Jack Salzman, Cornel West Struggles in the Promised

392 // LETTY COTTIN POGREBIN
Accepting Difference
Black/Jewish dialogue takes work but yields its share of revelation. The Black
women discovered, for instance, that the Jewish women don't always feel white
and are not always treated as white by white Christians but rather as some hybrid,
in-between race. The Jews learned that our Black sisters consider us white, period.
The Jews admitted that we see African Americans as Black before we think of
them as Christian or Muslim. Each side bounced back after hearing some of the
distorted opinions the other side held about them, and each was relieved to get
off its collective chest some of the hostility that none of us would have dared confess
elsewhere. Certain facts emerged with great clarity: No longer could Blacks
and Jews be drawn together simply because other Americans hate us both. No
longer could we reach easy agreement on what constitutes bigotry or insult. No
longer could a speech or slogan move us to march together. Now, we often stalked
off in opposite directions or faced each other across an abyss, crossing swords over
language, power, and resources.
This is not to say that our group automatically divided along lines of color or
ethnicity on every issue. On feminism or spirituality, for instance, I usually stood
with my Black sisters. But in this dialogue, as in all the Black/Jewish groups in
which I've participated, one subject could be counted on to split us down the
middle: Louis Farrakhan.
Fighting Over Farrakhan
Our arguments sounded something like this:
Jewish Woman: "1 just can't understand the reluctance of mainstream Blacks
to repudiate Black anti-Semites instantly and unequivocally. Why is this so
hard?"
Black Woman: "Why should each of us have to represent the entire Black
race? If I didn't blame you for the behavior of someone like Meir Kahane, why
must 1 answer for the behavior of Farrakhan? Besides, we're powerless, so why do
you care what a few of our extremists say about you? And, by the way, how come
the only time we hear from Jews these days is when you want us to denounce one
of our own?"
J.W.: "Don't denounce him, denounce his behavior."
B.W.: "Since we have so few spokesmen who can engage the attention of the
whole community, we have to protect our leaders, not censure them. Even if I disagree
with Farrakhan, even if I think Cokely [Steve Cokely, a Chicago political
hack who claimed Jewish doctors inject the AIDS virus into Black children} is a
fool with no following, I'm not going to attack any Black just to make Jews feel
better. And I'm certainly not going after somone like Farrakhan who's been such
a good influence on our youth. We're tired of trotting out Martin Luther King,