Jack Salzman, Cornel West Struggles in the Promised

168 // CHERYL GREENBERG
ly surprising, then, that as Jewish and Black interests and concerns diverged, their
level of collaboration declined.
Nevertheless, cooperation did not cease. While Jewish groups moved rightward
from where they had been, they remained on the liberal side of the political
spectrum, particularly in regard to domestic policies and social issues. Thus large
areas of overlapping interest remained. Black and Jewish groups worked together
on aid to public education, anti-poverty, hunger and homelessness programs,
abortion rights, and similar causes. Further, like Black organizations, Jewish
groups continued to monitor all cases of bigotry and continued their tolerance
work. The ADL, for example, long in the business of producing diversity programs,
launched "A World of Difference" in 1985 to help schools, workplaces,
and civic groups appreciate ethnic, racial, and religious diversity and work more
effectively with those different from themselves. Like the NAACP, it also keeps
watch on hate groups like skinheads, the Klan, and neo-Nazis. Collaboration on
hate crimes brought passage of bias or hate-crime legislation in numerous states
and cities across the country.
Compared to the earlier period, then, two things have changed. One is the
makeup of the coalition on progressive issues. Once dominated by Jews and
Blacks it is now far broader. Asian Americans, Latinos, gays and lesbians, a growing
number of activist liberal church groups, some unions, and others perceiving
themselves on the margins of society routinely join efforts to challenge inequality
and poverty. Second, because of class and politics, organized Jewish interest in
issues of central importance to this coalition is no longer as uniform or unambivalent.
Thus while African American groups remain firmly within this coalition,
Jewish agencies sometimes join and sometimes stand outside, and the Black-
Jewish political relationship can no longer be characterized in any sense as an
alliance.
Nevertheless, some sense of linkage remains, a remnant of earlier, productive
collaboration and the shared sense of vulnerability and oppression that fostered
that collaboration in the first place. That is why "Black-Jewish relations" still
have far more resonance than do "Black-Italian relations" or "Jewish-Latino relations,"
and why the tensions and anger seem so bitter. On some level, both Blacks
and Jews expect more from each other, and so feel betrayed by the apparently fundamental
recent rifts. On the other hand, that sense of linkage suggests that the
rift need not be permanent. If Jews and African Americans find a renewed mutuality
of purpose, they already have a model for a productive relationship in their
past collaboration, conducted despite overwhelming tensions and differences.
And they may find that shared purpose. As our cities continue to deteriorate, their
problems spill increasingly over into suburban areas. Expanding divisions between
rich and poor threaten both productivity and security. If hatred and bigotry
continue to express themselves not only in limited opportunities but in violence,
one can only hope for a return to the recognition that the problems of one
group are indeed the problems of us all.