OPINION
CONTENTS
A Weak Response
To Black Anti-Semitism
MAURICE KELMAN
A
t the recent national
convention of the
NAACP, some
blatantly anti-Semitic state-
ments were made at a panel
discussion about oppor-
tunities for black performers
in the entertainment
industry.
Executive Director Ben-
jamin Hooks refused to do
anything more than "dis-
associate" the organization
from the speaker's diatribe
(which had evoked much au-
dience applause). Hooks
declined even to label the of-
fensive remarks anti-Semitic,
much less to denounce them.
This was merely the latest
sorry example of the unwill-
ingness of black leaders to
react forcefully against anti-
Jewish bigotry within their
own constituencies. The
episode was widely reported
by the press and produced fit-
tingly indignant commen-
taries by editorial writers and
columnists (George Will, for
one noble example).
What, then, are we to make
of a published letter (July 23)
to the Detroit News from the
executive director of the
Jewish Community Council,
Mr. David Gad-harf, in which
he not only refrains from
criticizing Ben Hooks but
takes the News to task for
"focus(ing) disproportionate
attention on a single panel
that was in no way central to
the concerns being addressed
by our nation's premier civil
rights organization"?
Does Mr. Gad-Harf mean to
suggest that black anti-
Semitism is too inconsequen-
tial to be of legitimate news
Maurice Kelman is a
professor at the Wayne State
University Law School.
interest? Or is his point that
it has become so much a leit
motif of black grievances that
it no longer satisfies the man-
bites-dog test of news-
worthiness?
I hear the clank of double
standards. Surely Mr. Gad-
Harf does not think that
media coverage of the libera-
tion of Eastern Europe and
the rise of glasnost in the
USSR focuses "dispropor-
tionate attention" on the ac-
companying re-emergence of
native anti-Semitism.
I cannot believe he opposes
the public clamor by world
Jewry for tougher restraints
on Pamyat-type movements
or accepts Gorbachev's
passivity in dealing with his
domestic Jew-haters.
But in contrast, Mr. Gad-
Harfs lame excuse for an
equivalent lack of leadership
by Benjamin Hooks: "The
NAACP" he writes, "has, in
fact, distanced itself from (the
panelist's) remarks as not
necessarily representing the
organization's own position."
Distanced itself? Not
necessarily representing?
What a far cry from an une-
quivocal repudiation of Jew-
baiting as a betrayal of
everything "our nation's
premier civil rights organiza-
tion" is supposed to stand for.
Mr. Gad-Harf is perfectly
entitled to express views on
this or any other issue. In this
instance I hope he was speak-
ing for himself and not in
some presumed communal
voice, especially since his
eagerness to exempt the
NAACP from
press
attention contradicts the of-
ficial outrage of the Anti-
Defamation League and other
national Jewish organiza-
tions, as reported in the July
20 Jewish News (Hollywood
and the Jews Defend
Industry").
DETROIT
Torah And Science
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
A former Detroiter equates
the big bang and creation.
p
rofessor Kelman is
correctly concerned
about the Jewish com-
munity's response to anti-
Semitism. No Jew today can
say that manifestations of
anti-Semitism should be ig-
David Gad-Harf is executive
director of the Jewish
Community Council of
Metropolitan Detroit.
nored; too many of our
brethren suffered and died
because the world ignored the
epidemic of anti-Semitism
throughout the centuries.
However, we should make
sure that in our efforts to ex-
pose and counteract anti-
Semitism, we refrain from
making accusations that con-
tain the same kind of stereo-
typing and generalizing that
spawns anti-Semitism.
Continued on Page 12
26
CLOSE-UP
Kosher Bytes
JAMES BESSER
and STEVE HARTZ
A computer network links
Jews throughout the world.
26
44
AROUND TOWN
In Time
To The Music
Southfield and Neighborhood
Project host hundreds at Inglenook.
51
FOCUS
Buried fl easures
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
A tomb at Machpelah Cemetery
contains holy remnants.
53
BUSINESS
Waiting
For. The Break
ADRIEN CHANDLER
Don Albaum is tapping into
a new niche — yuppie billiards.
IMO
53
63
PROFILE
Flying Carpet
MELANIE KOFF
A Persian-born educator
lifts a Michigan district.
69
ENTERTAINMENT •
Ninja Heartthrob
Communal Problem
Or One Biased Voice?
DAVID GAD-HARF
15
STEVE HARTZ
One of Hollywood's hottest
stars also is making music.
DEPARTMENTS
33
39
46
56
Inside Washington
Insight
Synagogues
Sports
86
98
102
130
Single Life
Births
Classified Ads
Obituaries
CANDLELIGHTING
6
8:33 p.m.
Friday, August 3, 1990
Sabbath ends August 4 9:38 p.m.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
7