Interior Design Workshops

"You have to see them as
a people that stick
together," she said.
Other Detroit blacks feel
similarly.
John Smith lives in the
northwest part of the city
and went to Detroit Coun-
try Day School. He has had
Jewish friends all his life
and barely gives the sub-
ject of black-Jewish rela-
tions much thought.
"Beyond the normal silly
prejudices that people
spread about any ethnic
group, I detect no negative
feelings between blacks
and Jews in this area," he
said.
If anything, he said,
blacks and Chaldeans are
the ones who have the
problems. Chaldeans are
the storeowners and
shopkeepers in the city;
therefore, they are fre-
quently seen by blacks as
an enemy.
For Ellen Hill, Jews have
always been classmates
and friends. She went- to
bar mitzvahs. But, she
said, her friends — Jewish
and non-Jewish —never
understood her or black di-
versity.
"Their perception of
black people was like 'Good
Times' or 'Sanford and
Son,' " she said. "It took
them a while to realize that
`Oh, Ellen's got a big
house, too' ."
Ms. Hill, now working at
an all-black marketing and
public relations firm, said
she rarely comes into con-
tact with Jews anymore,
but that there is a percep-
tion among some blacks
that Jews own Detroit.
"That's what people
believe," she said.

F

or some black leaders,
though, the problem
isn't jealousy. It's a
matter of Jews giving blacks
the chance.
"If a black person lives
next door to you, it does not
necessarily mean declining
property values or blight,"
said Mr. Nabers, the
Southern Oakland NAACP
president. "If you don't
have face-to-face contact,
yot, will continue to hold
those mythical beliefs."
What's more, most blacks
don't even think Jews have
a real "discrimination"
problem. Mr. Holliday, the
Lathrup Village busi-
nessman, compared being

blaCk in America to the
distinctive yellow badge
that European Jews were
forced to wear by the Nazis.
"No matter what we do,
no matter who we are, we
can not remove the star,"
he said. "You can assimi-
late, and I can't."
The very core of the prob-
lem, blacks say, isn't black
anti-Semitism or Jewish
racism. It's the simple fact
that after the civil rights
battles were fought, blacks
wanted to achieve more
than political equality.
They wanted their share of
the economic pie as well.
"Power needs to be
shared and blacks need to
be at the t,ble on an equal
status," Mr. Anderson
said. Blacks have their own
problems, and their rela-
tions with Jews simply do
not resonate with impor-
tance, he said.
In a 1987 Detroit Free
Press/WDIV-TV survey of
the tri-county area, several
racial and ethnic groups
were polled on their
thoughts about Detroit,
race and discrimination.
More than half of the
Jews surveyed said the
most serious problem in
their neighborhood is a
lack of public transporta-
tion. For more than half of
Detroit's blacks, drug
pushing was the biggest
issue.
"In the black community,
there always is a bigger
fish to fry," Mr. Lobenthal
said.
Compared to the black
community, where to be
black and male means
you're more likely to go to
jail than college, the Jew-
ish community doesn't
seem to have problems at
all.
Larry Jordan tells a
story:
"This Jewish guy who I
went to school with and
now work with, he's been
taken care of by his parents
all his life. When he needed
a home, they gave him a
home. When he wanted a
vacation place, they gave
him a vacation place. Some
of the black guys in our of-
fice don't like him because
he comes off arrogant, es-
pecially when he says he's
got hard times. Well,
there's the problem right
there.
"His hard times are glory
times for a black." ❑

Eve Garvin, noted interior
designer, will conduct two
workshop sessions, January 27
and February 3, 10am - 12:30pm.
Luncheon will follow, ending at
1:15pm. There will be a guided
tour of The Michigan Design
Center after the February 3rd.
session, plus an optional trip to
the home of artist Richard Jerzy.

As Featured In
House Beautiful

This program has been given successfully at The Grosse Pointe War Memorial for
the past four years.

Eve Garvin's work has been featured in THE DETROIT FREE PRESS,
SARASOTA HERALD TRIBUNE, SUN SENTINEL, HOUSE BEAUTIFUL,
OAKLAND PRESS and OBSERVER ECCENTRIC NEWSPAPERS. •

Subjects Covered
Color
• Identifying Periods
Scale
• Manufacturers
Fabrics
• Mixing of Periods
Window and Wall Coverings
• Architectural Detail
Your Design Problems In Open Discussion
Let Eve Garvin show you why and how The Michigan Design Center
can do the most for you.
Mid-America Room
Place: Michigan Design Center
1700 Stutz Drive — Troy
Call 569 5418 For Details

•
•
•
•

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(Early Reservations Are Suggested)

FEE: $150.00 includes 2 sessions, luncheons, tour and optional trip.

SHE'S COMING HALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD
JUST TO MEET YOU.

Gila Almagor, one of Israel's top actresses, is coming to Detroit.
And, she is bringing a jewel in her crown of achievements, her autobiographical
play--"The Summer of Aviya".
Her compelling tale, in which she overcomes the difficulties of a second
generation Holocaust survivor, is a story that is central to Israel's culture. The play
is based on her best selling book and inspired her award-winning film.
See and meet Gila Almagor.

Thursday, February 6, 1992 8:00 p.m.
Temple Beth El
7400 Telegraph Road
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

Patron Tickets $25 (includes reserve seating and reception with Ms. Almagor
following the performance)
Advance Tickets $10
Limited Tickets available at the door $15

Co sponsored by Temple Beth El and The Agency for Jewish Education

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For tickets and information, call: Temple Beth El, 851-1100
Agency for Jewish Education, 354-1050

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

27