Jews and Blacks: Let the Healing Begin

288 Pages·1995·4.175 MB·English

by  Michael Lerner, Cornell West

A GROSSET/PUTNAM BOOK
Published by G. P. Putnam s Sons
Publishers Since 1838
200 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
Copyright © 1993 by Michael Lerner
and Cornel West
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may
not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Published simultaneously in Canada
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lerner, Michael.
Jews and Blacks : let the healing begin / Michael
Lerner and Cornel West.
p. cm.
“A Grosset/Putnam book.”
ISBN 0-399-14046-8
1. Afro-Americans —Relations with Jews.
I. Lerner, Michael, 1943- II. Title.
E183.613.W426 1993 94-43126 CIP
303.896'073—dc20
Printed in the United States of America
10 987634321
This book is printed on acid-free paper. @
Introduction —CW / 1
Introduction — ML / 6
CHAPTER 1
Personal Dimensions / 14
CHAPTER 2
Past Oppression / 45
CHAPTER 3
Cultural Identity and Whiteness / 62
CHAPTER 4
The Civil Rights Movement / 80
CHAPTER 5
Black Nationalism / 91
CHAPTER 6
Jewish Nationalism / 115
CHAPTER 7
Jewish Racism and Black Anti-Semitism 135
CHAPTER 8
Economic Conflicts / 157
CHAPTER 9
Current Tension Points: Crown Heights
and Farrakhan / 180
CHAPTER 1 0
Shared Crises of Leadership / 225
CHAPTER 1 1
Strategies for Reconciliation and
Healing / 249
EPILOGUE
Grounds for Hope / 274
v i (cid:127)
We wish to thank Vivienne Cato for her very fine
work in helping to edit what was, in fact, five years
of tapes and discussions. We also wish to thank Jane
Isay for her tireless work in refining, editing, and
focusing the material, which was originally twice the
length. Her patience, wisdom, and publishing
smarts were deeply appreciated.

This book is dedicated to the legacies of
Martin Luther King, Jr.,
and Abraham Joshua Heschel,
and to our sons,
Clifton West and Akiba Lerner.

Jews an s