750 DETROIT HE JEWISH NEWS 23 TISHREI 5754 /OCTOBER 8, 1993 DETROIT Curricula Volunteers prepare to teach about AIDS. Page 14 Two Sides With peace on the way, Gaza remains difficult. Page 55 To The Stars Two Jewish astronauts aboard the Columbia. Page 63 Tradition Joel Grey has great lines here. Page 73 4 - I I" I II In Mourning Grieving can take strange twists. Page 93 contents on page 3 Surveying Our Neighbors The Jewish News, Wayne State and the Jewish Council take a look at how Jews view themselves in relation to the people they live and work with. KIMBERLY UPTON STAFF WRITER obert Brown believes metropolitan Detroit is one of the most polarized communities in America. "I think we have become a little too insulated in the suburbs," said Mr. Brown, chairman of the South- field-Lathrup Multicultural Coali- tion. "But Jews should not be singled out. A lot of people don't as- sociate with those who are not like themselves. And a lot of this comes from lack of contact." Mr. Brown's views lend support to key find- ings of a study released this week on attitudes among members of the Jewish community. The survey of 500 Jewish News subscribers and non-subscribers indicated that Detroit area Jews believe they have few ties with lo- cal Arabs, Chaldeans or blacks. Participants also said these other ethnic and minority groups have stronger negative feelings toward Jews than Jews have toward them. Mr. Brown was surprised by the re- sults of the survey because he interacts with blacks, Arabs and Chaldeans on a regular ba- sis. He added that more contact with other groups may help to change these attitudes. The random telephone sampling was drawn from a data base containing 24,000 identifiable Jewish households in metropol- itan Detroit. In total, 892 people were con- tacted and 505 interviews were completed. The survey, the first ever conducted for The Jewish News, was done jointly with Wayne State University's Center For Urban Studies and the Jewish Commu- nity Council of Metropolitan De- troit Arthur M. Horwitz, Jewish News associate publisher, said he initiated the survey to put into place some bench marks on Jewish commu- nal perceptions and attitudes toward other groups who live in the metropolitan Detroit area. "We hope this will precipitate discussion and more action within the Jewish commu- nity," Mr. Horwitz said. "This also will help The Jewish News to develop an agenda for future stories, sponsorships and other com- munity involvement." Mr. Horwitz said future studies will be designed to track progress on the issues raised in the sur- vey. David Gad- Harf, executive di- rector of the Jewish Com- munity Conn- cil, said survey findings affirm his be- lief that more work must be done to improve intergroup relations in met- ropolitan Detroit. "I think the most startling thing is the perception about the Jewish and Chaldean/Arab relationships," Mr. Gad-Harf said. "It's problematic and it needs attention. "Jews have to ask themselves, do they want to come togeth- er with Chaldeans and blacks? Is it a priority? There's a lot more work to be done in these areas," Mr. Gad-Harf said. Members of the Arab and Chaldean community agreed that dialogue, ed- ucation and organizations aimed at heightening relationships are the way to build bridges between Jews and other ethnic groups. "If we expect to do anything to im- prove these relations, the city (Detroit) has to become the center of our effort, and we have to arrest the sprawl that characterizes itself around Detroit," said Arthur Johnson, vice-president of university relations at Wayne State University and immediate past pres- ident of the Detroit Chapter of the NAACP. "Unless we do this, there won't be much point in talking about these relationships." Added Terry Ahwal, president of the American Arab Anti-Discrimina- SURVEY page 6 CLOSE UP Jpws, Blacks As Neighbors JENNIFER FINER JEWISH NEWS INTERN S ome black commu- nity members say strong leadership, dialogue and education are essential to over- come stereotypes, espe- cially between blacks and Jews. They were not sur- prised to hear Jews tend to have negative feel- ings toward blacks and feel blacks have nega- tive feelings toward them. Arthur L. Johnson, vice-president of uni- versity relations at Wayne State Universi- ty and immediate past president of the Detroit Chapter of the NAACP, said the only way to im- prove relations between blacks and Jews is by working together to de- velop the city of Detroit. "Rebuilding and fur- ther developing life in the city, this is our call- ing," he said. "If we ex- pect to do anything to improve these relations, the city has to become the center of our effort NEIGHBORS page 8