Community Views

The People Spoke
In Unmistakable Words

Teen Athletes Fail
To See Adult Concern

MELVIN J. HOLLOWELL JR. SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

ALAN HITSKY ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Now that the na church, a powerhouse insti-
smoke has cleared tution in city politics, people saw
from the primary Ms. Kilpatrick as a credible al-
election in early ternative to the incumbent.
Furthermore, reports con-
'1 August, I think
it's fair to say that cerning Rep. Collins' own con-
voters in the 15th duct, particularly in the latter
Congressional stages of the campaign, signaled
District race got it to many that perhaps she had
lost her way and was not simply
just about right.
The incumbent Rep. Barbara the victim of a witch hunt.
I believe that Rep. Collins was
Rose Collins has been plagued
by a steady stream of re-
ports of financial impro-
prieties, missed votes
and other staff-related
problems. The prevail-
ing theory most fre-
quently expressed in
barber shops, beauty
parlors and other cen-
ters of high political dis-
course was that Ms.
Collins would win no
matter what.
The main reason,
it was thought, was that
several capable chal-
lengers would divide
up the vote, allowing
Rep. Collins to win with
a plurality. The other
reason was that her
constituents would ulti-
mately come to her
aid in the belief that she
was the victim of a racist
and sexist smear cam-
Paign.
Neither rationale car-
ried the day.
Almost from the be-
ginning this was a two-
person race with state
Rep. Carolyn Cheeks-
Kilpatrick lining up key
endorsements and mon-
ey. She also wore out Barbara Rose Collins: Defeated by a large margin.
more shoe leather
knocking on doors and attend- deeply wounded by the reports
ing more community functions suggesting that she had fired an
than the other challengers, who aide for being HIV positive and
were not well-known in the com- for allegedly requiring staff
members to undergo polygraph
munity.
Because of her competent tests to discourage media leaks.
track record during her 18-year This was widely frowned upon
tenure in the Michigan Legis- as smacking of heavy-handed-
lature and her affiliation with ness, insensitivity and "Big
the Shrine of the Black Madon- Brother."
Then, just days before the
Melvin J. Hollowell Jr. is a share
election, in what can only be de-
holder at Butzel Long.
scribed as a truly bizarre, rapid-

fire chain of events, the Detroit
Free Press quoted Rep. Collins

as saying that she "hated" the
white race, she received an en-
dorsement from Nation of Islam
leader Louis Farrakhan, and she
decided to hold a fund-raiser at
a strip club.
The Free Press ran a front-
page retraction, conveniently
held until after the election, ad-
mitting that Rep. Collins was
misquoted by their re-
porter. Apparently the
congresswoman really
said that she "did not
like" the white race. But
the damage had already
been done as more of her
supporters began to turn
away.
In my view, Rep.
Collins' sanitized version
of her purported actual
comments still repre-
sents an unacceptable
bias that has no place in
this society.
I should add that the
Free Press' malfeasance
in this matter has sig-
nificantly undermined
the already shaky status
of the media in the black
community and has giv-
en real currency to those
who believe in conspir-
acy theories.
The Farrakhan en-
dorsement did not galva-
nize Rep. Collins'
constituents along racial
lines as I believe she
thought it would. Instead
— to the credit of the elec-
torate — it looks as
though it had the oppo-
site effect, making Rep.
Collins appear desperate.
Even though the congress-
woman was already on the crit-
ical list by this time, the mortal
blow was probably the strip club
fund-raiser. I heard many vari-
ations on the theme that this
was the last straw.
The election wasn't even close.
Rep. Collins was defeated by a
two-to-one margin by Rep. Kil-
patrick. In the end, the voters
said that they wanted and de-
served better. And they got it.

6355360 @MCIMAIL . COM .

11

What
Do You
/ Think?"

Does it really matter who is
president of the United States?

To respond: "So, What Do You Think?"
27676 Franklin Road, Southfield, MI 48034

❑

Security did not
appear, on the
surface, to be a
major issue last
week at the
JCC Maccabi
Youth Games in
New Jersey.
Oh, the police
were directing
traffic at the Continental Air-
lines Arena at the Meadowlands
for the opening ceremonies Sun-
day night. And a staff member
was checking 2,200 teens and
their coaches — one by one —
for their pictured credentials be-
fore they were allowed into the
tunnel for the parade of athletes.
Without a credential I slipped
by the checker, thanks to my
Detroit Maccabi warmup jack-
et and the crush of kids around
me. I'm sure it wouldn't have
been too difficult to join the pub-
lic seated in the arena, either
with a free ticket or by just join-
ing the crowd.
There was little security — at
least that I could see — at the
athletic venues. I rarely saw a
uniformed policeman in my
travels across what seemed like
200 square miles of northern
New Jersey. Unlike Detroit in
1990, the MetroWest Jewish
community was forced to use
athletic venues that were as
much as 15 miles apart. From
County College of Morris on the
west to Solomon Schechter High
School and the West Orange
Tennis Club on the east, teen
athletes and spectators did a lot
of traveling in cars and school
bu-ses.
On Monday evening, a police
car, a fire truck and an ambu-
lance stood by the single road-
way entrance to the Jewish
Community Center/MetroWest
Federation in Whippany. The
athletes and host families — at
least 5,000 people —.were asked
to park at a catering firm two
miles away and take . shuttle
buses to the Maccabi picnic at
the JCC.
Tuesday night, it was hard to
ignore the security. Half the ath-
letes and coaches — more than
1,200 — were bused in three
separate convoys to the Circle
Line dock in Hoboken. Each
convoy of 10-12 school buses was
escorted by two New Jersey
State Police cars through rush-
hour traffic. Hoboken police
sealed off the dock area, the bus-
es were parked on an empty
quay and the teen athletes were
kept on the buses or next to the
boat until it was time to board.
Throughout the two-hour
cruise, a New York Police boat
trailed 100-200 yards behind
each of the three Circle Line
boats. Every 15 minutes, a po-

lice helicopter passed overhead.
The entire procedure was re-
peated Wednesday night for the
second half of the Maccabi del-
egations.
A parent brought the securi-
ty issue closer to home at a
small hotel reception hosted by
the Detroit Maccabi Club. "Why
did you have to put in your sto-
ry two weeks ago where and
when the team was leaving De-
troit and where and when they
are returning?" she asked.
Serious question. The public
did not have to know that in-
formation; Maccabi parents and
athletes had been sent written
instructions and were remind-
ed at the team meeting at the
Maple-Drake Jewish Commu-
nity Center. Another reminder
from The Jewish News was un-
necessary.

Police sealed off
the dock and trailed
the cruise boats.

I asked the parent if the
newspaper should, in the inter-
est of security, stop printing the
times and locations of major
community events. Should the
Weisberg concert at Shaarey
Zedek, the JARC fund-raiser at
the Fox or the annual Balfour
Celebration be by invitation
only? How much must we
change our lives and routines in
the interest of security?
The parent was not happy.
"Security at a building," she
said, "is not the same as trans-
portation."
I don't buy that answer. I see
no difference between the two,
nor do I believe that a terrorist
would make any distinction, ex-
cept for the ease of approaching
a target.
But in my mind, the argu-
ment I raise is irrelevant be-
cause I would not be talking
that way in the aftermath of a
terrorist incident. We can split
hairs like this only when such a
tragedy is theoretical.
It is amazing to see the im-
pact terrorism has had on our
lives. The World Trade Center
bombing, Oklahoma City, Cen-
tennial Olympic Park in Atlanta
or the black-Jewish unrest in
Crown Heights — I don't know
which had an impact on the or-
ganizers of last week's Maccabi
Youth Games.
I doubt if the teen-aged ath-
letes noticed any of the precau-
tions. But we adults did. And,
hopefully, the precautions will
remain a small, unnoticed foot-
note in Jewish life. ❑