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AD694
parameters of the legislation, and
this has led to some confusion.
"The lack of a definition is one
of the major obstacles to produc-
tive discussion on this issue," says
University of Michigan law and
business student Mark Bern-
stein.
But that hasn't deterred indi-
viduals like Mr. Bernstein and
Jewish groups around the coun-
try from taking a stand.
In New York, Jill Kahn
Meltzer, associate director of le-
gal affairs for the Anti-Defama-
tion League, says the ADL
supports affirmative action to the
extent that it redresses past dis-
crimination by giving individu-
als the assistance, education and
training they need to compete for
jobs and college placement.
But when it comes to quotas,
the ADL warns against it. In a
position statement, the
organization maintains
that numerical goals
and timetables have
generated discrimina-
tion in the form of
racial preferences and
quotas.
"All too often a goal
functions as a quota. I
don't know where that's
ever worked to our ad-
vantage," Ms. Meltzer
says. 'The Jewish com-
munity has historical-
ly suffered from
discrimination, and we
have benefited from
those policies that have
evaluated people based
on individual merit, not
on group rights. Even
when (discrimination)
is well-intentioned, it's
not a benefit to a mi-
nority or society as a
whole."
The American Jew-
ish Committee takes a
different position. In a
1986 article, "Justice
For All," AJCommittee's legal di-
rector Samuel Rabinove argues
for "reasonable goals and timeta-
bles, not quotas." He refers to a
U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Lo-
cal 28, Sheet Metal Workers v.
EEOC, in which the Court "ap-
proved a lower court order im-
posing on a union a goal of 29
percent black and Hispanic mem-
bership by August 1987."
The AJCommittee took part in
a multicultural coalition filing a
joint friend-of-the-court brief in
support of the lower court's deci-
sion. Requiring the union to work
toward racial inclusiveness is not
tantamount to mandating a spe-
cific number of minorities. That
would be a quota, the AJCom-
mittee reasoned.
"I think in practice, sometimes,
people use goals as quotas," says
Frederick Frank, vice president
of the AJCommittee's Michigan
chapter. "The difference is a fine
line to walk. You can use goals
and timetables as a way to mea-
sure progress, but it is not a hard
and fast rule, like a quota."
Locally, agencies affiliated
with the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit call them-
selves "equal opportunity em-
ployers," which means they do
not discriminate according to re-
ligion, race, gender, etc. At Camp
Maas, for instance, Director Har-
vey Finkelberg hires Jews and
gentiles, although only the for-
mer serve as bunk counselors.
"We want the counselors to
have a strong knowledge of Ju-
daism," he says.
Historically, Jews were promi-
nent supporters of affirmative ac-
tion. Thirty years ago, they
rallied alongside other minorities
for equal opportunity and pas-
sage of the Civil Rights Act. But
attitudes began to change a few
years later, notes Leon Cohan, a
past president of metro Detroit's
Jewish Community Council.
As Jews grew more comfort-
able in the U.S. mainstream,
some became less sympathetic to
outsiders; in fact, they became
more protective of their own po-
sitions, eyeing blacks and other
minorities as a potential threat,
said Mr. Cohan, who considers
the phenomenon unfortunate.
"I think that, as Jews, we have
an obligation to fight to make cer-
tain that all people achieve equal-
ity of opportunity in our society,"
he says. "Affirmative action, in
my view, is one step in that di-
rection."
Mike Weinraub, a 27-year-old
professional from Southfield, feels
strongly that today's affirmative
action policies indicate a giant
leap backward.
"Government is saying that
members of some minorities are
not good enough to get into places
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