended to .satisfy anyone
who is upset with or was of-
fended by the `JAPs' article
— or anyone who dislikes
any other story in the paper.
Rather, it is an invitation to
readers to respond to our
stories and recognize — like
we do — that the world is
not all black and white."
Brooks, however, said the
issue goes further. "The
issue is not whether a news-
paper article offends some
or even all of its readers. I
will defend (though perhaps
not quite to the death) the
Daily's clear and well-
exercised right to print of-
fensive and tasteless arti-
cles.
"The issues are
whether a responsible
paper should publish an
article which rests on

false and dangerous
premises, and whether it
has the maturity to admit
that it made a mistake in
doing so. The Daily has
failed the university
community on both
counts.
"Editor-in-chief Barry
Witt now contends that the
Daily has fulfilled its obli-
gation by publishing sev-
eral letters from readers on
Feb. 16. In fact, there has
been a persistent expression
of dissenting opinion which
the Daily has chosen t6 ig-
nore.
"A public meeting at
Hillel on March 2 to discuss
the article, attended by over
70 students and faculty,
went unreported in the
Daily, even though at least
three Daily staff members,
including the editor-in-
chief and the editorial page
editor, were present. A
meeting of 10 students on
March 3 to discuss proposed
changes in the local
marijuana ordinance was
reported on the front page of
the Daily the following day.
"Without the recent con-
tinued pressure on the
Daily, its handling of this
issue would have been sim-
ply another case of hit-and-
run: running the article,
printing a few letters on one
day and then letting the
matter drop, leaving those
who have been publicly
slapped in the face to suffer
silently.

"The Daily might have
begun to repair some of
the unnecessary damage,
both to those it maligned
and to its own reputation,
by acknowledging some
responsibility beyond
that of publishing dis-
senting opinion.
"It might have educated
its readers by pointing out
in the clearest possible
terms that the use of any
stereotype, however 'be-
nign,' which hangs a reli-
gious, ethnic or gender label
on a generalized negative
type of behavior, does a
grave disservice both to
those it describes and to
those who employ it."

Brooks said that the
Hillel Foundation at U-M
will suspend its advertising
until next Ja–nuary, when
the current editorial board's
term ends.

FOR THE FINEST

P
r

H

0T OGR AP

H„

WEDDINGS T
BAR MITZVAH

BERNIE

WINER

and ASSOCIATES

357-1010

HUNTER'S SQUARE

855-2030

FINAL WINTER CLEARANCE

50 to 75%0FF

Selected spring merchandise

Singles Events

40 ° OFF

JEWISH AND SINGLE Center. The evening will
will hear Holocaust sur- feature aerobic dancing, fol-
HOURS: M thru S 10-5:30
vivor David Bergman at a lowed by a wine and cheese
W & F until 9
gathering 8 p.m. Wednes- party. There is a charge. For
day at Cong. Beth Shalom. reservations, call the
Sunday 12-5
Persons who attend should Jewish Center, 661-1000,
bring a pen or pencil. There ext. 219.
is a charge.
The network sponsors a
20%
The group will have an singles hotline. For infor-
oneg'Shabat 8:30 p.m. April mation on singles activities,
15 at Beth Shalom. Detroit call the hotline, 661-4385.
Zionist Federation scholar-
in-residence Dr. Jay Shap-
iro will be the guest
speaker. Admission is free,
and refreshments will be
served.
* * *
The Best of Europe
COMMUNITY NET-
COME AND SEE OUR •
WORK FOR JEWISH
EXCITING SPRING &
SINGLES will have a
"Party With the Masters,"
SUMMER COLLECTION .
6:30 p.m. April 5 at the
main Jewish Community

OFF AT ALL TIMES

•••••••••••••••••••••••••
FOR YOU,
OUR PREFERRED. CLIENTS

•

Blood. Pressure
Class Offered

The Oakland County
Health Division will offer a
series of blood pressure con-
trol classes 7:30 p.m. April
12, 19, 26 and May 3 at the
health center's north office,
1200 N. Telegraph, Pontiac.
Classes at the center's
south office, 27725 Green-
field, Southfield, will be
held 7:30 p.m. April 26,
May 3, 10 and 17.
The classes are free, but
pre-registration is required.
For information, call the
Pontiac office, 858-1280; or
the Southfield center, 424-
7050.

Jews in Prussia were
given equal rights in 1812.

SALE
25% OFF!

ON ALL
, vs
NEW ARRIVALS ' •

Cocktail Dresses, Suits, Silk Blouses, *
Pants, Sweaters, Casual Outfits, and
More . . .

PLUS Save 50% to 80% on

♦
♦

29481 Northwestern, N. of 12 Mile
Park West Plaza, Southfield
Mon. thru Sat. 10-6

All

FALL & WINTER MERCHANDISE

352-0030

• •

•••••••••••••••••••••••••