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(1 Mile North of 1-696) 557-3344 PRIOR SALES EXCLUDED • SOME ITEMS NOT EXACTLY AS PICTURED `PRECIOUS' 17 Inch High Stainless Steel Classical Beauty LIMITED EDITION ERRY SOBLE SCULPTOR Detroit (313) 683.4364 Sarasota (813) 383.8921 New York City (212) 254-3788 38 FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 1992 • Many American Hatreds Cause Endless Conflict PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor Emeritus I nvariably, every outburst of hatred, religious as well as racial, causes con- sideration of the conflicting elements among us. The black-Jewish occurrences are of serious concern. Under the title "black an- ti-Semitism" we have been treated to much sorrow in our relationships with our neighbors. There is need for testing the issues involved. An essay appeared in Jew- ish Currents, the liberal magazine edited by Morris Schappes, who secured the publishing rights for an ad- dress called "A Report on Black Anti-Semitism" by Professor Julius Lester, a Jewish African-American and professor of Near East- ern studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. This essay was the text of the address by Dr. Lester at a recent meeting of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith executive committee. It calls for seri- ous consideration because this scholar treated the issue as affecting this land and all its inhabitants. Taking into account the realities of experienced hatreds, Dr. Lester acknowl- edged the anti-Jewish dem- onstrations and the sad pre- judices on the university campuses. He called atten- tion to the diversities which mark the blacks in this country from East European . Jewish legacies. Brief sentences from his copyrighted address point up the following: Many blacks feel that Jews borrow- suffering from history to give them- selves an identity and sta- tus as victims, and then use this vicarious suffer- ing as the credentials that give them the right to ex- press empathy with Blacks. However, blacks are aware, in ways many Jews are not, that within the American context, blacks and Jews do not share common experi- ences of oppression and suffering. Thus, on college cam- puses, what often comes out as anti-Semitic ex- pression is an attempt to express resentment toward Jews for assum- ing a relationship of shared suffering. As far as many young blacks are concerned, none exists. blacks resent the Jewish assumption of shared op- pression and use the language of anti-Semitism to make that resentment clear. This is not to excuse this use of anti-Semitism. Using the language of an- ti-Semitism is a grievous moral error at any time. All of the recent experi- ences involving the increas- ing animosities receive new consideration from studies by this scholar. Every aspect of blind hatred and those spreading it is under analy- sis. This essay suggests to us that as Americans we must all save ourselves. We must be honest with realities and we must confront the danger of treating anti-Semitism in its multiple aspects. That does not mean that as in the current Royal Oak action we can even dignify or treat with respect any kind of an- ti-Semite; Father Coughlin's anti-Semitism remains con- demnable. As Dr. Lester views it, any semblance of divisiveness among Americans must be fought as un-American and anti-American. Dr. Lester has acquired appreciation and gratitude for the manner in which he has analyzed black anti- Semitism: If we are dismayed that so many blacks today listen to a Sharpton or a Farrakhan, it is because only the Sharptons and Farrakhans are speaking to the despair and hope- lessness of those trapped in poverty and ignorance. Jesse Jackson comes for visits. The Urban League and NAACP issue reports, but Sharpton and Far- rakhan have made the anger and resentment and hatred their own and ex- ploited it to give them- selves a sense of power. Unfortunately, too often Jews unwittingly enhance the status of such black anti-Semites. One could al- most say that if you are black and want to be con- sidered a leader in certain parts of black America to- day, say something anti- Semitic and get attacked by Jews. It is the moral respon- sibility of gentiles to speak out against black anti- Semitism because anti- Semitism is a gentile pro- blem. As Jews we are help- less to stop anti-Semitism because it does not reside in our house. • Equally, I wonder if it is in our self-interest as Jews . any longer to speak of black-Jewish tensions. Yes, they exist but are they the problem? Isn't the problem • that a significant number of American citizens, blacks, believe in nothing and no one and are in- capable of becoming pro- ductive members of the society because they lack • even the rudimentary skill of literacy? Black-Jewish occurrences are of serious concern. Perhaps it is time we "4 stopped speaking of a black problem and began talking about an American problem because blacks are American citizens, to state an obvious fact that America has not yet grasped. Jews cannot solve the problems faced by black America and I'm not sug- gesting that we should. I will suggest that we sit with our gentile counter- parts — and together move the plight of black America to a place of high priority on the national agenda. This time we must act from our self-interest as Americans. The quality of • our lives as Americans is threatened because there are all too many Ameri- cans who are not econo- mically viable. Let me suggest the following as a possible • course of action: 1) The economic prob- lems of black America must be taken seriously, even at a time when the na- tion as a whole is in an economic crisis. The first step is edu- cating America to the realities and their implica- tions for the nation as a whole. This could be done through a "Call to Cons- cience and Responsibility" issued by the major de- nominations of Christiani- ty and the four branches of Judaism. Such a statement • should be read from pul- pits and bimahs with