CONTENTS Anti-Semitism And A Mayoral Election GARY A. TOBIN Special to The Jewish News T he recent election of New York's first black mayor may tell us a great deal about anti- Semitism. Most post-election attention in the Jewish com- munity has been centered on the election's implications for the strained black-Jewish political alliance. Other analysts have focused upon the accuracy of both pre- election and exit polls. The polls missed something, and the "something" is linked to understanding co _ ntemporary anti-Semitism. It is indisputable that more whites said that they were go- ing to vote for Dinkins than actually did. The proportion of whites who said at the exit polls that they had voted for Dinkins was substantially less than the actual tally. The inaccuracy of these election polls does not cast It is indisputable that more whites said that they were going to vote for Dinkins than actually did. doubt on polling as either an art or a science. The accuracy of polls has been demonstrat- ed over and over again in a multitude of elections over the past decade. The infre- quency of wrong predictions is such that when these kinds of results are recorded the issue should be not how accurate are polls, but why wasn't this particular poll accurate? The predictive value of polls has been demonstrated countless times. Inaccuracies are an aberration and reveal something. Since the 1960s, the expres- sion of blatant racial and religious prejudice has become less acceptable, either socially or politically. Overt racism or anti-Semitism is now taboo in the political arena. People like Lewis Far- rakhan or David Duke can get away with it. But Jesse Jackson, if he is not to be seen as a Farrakhan or Duke, has to soft pedal or back pedal from overt anti-Semitism. Gary A. Tobin is director of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University. People use code words and phrases like "the wrong ele- ment" when they're talking about poor blacks moving in- to a neighborhood, or children who need "remedial educa- tion" to denote black students, or "New York liberal" to describe a Jew. Use of the words "nigger" and "kike" are no longer accep- table in any but the most private settings. The public persona is one of equality, fairness, and giving lip ser- vice to such statements as: "I would vote for somebody no matter what his race or religion; I do not care who my children marry," and other traditional attitudinal measures that gauge levels of prejudice. That these norms have changed is, of course, a positive trend. These are the tools of survey research and polls us- ed to measure levels of racism and anti-Semitism. It should come as no surprise that peo- ple will tend not to be for- thright when answering poll questions about race and religion and their attitudes toward other racial and ethnic groups. They are not unlikely to give an expected response or what they believe is the desired response to the questions asked. They are supposed to vote for a Democrat if they are a Democrat, regardless of his race. Therefore they say they will or did, even when it was not so. This tendency casts serious doubts upon the polls that are used to measure racism and anti-Semitism. Many organ- izations rely on these polls to demonstrate that levels of racism and anti-Semitism have decreased over the past thirty years. But it is obvious that some people answer these questions the way they think they are supposed to. They will not say that Jews are too pushy or that Jews have too much power in the business world, or other tradi- tional anti-Jewish stereo- types because they know they are not supposed to. They may also hide their feelings about other groups as well. The gut feeling of many Jews that there are more non- Jews who hold anti-Semitic attitudes than the polls show is strengthened by the Dinkins election experience. More non-Jews may say that they accept Jews in particular ways than is actually the case. Of course, there is other Continued on Page14 22 NOTEBOOK . The Laundromat GARY ROSENBLATT A high-powered club has a unique Israeli location 24 CLOSE-UP Dividing Lines KIMBERLY LIFTON Township votes raise questions in West Bloomfield. 36 BEHIND THE HEADLINES Economizing ARTHUR J. MAGIDA 24 AJCommittee's money woes spell demise for Present Tense. center Our family section looks at Purim . . . and alcohol abuse. ENTERTAINMENT Alla's Allegiance ADRIEN CHANDLER Last November, music teacher Alla Begun began a new life. 76 THE ARTS 76 Maxie's Marvelous Mail ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM An Oak Park artist exhibits "peaceful" mail art. 85 TEENS Real Twinning KAREN A. KATZ A bar mitzvah tomorrow pairs two new friends. DEPARTMENTS 30 44 47 48 52 Inside Washington Business Community Synagogues Sports 88 92 94 98 122 Engagements Births Single Life Classified Ads Obituaries CANDLELIGHTING 85 6:06 p.m. Friday, March 2, 1990 Sabbath ends March 3 7:08 p.m. THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 7 ONTEN T OPINION