'Rabbi' Bayard Rustin's Dream
Challenges Next Generation

TRACY SALKOWITZ

n 1963 I was all of seven years old.
The college student of today would
not have been born until 1965, two
years after the famous March on
Washington. This would have put them in
their mother's womb during the passage of
the Civil Rights Act, not exactly an age of
heightened political awareness. The age
factor is an important one, because we did
not experience the founding of the civil
rights movement — perhaps some of our
parents did — but we have essentially in-
herited the cause.
Consequently, when we think of black-
Jewish relations, our first image is not the
march in Salem, Alabama, where Rabbi
Joachim Prinz walked arm and arm with
Rev. Martin Luther King, but rather that
of Louis Farrakhan, black support for the

Relig ious News Service

I

Bayard Rustin: The epitome of what a rabbi should
be.

PLO, affirmative action disagreements,
and Israel's relations with South Arica. We
think of Kwame Toure inciting anti-
Semitism at the University of Maryland.
And we are pained.
I keep hearing "We've been so good to
the black community, why are they letting
us down now?" And we continually read
stories about the strained relations be-
tween blacks and Jews.
So what do we, the next generation, the
inheritors of the cause, do? How do we
reconcile conflicting emotions with our
commitment to social justice? And how do
we make things better?
First, we need to look at how things are,
not the sensationalized versions presented
to us by the media. It is true that there are
strains and misunderstandings between
and within our communities, but look at
actions, not only words. Our staunchest
allies on Capitol Hill are the members of
the black Caucus. They vote with us on
church-state issues, civil rights, aid for

Tracy Salkowitz is a regional director of the
American Jewish Congress. Her remarks were
delivered to a conference of B'nai B'rith Hillel, in
Washington, D.C..

Israel and support for Soviet Jewry, to
• name a few particularistic concerns, not
mentioning the universalistic concerns
which round out both of our agendas.
Similarly, Jewish legislators are often
the first to support the top agenda items
for the black community — from suppor-
ting the restoration of the Civil Rights Act
to endorsing sanctions against South
Africa. Our communities are inter-
changeable in volume and clamor on behalf
of social justice and social welfare. Yes,
there are differences and hurt on both sides
but we need to work through and beyond
them. Both communities need to
acknowledge our cultural differences and
respect our historical memories.
Secondly, and most importantly, we
must be honest with ourselves. Are we liv-
ing Martin Luther King's "dream" or mere-
ly espousing liberal rhetoric? Do we act on
what we think we believe?
How many minority friends • do you
have? Is your dream home in an integrated
neighborhood? Where are you going to send
your children to school? Are the clubs that
you belong to integrated? When you
volunteer your time is it in a soup kitchen
or in a safer, cleaner environment?
I am saddened but, more importantly,
angered at what I perceive as the growing
acceptance of segregated benign racism on
both sides. It's as if we know we are not
racist so therefore, it doesn't make a dif-
ference if we only hang out with and live
near friends who are our mirror image. I
charge both communities with this. The
result is that when problems do arise we
speak to each other through organizations,
not neighbor to neighbor. Organizations
are not racist, people are. And it is people-
to-people contact which overcomes ignorant
prejudice. It's fine to have black-Jewish
dialogues, but they can only have limited
success if we return to our segregated
worlds.
We must put our money where our
mouths are, and remember who we are. We
must continue to work together and live
together, not because of some hoped for per-
sonal gain, but because it is right and just.
Tzedek, justice is the very soul of Judaism.
As a first step to my own personal com-
mitment, I would like to grant posthumous
smicha, rabbinic ordination, to Bayard
Rustin, for he represented the epitome of
what a rabbi, a teacher, should be.
Not only was Rabbi Rustin a founder
of the civil rights movement and primary
organizer of the '63 march, but he con-
tinued, up until his death, to work on
behalf of human rights of every kind, from
fighting apartheid to combatting AIDS.
An article by John Jacob in the
Washington Informer quotes one of Rustin's
writings: "The principal factors which have
influenced my life are 1) non-violent tactics,
2) constitutional means, 3) democratic pro-
cedures, 4) respect for human personality,
and 5) a belief that all people are one." He
Continued on Page 10

CLOSE-UP

24

Marketing Man!

ARTHUR HORWITZ
Murray Lender
is mixing
the ingredients
to boost
Israeli exports
to the U.S.

54

Religious Juncture

DAVID HOLZEL
Jewish, Christian and Muslim
participants in a local conference
called for mutual respect.

FOCUS

58

Face To Face

Arab American James Abourezk and
Jewish American Hymie Bookbinder
debate U.S. policy — in their book
and in Detroit.

ENTERTAINMENT

Don't Call Me Totie

JUDY MARX
Comparisons
are flattering,
but comic
Norma Zager
has her own
laugh-a-minute
style and personality.

PEOPLE

95

Glamor Mix

CARLA JEAN SCHWARTZ
A little winter fashion quickly added
up to $5,000 for the City of Hope's
cancer research fund.

COLUMNISTS

2
32

Philip Slomovitz
James Besser

72 Danny Raskin
84 Helen Davis

DEPARTMENTS

32
36
40
42
56
82

Inside Washington
Synagogues
Life in Israel
For Women
Business
Seniors

92
97
104
106
108
134

B'nai B'rith
Engagements
Youth
Births
Single Life
Obituaries

CANDLELIGHTING

November 13, 1987 4:55 p.m.

.

11111■1181./.8 • • O.,S1/••••

