Jews and Blacks: A Dialogue on Race, Religion, and Culture in America
by Michael Lerner, Cornel West
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Book Summary Information
Author: Cornel West, Michael LernerEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1996-02-01
ISBN: 0452275911
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Plume
Book Reviews of Jews and Blacks: A Dialogue on Race, Religion, and Culture in America
Book Review: Too tame
Summary: 2 Stars
How are two of America's minorities, Blacks and Jews, getting along? Are they fighting for human rights together? Or are some of them bailing out on support for human rights, at least on some issues, as if they have forgotten that oppression is bad? Michael Lerner and Cornel West explore some of these issues.
One question is, of course, justice, and that includes high-publicity trials for violent crimes. I have noticed that many Whites are willing to strongly denounce the outcomes of the Rodney King and Latasha Harlins cases. It seems to me that fewer Blacks are as willing to denounce the outcomes of the Nicole Simpson/Ron Goldman and Yankel Rosenbaum trials. I was hoping this book would have, as a minimum, both authors advocate that both sides do better here. There will occasionally be some outrageous outcomes of court cases. We have to accept that. But I think we have to speak out in favor of truth and justice and do it loudly. And I think this book is far from satisfactory in that regard.
On another topic, here is an amazing quote from Lerner:
"I don't underestimate the pernicious effect on Jewish consciousness of Commentary Magazine and The New Republic, each of which has given a certain intellectual legitimacy to racist tendencies in the Jewish world, most importantly the deep desire to imagine that Jews have no serious moral or political stake in ending the economic oppression of Blacks. But these are nevertheless not people who in any overt and conscious way say that Blacks are an evil force in the world."
Wow. It is true that there are a few Blacks who do insist that Jews are an evil force in the world. But why contrast them with Commentary, which is a conservative but non-racist magazine, let alone with The New Republic, which is a liberal magazine that does claim that we all have a serious moral and political stake in ending discrimination against Blacks?
There is an interesting discussion of Black nationalism. And I certainly agree that it is wrong to oppose nationalism simply on the grounds that some nationalists can be racists or bigots. When people have common interests or problems, it often makes sense for them to form a national group. There's also a discussion of Jewish nationalism. Lerner makes the point that the Dreyfus case in France was a key element in showing the need for Jewish nationalism.
Now, what ought one hope for in a book of this sort? One hope might be that right or wrong, the two authors would agree on how to cooperate. They would come up with some bad ideas, but the good part would be that they agreed! Another hope could be that they would come up with good ideas. I think they came closer to the former than the latter.
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