HOW REAL ARE BLACK-JEWISH TENSIONS?

As a sell-out crowd of 1,200 prepares to watch 'Liberators' tonight, the question of rocky Black-Jewish relations once again comes under scrutiny. As the administration moves to reform its race relations policies, an uneasy calm remains on campus, but the question everyone will be asking is...

A year ago this time, when controversial City University of New York Professor Leonard Jeffries came to speak at Sanders Theatre, campus attention focused on Black-Jewish tensions.

Tonight, those tensions will be under scrutiny again in the same arena, when 1,200 people flock to Sanders to watch the controversial movie 'Liberators,' a documentary about the role of Black soldiers in the liberation of Nazi concentration camps.

The screening of the movie is an effort by the University administration to address the perceived tensions between the Black and Jewish communities at Harvard. It is also part of the administration's attempt to develop a comprehensive and proactive approach to ameliorating campus race relations.

Though the veracity of the movie has come under fire in recent weeks, the organizers insist the film will be an opportunity to improve relations between Blacks and Jews on campus. The event is sponsored by the Office of the President, the Office of the Dean of Students and the Afro-American Studies Department.

But Black and Jewish student leaders interviewed last weekend say tensions are not as serious as some College administrators seem to think.

Black Students Association President Zaheer R. Ali '94 calls tonight's program a late reaction to last spring's turmoil. He also says the administration's worries about Black-Jewish relations are now obsolete. "I think they are blowing it out of proportion," says Ali.

"I don't see [tonight's] attempt as a desperately needed discussion," says Shai A. Held '94, a former Hillel chair and a former chair of Hillel's inter-group relations committee, which tries to promote dialogue between Hillel and other campus groups, especially the BSA.

Ali says he does not think there are tensions between Black and Jewish students, either on an organizational or an individual basis. Relations have not been volatile since last spring and the emphasis on ameliorating Black-Jewish relations seems a late response to an old crisis, according to Ali.

"The only time that [the administration] responds to students is when we protest and act up and the last time we did that was last spring," Ali says. "The administration really needs to catch up with what's going on now."

Hillel and BSA members say they are unaware of racially insensitive acts by either Blacks or Jews on campus. On an individual basis, relations between Black and Jewish students are cordial, students say.

"I don't think I'm ever going to hear an individual making an anti-Semitic slur," says Megan E. Lewis '95, a Hillel member and panelist in tonight's discussion.

But she adds that good relations can be marred by organizational conflicts between the BSA and Hillel that can trickle down to the interpersonal level.

Acting Director of Hillel Rabbi Sally A. Finestone attributes any tension between the groups to "programmatic issues" and says she has "not had any Jewish students come in and complain of problems on an interpersonal level."

The only time that [the administration] responds to students is when we protest and act up and the last time we did that was last spring. The administration really needs to catch up with what's going on now.

Zaheer R. Ali '94

BSA President

"Most of the conflicts were because of a choice of speakers," says Hillel Chair Jeremy A. Dauber '95.

However, BSA Vice President Alvin L. Bragg '95 says relations still could be better.

"When there is a crisis situation, there is a greater sense of anxiety and nervousness and people want to reserve their feelings," says Bragg. "There is no crisis at this moment but there is no partnership."

A Stormy Spring

Last spring, racial tensions flared between BSA and Hillel after a series of unrelated incidents which eventually prompted a shakeup of the College's race relations bureaucracy and the appointment of Epps in a proconsulary role as coordinator of race relations.

In February, the BSA sponsored a speech by Jeffries, who has sparked controversy for his racially charged remarks about whites and Jews.

In April, Harvard Foundation Director S. Allen Counter charged that Crimson writers "active in Hillel" were pursuing an "anti-Black agenda." Subsequently, Counter and The Crimson traded charges of racial insensitivity. Several Hillel officers called Counter's remarks anti-Semitic. A broad minority coalition supported Counter.

In May, the BSA distributed a flyer titled "On the Harvard Plantation," which catalogued grievances against the College administration, The Crimson, and the Harvard police for their insensitive treatment of Black students.

So Much Attention

Some BSA members credit their efforts to publicize unfair treatment of Black students on campus for drawing attention to larger questions of interracial conflict. However, they say most of this concern has been lumped together in studying Black-Jewish tensions.

"Much of the race relations hoopla from the administration has arisen out of the doordrop 'On the Harvard Plantation,'" says Ali. "It's frustrating because we have to demonstrate what the problems are."

I don't see [tonight's] attempt as a desperately needed discussion.

Shai A. Held '94

Former Hillel Chair

Other students say Black and Jewish student leaders are playing out national issues on the stage of a more confined and volatile, campus environment.

"I think that [the tensions have] to do with things on this campus," Lewis says. "It's the intellectual and academic atmosphere. Leaders make some things a big issue and that informs what people think."

Although many students say the relationship between the Black and Jewish communities on campus may in fact be over-hyped, members of both groups say tonight's program-in the absence of immediate conflict--is a chance to engage in constructive dialogue.

And even if some believe the issue of Black-Jewish relations has gotten a disproportionate share of attention both on and off campus, they still maintain the problem deserves the attention it has been getting.

Held says Black-Jewish tensions have become a lightning rod for discussion of all interracial conflict.

He says the exploration of Black-Jewish conflict has encouraged increased openness in discussing tensions among other groups.

"It is viewed as a problem in American society, but I do not see a danger of overemphasis," Held says. "I do not think we have reached the point in the attempt to make Harvard the paradigm and not the model reflective of the problems in the real world."