OPINION CONTENTS Wolpe In S. Africa Did Not End Apartheid RALPH SLOVENKO S urprise, surprise! Congressman Howard Wolpe, D-Lansing, on a five-day visit to South Africa urges stricter sanctions against that country. He finds no reason to modify his long- standing position on sanctions. Assuredly, Congressman Wolpe does not speak for the Jewish community or the vast majority of blacks in South Africa, or for anyone else in South Africa except the leaders of the African Na- tional Council. In a comment with which I fully concur, Business Day of Johannesburg (Jan. 11) says: "This raises the real ques- "The price we pay is a declining presence in South Africa." tion: why does Wolpe bother to come here at all? He can restate his prejudices from Washington, or from the top of Mount Everest, or from a beach in Bali. Why go through the charade? "The question is, of course, naive . . . The American politicians who come trooping through this country to reaf- firm their prejudices actually have sound reasons to do so. They are reinforcing their reputations at home as ex- perts; they are demonstrating moral convictions; they are being fierce; they are, we must understand, budding statesmen, shapers of the world. "The price we pay is a declining American presence in this country. Last year a dozen corporations left, next year a few more will go. By the end of the decade, when real change is in prospect, other relationships will have supplanted the American connection, which is now hardly worth the worry." Congressman Wolpe cites Walter Sisulu of the ANC and Bishop Desmond Tutu, of all people, in support for his call for intensifying sanctions. Too bad he did not refer to the numerous polls of South African blacks, 85 percent of whom are opposed to sanctions. Zulu chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi uses the term "ar- Ralph Slovenko is professor of law and psychiatry at Wayne State University Law School. rogance" for those politicians, local and overseas, who seek to prescribe disinvestment against the wishes of the peo- ple concerned. Buthelezi has been caricatured in the United States as an Uncle Tom, notwithstanding his resistance to making KwaNatal an independent homeland. Of the scant graffiti one sees within the borders of South Africa, perhaps the most apropos is the message written on the walls in Soweto condemning Bishop Tutu for his support of sanc- tions. Tutu is a supporter of the ANC; both are admirers of Communist China. Alan Paton, the literary- spiritual leader against apar- theid since its beginning, strongly argued against economic boycott, reasoning that any meaningful eman- cipation of black South Africans will come about only with economic upward mobili- ty, and on moral grounds, he sharply criticized Tutu for his call for sanctions. Whatever good sanctions may do, they have been done. On balance, in the long run, they are counter-productive. With sanctions, companies leave and will not readily return (apparently not one multi-national has returned to Zimbabwe), unemployment mounts, and professional peo- ple emigrate. If both blacks and whites suffer increased privation, they will become more competitive with regard to one another and less inclin- ed to make concessions or ac- cept compromises. Sanctions create turmoil and provoke extremists. Scenes of Ger- many in the 1930s are being replayed in South Africa. Congressman Wolpe mis- leads when he says there has been no fundamental change in South Africa. Apartheid has been reduced to the Population Registration Act, according to which all South Africans must be classified according to race; the Group Areas Act, which sets out where people may live but which is actually ignored in large measure; and voting. Segregated public facilities have been done away with. Sports are integrated. The laws against racial intermar- riage, influx control (the "pass laws"), and the Jobs Reservation Act, which prevented black workers from advancing to management- Continued on Page 10 24 CLOSE-UP Strike Up The Band! ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM For 40 years, they've been right in tune with the times. SPORTS Moses Of Maccabi 48 RICHARD PEARL A Lithuanian Jewish coach will lead his team to Detroit. 56 BUSINESS 56 Asbestos Under Attack KIMBERLY LIFTON A Birmingham attorney fights a deadly mistake in court. center Celebrating Tu B'Shevat can be a family affair. 6 5 ENTERTAINMENT Curtain Call! STEVE HARTZ Hillel is alive with the sound of music. 65 88 AROUND TOWN Sliding High Akiva's annual sports day was a big party on ice. 97 SINGLE LIFE Why Jewish Men Don't Date Jews DAVID MARGOLIS The reasons tell more about men and women. DEPARTMENTS 28 39 41 42 52 60 Inside Washington Insight Community Synagogues Education Travel 76 78 90 94 102 126 Fine Arts Cooking Engagements Births Classified Ads Obituaries CANDLELIGHTING 88 5:30 p.m. Friday, February 2, 1990 Sabbath ends Feb. 3 6:34 p.m. THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 7