RC 011011 The Cole War
A key figure in the Clinton transition team, Dr. Johnnetta Cole is the center
of a controversy dividing national and local Jewish organizations.
NEIL. RUBIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
S
everal national Jewish
and labor organiza-
tions are opposed to
Dr. Johnnetta Cole's
rise in the Clinton transition
team, charging that she was
long associated with pro-
Communist and pro-PLO
organizations. But here,
where Dr. Cole is best
known as the president of
Spelman College, a number
of mainstream Jewish
leaders have come to her
defense, asserting that she is
a strong asset to black-
Jewish relations.
Which is the real John-
netta Cole? Although she
has not denied her past
associations, first made in
The Forward, a New York
Jewish weekly, the 58-year-
old black woman described
the charges as "not new
stuff" that was dredged up
by "right-wing extremists."
She also told the Atlanta
Constitution that she is pro-
Israel, but believes that Pa-
lestinians should have equal
rights.
Dr. Cole currently heads a
Clinton transition group
that deals with education,
humanities and labor, and
was rumored to have been a
favorite for the post of Secre-
tary of Education before the
charges about her past came
to light. She now says she
will not take a post in Wash-
ington with the Clinton ad-
ministration.
A joint statement praising
Dr. Cole was released by the
Atlanta Jewish Federation,
the Atlanta Rabbinical
Association, the Atlanta
Chapter of the American
Jewish Committee and the
Anti-Defamation League
Southeast Region. The letter
cited Dr. Cole's "dedication
to fostering improved black-
Jewish relations."
The quick response has
helped dampen a negative
reaction in the black com-
munity, noted Ozell Sutton,
a long-time civil rights ac-
tivist and past co-chairman
of the Atlanta Black-Jewish
Coalition.
"I don't see any great
damage being done," he
said. "Johnetta is very
positive about black-Jewish
relations in my experience
and has great respect for the
Jewish people."
He added that "I don't
know all of the things that
Neil Rubin is assistant editor
of the Atlanta Jewish Times.
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Artwork from Newsday by Anthony D'Adamo. Copyright. 1990, Newsday. Distributed by Los Angeles Times Syndicate.
Johnnetta was involved in
during the early years, but I
do know one thing. We all
were very angry in those
days . . . You see, what we
called Communist leanings
then, nobody would think of
now."
The article in The Forward
documented Dr. Cole's past
affiliations with the pro-
Castro Venceremos Brigades
and the U.S. Peace Council,
which it said had a
"vigorously anti-Israel and
pro-PLO line."
The story was subsequent-
ly reported by the New York
Times and several nation-
ally syndicated columnists.
Carl Rowan compared the
reports to a McCarthyite
smear but confirmed Dr.
Cole's ties to the pro-
Communist groups.
The danger of the incident
is that it could be seen by the
black community as part of
an ongoing attempt to
discredit its leaders, noted
Gary Rubin, national affairs
director for the American
Jewish Committee, whose
national and local chapters
engaged in a rare public
dispute last week.
After Sherry Frank, who
heads the local AJCom-
mittee office, described the
Forward charges against Dr.
Cole as "character
assassination," David
Harris, executive director of
the AJCommittee, said Ms.
Frank's statement does not
"reflect the views of the
American Jewish Com-
mittee and, accordingly,
should not have been made."
Similarly, comments from
national officials of the Anti-
Defamation League were
critical of Dr. Cole while
local ADL officials were
supportive.
Mr. Rubin noted that the
fact that the charges against
Dr. Cole appeared in a Jew-
ish newspaper could damage
black-Jewish relations. This
was particularly disturbing
to local Jewish leaders who
say that in her five years as
president of Spelman Col-
lege, whose students are
black, Dr. Cole has taken a
leading role in heightening
the visibility of black-Jewish
The danger of the
incident is that it
could be seen by
blacks as part of
an ongoing
attempt to
discredit its
leaders.
relations in the black corn-
munity.
Each local and national
Jewish leader interviewed
for this article criticized the
report in The Forward for
not including Dr. Cole's
work with the Atlanta Jew-
ish community in the past
five years.
David Sarnat, Atlanta
Jewish Federation executive
director, said that to de-
scribe Dr. Cole's past associ-
ation with anti-Israel organ-
izations and not mention her
positive involvement with
the local community is
"intellectual dishonesty."
Dr. Cole this past spring
held a dinner meeting at her
home for top black and Jew-
ish leaders to infuse a higher
profile into the Atlanta
Black-Jewish Coalition. In
addition, she has supported
since her arrival at Spelman
College the offering of a
course in Jewish studies,
despite the fact that there
are apparently no Jewish
students at the school.
"I have never heard her
say anything about Israel
which made me as a Jew,
and as someone • devoted to
Israel, uncomfortable," said
Rabbi Arnold Goodman, who
has taught the Jewish
studies course for the past
nine years.
Some observers have sug-
gested that Dr. Cole was
caught amid the ideological
battles within the - Clinton
transition team as it shapes
its cabinet. That struggle is
being waged between left-
wing Democrats and conser-
vative counterparts, many of
whom voted for the Reagan
and Bush administrations.
Mr. Sarnat suggested that
the effort to tarnish Dr. Cole
was part of an attack on the
"progressive agenda in the
Clinton administration,"
and has "no relevance to the
organized Jewish commun-
ity."
Marian Wright Edelman,
chairperson of Spelman Col-
lege when Dr. Cole was ap-
pointed president, described
Dr. Cole as "completely in-
clusive in her view of human
beings." Mrs. Edelman is
president and founder of the
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