JANUARY 15,1980
THE.. MICHIGAN DAILY
P'AC'
JANUARY 15, 1960 THE MICHIGAN DAILY ~Afl1I!
r raa r.
e
Discrimination
Article
Draws
Quick
Response
YI
(Continued from Page 4)
statements that there is little or no
reason for American of Jewish
origin to parcel themselves out of
the general population since the
reasons for this self-segregation
no longer exist; Americans of Jew-
ish origin do not face the virulent
anti-Semitism which plagued their
forebears down the centuries
throughout the world. True, the
blood-letting forms of anti-Semi-
tism are rarely found in the
United States but anti-Semitism
has existed in the United States
and exists in the United States at
the present moment.
JEWS HAVE long desired, pro-
moted, and fought for democracy.
Jews also have long experience
comparing the democratic word
with the democratic deed. Jews
have been denied the application
of democracy to its fullest and
complete extent. No wishy-washy
and wishful thinking can hide the
facts. Many medical schools in the
United States still impose on qual-
ifled Jewish applicants the re-
striction based on the percent of
Jews in the general population. In
many localities Jews are restricted
from living in certain places. And
as for Jewish fraternities and
sororities, these arose as a conse-
quence to the non-admittance of
Jews to the already established
"fraternities." Examples of past
and present anti-Semitic acts in
the United States could be muti-
plied indefinitely. The point here
is this: Jews have not set them-
selves apart but have been forcibly
set apart.
Regarding culture, there is no
need to relinquish the riches that
our ancestors have bestowed upon
us. Each culture contributes some-
thing to human knowledge, ex-
perience, and richness. Culture is
not something to be entombed or
enshrined. Hence it is unnecessary
to submerge or assimilate. A min-.
ority group that arouses less pas-
sion, namely, the American Indi-
ans, clearly shows that destructive
effects of submergence and assimi-
lation.
FINALLY, no technique of per-
suasion, working by itself and
without support, can hope to
achieve brotherhood. Enforced
l egislation and rigorous education
which is the product of our high-
est ideals will help the cause of
brotherhood, while half-measures
and half-hearted measures only
block progress and stimulate ha-
ters and racists. Anti-Semitism
and other anti-human activitiesa
will disappear when we learn to
accept others and the enriching
contributions of others.. ,
-Sol Schwartz, '61 ,
In Defense .. .
To the Editor
UDGING by the numerous let-
ters, Mr. Kozoll's article on the
problem of anti-Semitism seems
to have provoked severe emotional
reactions in many readers, par-
ticulary the Jewish ones.
However, these writers fail to
recognize one fact which is basic
to Mr. Kozoll's argumenit: he does
not ascribe the phenomena of
anti-Semitism entirely to the Jew-
ish population; being Jewish him-
self, Mr. Kozoll has undoubtedly
met with examples of unreason-
able prejudice on the part of non-
Jews in the past, as have (and
still do) many other Jews. I am
sure he realizes that the blame is
not wholly on the Jewish popula-
tion for their "failure to assimi-
late," and it is almost an insult to
his intelligence to assume that he
he thinks otherwise.
And speaking of assimilation:
entirely too many readers have
picked on one point which Mr.
Kozoll called "the biggest area of
conflict"-not "the only area of
conflict," but simply "the biggest."
This is, of course, the problem of
the "Jewish Community" and its
corollary, assimilation (or the lack
of it.) None of the readers who
were provoked enough to answer
him denied the existence of such a
"Jewish Community" but quickly
justified it on the basis of pre-
formed barriers erected by the
Gentile communities into which
the Jewish populations moved.
Aside from ignoring the relative
importance which Mr. Kozoll at-
taches to this aspect of the prob-
lem and raising it to a level of
sole importance, his critics accuse
him of wanting to bring about the
quick, if not immediate, dissolu-
tion of the Jewish culture and
faith. Again, I am sure this is not
his intent. Mr. Kozoll would be
the first to shy away from such an
act of cultural suicide.
, * *
IN REACTING to his article, it
seems that too many others, in-
censed by his preceding remarks,
failed to understand, or perhaps
even to read, a statement at the
end: "Certainly ignorance plays an
important part in the malicious
and destructive practices which
characterize this form of hatred."
He nowhere denies that this is so;
he merely points out that no one
side is entirely to blame.
And when examples of anti-
Semitism do occur, it is too easy
to overlook the fact that "there
are two sides to every question,"
in the rush of sympathy toward
the maligned group. Mr. Kozoll is
a rarity-one of those "sinned
against" who has the farsighted-
ness to see that he is also a "sin-
ner."
-Selma Sawaya
Absurd .. .
To the Editor:
REGARDING Charles Kozoll's
column concerning anti-Semi-
tism, in Tuesday's Daily, there
are certain portions which are not
only absurd, in their reasoning,
but completely repugnant to any
ideals of personal freedom.
Mr. Kozoll speaks of Jews "con-
sciously or unconsciously provok-
ing ill will by many things they,
do or say," and illustrates this
by saying that the deliberate crea-
tion of a geographical "Jewish
Community" is the chief source of;
conflict. He further speaks of the
tendency of many Jews to isolate
themselves socially as a source of
this "conflict." I have no particu-
lar argument with Mr. Kozoll's
logical analysis of the situation,
but his reasoning and conclusions
are so clearly faulty that I feel I
cannot keep silent on the subject.
** *
RELIGION is not an abstract
theorem to which the mere silent
mental assent of an individual
may be given as observance. Reli-
gion, by its very definition, is an
organization which, like any other
organization of people, requires a
centered and directed base of op-
erations from which it can effec-
tively serve its members, both as
a gathering place to worship, and
as a center of administration for
the its social and cultural func-
tions.
Obviously, to be an active parti-
cipant in an organized religion, a
member must be close enough to
its base of operations, its church
or synagogue, to be able to reach
it readily.
* * *
THE MORE startling, and to me
disheartening, idea set forth by
Mr. Kozoll, however, is his infer-
ence that the tendency of Jews
toward differentiation from Gen-
tiles at any level is an "collective
inadequacy" to be met by its mem-
bers with some sort of corrective
measures. Apparently Mr. Kozoll is
telling us that if the Jews wish to
be left in peace they must cease
to be different from Gentiles; that
the only way to eliminate hatred
and persecution is to eliminate the
source of that hatred and persecu-
tion, the differentness of the Jews.
I believe that it is the American
way to protect the rights of Jews
to act any way they wish without
persecution resulting. Certainly,
Mr. Kozoll, we can do away with
strife between Jews and Gentile,
by simply doing away with the
differences that exist between Jew
and Gentile . .. and thus effec-
tively do away with Jews. It has
been my understanding, however,
that it is the Jews' right to con-
duct himself differently from Gen-
tiles, or in any other reasonable
way, that the people of the United
States have long fought to protect.
-David K. Kroll, '62L
In the Dak...
To the Editor:
I MUST CONFESS that I am in
the dark. It seems that the
main point made by the writer of
the "anti-Semitism" aticle con-
cerns itself with the tendency of
the Jewish people to group to-
gether. And apparently a logical
result of this tendency is anti-'
Jewish feelings. Well, it seems to
me that so do the American In-
dians, automobile manufacturers,'
and university people.'
There is little doubt that the1
sociologist would explain these
last three units in terms of func-
tional analysis. A similar and ex-
ceedingly simple explanation might
also account for the predominantly'
Jewish community. The Jewish
nation has a veritable mountain of
literature and custom which many
of them, along with Jesus of Naza-"
reth, consider worth its salt. Thus
they attempt to preserve it
through remaining close to its
source: the temple and the people.;
An extremely imaginative reader
might see how a similar argument
could be made to apply to inter-+
marriage.
STILL thoroughly confused, I
said to myself, "Sure, this explains
it, but how do we rid ourselves of
anti-Semitism?" The Senior Col-
umn author has an answer to this
one: integrate! Being completely
void of imagination, I cannot pro-
ject this idea, but must rely upon
what history tells us. It seems
that the German Jews of the '30's
were the most successful at this.
They were so good at it that one
of Hitler's main complaints was
that (if my memory serves me
honestly) "The Jews have overrun
us. They hold 93 per cent of the
positions in the music world . ..
Incidentally, the German Jews
didn't cling together nearly as
strongly as the Americans are
said to nowadays.
Sure, anti-Semitism is very old
in Germany, but unless there was
a stupendous amount of book-
burning, the decade starting in
1935 was black enough to make
Bismark seem saintly.
Now, there isn't much of a na-
tional history to anti-Semitism in
America, much less a national
cause. Unless something's amiss,
the swastikas appearing in our fair
land are the masterpieces of artis-
tic adolescents. I'm in the dark,
all right, but it's not so bad when
one knows he's not alone.
P.S.: Charles Astor tried to move'
on my block, but we wouldn't let
him.
-Loren Fishman, '62
Real Reason .. .
To the Editor:
IN COMMENTING on the "recent
anti-Semitic outbursts" in Eu-
rope and the United States,
Charles Kozoll states that part of
the difficulty is the tendency of
the "Jewish community" to iso-
late itself, geographically and so-
cially, "from the rest of the com-
muunity." This is caused by "an.
outdated European view that Ju-
daic religion is inextricably mixed.
with its culture."
There is no doubtabout the an-
tagonism which results, but s
group, isolation the real reason?
In the United States, Greeks, Ar-
menians, and Italians, to name a
few, form similar communities be-,
cause they too have "the outdated
European view" that their reli-,
gion and their culture can not be
separated. Yet there are no dem-
onstrations against them, theirs
temples are not profaned, nor are
they asked "to correct some of thej
inadequacies" of their way of life;
that is, they are not asked to as-
similate (conform to) a culture
which might not be to their lik-
ing.
* * *
IS THERE ONLY room for one
way of life iin the United States,
Mr. Kozoll? or will a mass assimi-
lation of the non-conforming group
into the communuity at large put
an end to restricted property, re-
stricted country clubs, and social
groups with bias clauses? When-
ever people are at a loss in justi-
fying their prejudices they drag
out the old standby, "Look how
clannish they are; they don't want!
to live with us, and wouldn't leave
their people if they could." The
fact that there is increasing as-
similation with every new genera-
tion seems to disprove this. More
important, it shows that as people
feel themselves accepted in a com-
munity there is no longer anyI
need for the defensive walls of
"Little Italy" or "Chinatown" or
Harlem. The statement that people
choose to live among "their own,
kind" is true of "the rest of the
community" as well. What does ut
prove? Only that people tend to
use the idea of "clannishness' as
an excuse to maintain the status
quo, to keep their "social" and
"geographical" community intact
against the influx of a minority
group with different religious and
cultural standards. This is why
there are "private" clubs for Ne-
groes, or Jews, or Catholics. And
"the rest of the community" is an-
tagonized because they discover
they are being excluded-and they
don't like it.
, , ,
ANTAGONISM, says Mr. Ko-
zo1, is to be avoided at all costs.
The answer is "assimilation"-all
the private restricted clubs into
one big one? No, that won't help.
How about tolerance? To deny any
group the right to maintain their
individuality on the grounds that
"they may .. ,provoke ill will by
what they say or do." says in ef-
fect, "It would be much more con-
venient for everyone concerned if
you would think the same way we
do." Of course, Mr. Kozoll, 'but
democracy is never convenient.
--Sandra Wilson, '61
Appalled . .
To the Editor:
I AM APPALLED by what must
be gross indifference, bigotry, or
fear on the part of our legislators
who take no stand against the
injustice and unfitness of these
laws. Whatever personal view one
may take of homosexuality, abor-
tion, sale of liquor on Sunday,
marital sex practices, or whatever,
one must realize that these ques-
tions are of individual ethical
concern and it is the duty of law-
makers and the educated public to
see that they are not confused
with the legitimate concerns of
the state. Christian intolerance
and moralbigotry have damned
many of the freedoms of the
people of this state. They are a
tremendous insult to the princi-
ples of democracy we as Americans
supposedly hold sacred.
-Tom Shellberg, '60
Rid+~iuou s
To the Editor:
WAS VERY HAPPY to read
Charles Kozoll's editorial on
anti-Semitism and its searching
analysis of the causes of this age-
old problem. With this editorial.
in mind, I am sure that many
Jewish rushees next semester will
rush Sigma Chi in hopes of getting
a bid, providing they .receive the
approval of the brotherhood. His
editorial will also stand as a pillar
of hope to Jews who wish to move
into residential areas which are
restricted, and resorts that do not
"cater to Jews." After all, the only
thing which was really impedin
them was the fact that they were
isolating and restricting them-
selves.
The above paragraph is a bit
facetious, but no more ridiculous
than the statements made in the
editorial were naive. Perhaps, not
so much naive as without thought
or insight. I wonder if Mr. Kozoll
really believes that there is no
pressure from the non-Jewish half
of a boy-girl relationship; I won-
der if Mr. Kozoll seriously enter-
tains the thought that a Jew could
join the Detroit Athletic Club, and
other such organizations. I wonder
if Mr. Kozoll can put out of his
mind schools with discriminatory
clauses and as I said before, re-
sorts that do not house Jews.
* * *
JUST AS Mr. Kozoll cries out
against the refusal of Jews to
assimilate, and attributes anti-
Semitism to the insistence on be-
ing cliquish, so there are many
others who cry out against the
insistence of Jews to assimilate
and the examples are many, and
attribute anti-Semitism to the at-
tempt of Jews to force their way
into places where it is said they
do not rightfully belong,.
Mr. Kozoll, just who is right?
Just who can solve this double
horned dilemma that arises when-
ever the bigotry shown against a
minority group is displayed? Any
position taken will leave the
speaker wide open to a counter
attack which is as justifiable as
the stand which incurred it.
The answer is that neither of
these arguments is the answer. An
attempt to solve anti-Semitism in
the ways mentioned above are and
will be futile. I suggest, Mr. Kozoll,
that you follow the advice which
you slide past in your editorial,
and join the educated and rational
people who attempt to attack the
problem at its roots. It will be
much more effective to make
people realize that Jews are people
to be respected on terms of their
human attributes, than to teach
respect for Jews because they will
marry out of their religion, aban-
don their culture, and dissolve
their congregations.
-John J. Fried, '62
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