14 Friday, March 16, 1984 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •••• ••• • • • :Hollywood Lighting : • • • • • • Spotlight your next party with • • • • • • • • • • • • • WHIM IM filifiME? VER'YTHIMG! • • • PIZZAZZ Indoor or outdoor temporary stage, tent, •• neon, and special effects lighting for every • occasion. Bar Mitzvah, Bat Mitzvah, and • • weddings, fashion shows, etc. • • For more information call: IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN DIAMONDS, Nobody Sells Diamonds For Less And We Prove It! E pitiONUZ The Diamond People For Over 50 years CO 30555 SOUTHFIELD RD CONGRESS BLDG =100 ZONE BLOCK SOUTH OF 13 MILE ROAD) • • Murray Gula 968-5026 • • • o • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • PHONE 645-9200 Machon L'Torah Torah Center of Metro Detroit Presents: SEDERAMA '84 AKINS MP) 1 14 SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 1984 ' 7:00-10:30 P.M. JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER 15110 W. 10 Mile, Oak Park, Michigan FOR INFORMATION AND RESERVATIONS PLEASE CALL: 968-4835 398-4405 968-1679 ADVANCE REGISTRATION $4.00 • AT THE DOOR $6.00 LECTURES • Building a Structure Within Chaos by Rabbi Boruch Levin • Putting on the Chains of Freedom by Rabbi E. Goldberg WORKSHOPS • A guide to the laws, customs, and traditions of Passover Led by Rabbi Avraham Jacobovitz • "It is in the merit of the righteous women that our Talmud Sota 11 B forefathers were redeemed from Egypt': Led by Mrs. Riva Weisfish • Hagada Insights Led by Rabbi Boruch Levin REFRESHMENTS Don't Miss This Unique Opportunity... Boris Smolar's `Between You . . . and Me' Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, JTA (Copyright 1984, JTA, Inc.) THE JACKSON AFFAIR: Leaders of American Jewish organizations are inclined to accept the apology by black leader Jesse Jackson, one of the Democratic Party presidential hopefuls, for his slurs on Jews. However, they will be watching whether he will avoid, in his campaign speeches, any utterance offensive to Jews and whether he will inject his attitude favoring the Palestine Liberation Organization in any of his speeches. At the same time, Jewish organizations intend to hold black-Jewish conferences for the purpose of strengthening cooperation between the two communities — a cooperation that goes back for decades but has been marred during recent years by differences and misunderstandings. The black population in this country is indifferent to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Its leadership is interested primarily in issues concerning the life of blacks in the U.S. — mostly social and economic issues, which are also of concern to the Jewish population. The shared concern has been demonstrated recently by the active Jewish support of black leaders who ran for the office of mayor in Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. They would not have been vic- torious in the elections without the substantial number of Jewish votes cast for them at the polls. It is no secret that each of the mayors expressed to Jackson dissatisfaction with his anti-Jewish remarks. So did the leaders of the Urban League and black members of Congress. Jackson's utterances — calling Jews "Hymies" and New York City "Hy.mietown" — are insulting and reveal his attitude toward Jews. But they do not constitute any political danger presently. He has no chance of being elected President, not even of being selected by the Demo- cratic Party national convention as its standard bearer. And he is well aware of it. His purpose in campaigning as a presidential aspirant is three-fold: to stimulate a larger registration of blacks eligible for voting; to trade the black votes for concessions from the candidate who will run as the Democratic presidential nominee; and to pave the way for himself to run for the presidency in the 1988 elections, when the number of black voters will be larger. BLACK-JEWISH ISSUES: Jewish communities in a number of cities have been reaching out to black political leaders as a vehicle for strengthening black-Jewish rela- tions long before Jackson announced his candidacy. The role Jews played in major cities in helping to elect black mayors is the best evidence of the opportunities for the two communities to work together despite strains that have developed. The main issue on which Jewish and black leaders differ sharply is the "quota" issue, proportional representa- tion in hiring, upgrading and admission of blacks in the private and public sectors of employment and in educa- tional institutions. Black leaders insist on legislation based on using quotas as goals for equal opportunity for employ- ment in private business as well in the federal, state and municipal systems. The Jewish organizations believe that individual merit and qualifications are the touchstones of equality of opportunity. - The Jewish groups recognize that the blacks are the largest minority group whose history in America has been marred — in law and in practice — by discrimination, deprivation and segregation solely because of race. But they oppose quotas as inconsistent with principles of equal- ity. They are for "affirmative action" by both the govern- ment and the private sector in overcoming unequal oppor- tunity. The Jewish position is that past discriminations and injustices are not the only relevant criteria for determining merit and qualifications. To Jewish leaders, such factors as poverty, inadequate schooling, discrimination in the indi- vidual's experience — as well as personal characteristics, such as motivation, determination, perseverence and re- sourcefulness — are also relevant factors that should be taken into account. Jewish organizations are also sensitive to the intro- duction of quotas because they still remember the depriva- tion Jews suffered in Czarist Russia under quota systems, as well as in Poland and Romania under anti-Semitic re- gimes which practiced quotas for Jews. The quotas now practiced by the Soviet government with regard to Jews in universities and in other fields are the latest reason for Jewish opposition to any quota system. On the other hand, while acknowledging that on cer- tain issues the Jewish community does not see eye-to-eye with the black community, Jewish leaders point out that there are other issues of common concern to the black and Jewish population about which they share the same views and can work as a coalition. These include action on racial and ethnic violence, poverty, housing, public education, aid to the elderly, health care and other social services.