Tuesday, October 22, 1996
DIVERSITY:
Colleges meet to reduce tension among African Americans, JewsBy
Karen Duryea
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
For the first time, a conference on African American and Jewish
relations specifically dealing with issues on the college campus
level was held in Washington, D.C. last week.
Sponsored by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism,
NAACP, Hillel and the United Negro College Fund, representatives
from 14 universities were chosen to participate in an open
discussion on relations between the two groups.
"One major goal was to provide an open forum where two groups
could meet and discuss some of the issues facing them, and the
historical issues that both groups have encountered, then use this
type of forum as a point of departure for better relations," said
Gordon Berry, professor of psychological studies in education.
UCLA, along with Boston University, Queens College and the
University of Massachusetts at Amherst, sent the largest
contingencies to the conference, with approximately 20 delegates
representing each university.
Through presentations, group discussions and analysis, their
goal was to foster stronger ties between the African American and
Jewish communities.
"We wanted to hear what’s going on all over the country," said
Rachel Grose, UCLA Hillel outreach coordinator. "To hear about
different instances, either positive or negative, and learn from
them."
Grose claimed that poor relations between Jews and African
Americans stems from a lack of understanding.
"Jews have a lot of misconceptions of what an African-American
student is up against," she said. At the same time, she explained,
Jews are not always recognized as a minority, since they are
largely considered white and assimilated.
"No one has to know you’re Jewish," she said. "Since we’re not
identifiable, there is a lack of recognition … it’s based on
ignorance."
Others describe African American and Jewish relations more like
a series of peaks and valleys rather than constant valleys.
"I think these differences arise at different periods of time,"
Berry said. "They arise over national and international issues,
sometimes there is no strain at all."
Of the UCLA delegates in attendance, half were African American
and half were Jewish. A variety of faculty, graduate and
undergraduate students, and staff from all aspects at UCLA who also
participated, were chosen based on their interests and past
involvement with the issues facing relations between the two
groups.
For two days, conference delegates discussed specifically how to
build stronger relations, along with how to deal honestly with
differences and major issues that currently face both
communities.
On the last day, small groups met to discuss how they could
implement what they had learned into concrete solutions for their
campuses.
Jewish students at UCLA plan to organize as a group for
tomorrow’s rally against Proposition 209. They also plan to
continue group dialogues with the African-American community, Grose
said.
Although Grose found it interesting to hear how other colleges
dealt with relations between the two communities, Berry remarked
that each campus has different issues to address in different
ways.
"It is clear that each campus has to adopt strategies based on
the types of issues that they have. One model is not necessarily
good for all campuses," Berry said.
Some schools had already formed coalitions to promote dialogue
between the two groups, said Luis Rodriguez, a fifth-year sociology
student.
Rodriguez found that he noticed more tension between groups from
East Coast colleges, and that in California, apathy was the sole
problem behind the deterioration of relations.
"… The Jewish community is more visible on the East Coast. In
Los Angeles it is not as visible. … (On the West Coast,) we think
white and black, not in terms of cultural identity," Rodriguez
said.
As a result, participants said the conference was effective in
breaking down stereotypes, with African Americans learning about
the different backgrounds and traditions of the Jewish people.
"Personally, it enlightened me to the idea that Jewish people
aren’t just an entity but a group that needs recognition,"
Rodriguez said. "I have Jewish friends, but I never really thought
of them as Jewish, just as friends.
"Now I realize they have an ethnicity, they are not just white,
but they also have a cultural background."
Likewise, Jewish participants increased their knowledge of
African-American culture and heritage.
Berry said that continued communication is something that every
community on campus would benefit from, adding that the discussions
between the two groups could serve as a model for other student
groups to dispel their differences.
"UCLA’s task is to put into place a system of opportunities, so
that these two groups and other groups who might have similar or
different issues, can discuss it in an open forum.
"When we keep the marketplace of ideas open between and among
groups, you cannot help but have growth on everyone’s part," Berry
continued. "Not that we will always agree, but it is important to
provide an opportunity to deal with issues in an atmosphere of
civility."