A second example: Many blacks resent Jewish merchants, but many Hispanics admire Jewish merchants and try to emulate their sense of enterprise. ”The ones we`ve known have been good to the community,” says Medina. ”Many of them have set good examples of enterprise and hustle, and we`ve been able to set up our own shops.” While many shops in black areas were either taken over by non-blacks or simply abandoned, in Pilsen and other Hispanic sections there aren`t too many empty storefronts and only a few shops are not operated by neighborhood people.
It would be naive to believe that blacks are naturally hostile towards Jews and that Hispanics aren`t. Rather, two wholly separate mind-sets are functioning. ”Blacks see themselves in a reparations mind-set, while Hispanics see themselves as an immigrant/refugee group,” says Kreinberg. In other words, Hispanics, like other immigrants and refugees, struggled to get into America; blacks were kidnaped. Hispanics and other immigrant groups are grateful for whatever helping hands they encounter along the immigrant`s traditionally difficult road. Blacks resent not being able to break out of generation-to-generation poverty and discrimination. Whatever reparative morsels society throws them will never outweigh the harsh reality of their history.
Asked about the ”reparations mind-set,” Rev. George Riddick, vice president of Operation PUSH, agreed that it was the critical factor underlying black-Jewish tension. ”The (reparations) mind-set has not been thought of before,” says Riddick, ”probably because black-Jewish conflicts were expressed in hostility. But if people would analyze it, they would see that, yes, the mind-set is three-quarters of the ball game. Just knowing that can allow one to respond to the black-Jewish relationship without defensiveness. For me, it`s a whole new perspective.”
But it`s more than mind-set, it`s actual experience. ”Don`t forget, there isn`t the recent antagonism between Jews and Hispanics that there has been between Jews and blacks,” says David Roth. ”The key factor,” adds Rabbi Marx, ”is that blacks and Jews lived in the same areas, and that created tension.”
Because blacks moved into Jewish neighborhoods, many of their landlords and merchants were indeed Jewish. ”But Hispanics are the new kids in the city. They haven`t moved into areas Jews were living in,” says Roth. ”You don`t see the years and years of negative interaction. Their only experience with us is positive interaction. It`s like a new book.”
This lack of negative interaction has produced a virtual absence of anti-Semitism strikingly obvious to nearly every Jew who has worked with Hispanics. Right now the comments from both sides sound almost saccharine. But both sides also agree that the saccharine taste could turn bittersweet if the mistakes of the black-Jewish relationship are repeated. History and circumstance created a black-Jewish relationship that in many ways was paternalistic. ”The strength of the Jewish-Hispanic cooperation is that it begins from parity, not paternalism,” says Roth.
Rev. Riddick of PUSH says that ”paternalism is indeed the most important factor. It`s a question of listening to the Hispanic problems and allowing the Hispanic leadership to have significant input. If the Jewish-Hispanic relationship is to succeed, the Hispanics must not be a junior partner as blacks were.”
DeVries of 18th Street, who has worked with both blacks and Hispanics, says: ”Knowing when to let go is important. And I`m sure Jewish groups such as JCUA know when to let go. They are aware of the pitfalls made in the past with black groups and they will be more cautious.” Rabbi Simon of the Board of Rabbis agrees: ”This time, Jews will be more cautious.” DeVries predicts, ”Twenty years from today, when the Jewish job is done, I think Hispanics won`t go the way of blacks. Hispanics will probably just say thanks.”
Yet the Jewish-Hispanic social experience has already produced an effective political experience, which once again is strikingly different. Political leaders have chosen to accent what they agree on and, as David Roth says, ”agree to disagree in other areas.” For example, both Jews and Hispanics support affirmative action, but as usual Jews refuse to endorse quotas. ”That`s understandable given their history,” says Ray Romero of MALDEF. ”But there are many other aspects of affirmative action we do agree on, and we concentrate on those.” In contrast, Jewish reluctance about quotas has been a major stumbling block for black-Jewish cooperation and the source of angry words by blacks against Jewish organizations.
But no constellation of issues unites Hispanics and Jews more than the thorny subject of immigration. ”Historically, America is a haven for refugees,” David Roth says. ”Jews know that if America gets turned off or disinterested in a fair and generous immigration policy, many Jewish communities around the world who are living at risk will have no haven other than Israel. For Latinos, the issue is getting here, and once they are here, not being accused of being illegals and not facing discrimination.”
All concerns focus on the sprawling Simpson-Mazzoli bill, which attempts to combine the traditions of American asylum with provisions for secure borders and sanctions on employers who provide jobs to illegal aliens. At first, Jews and Hispanics found themselves at opposite ends on this bill. Jews favored the family reunification and refugee provisions and therefore supported the legislation. For Hispanics, Simpson-Mazzoli became a dirty word that raised specters of identity cards, factory sweeps and mass deportations, though the bill also sought to legalize the immigration status of millions of undocumented Hispanics.
But Hispanics and Jews formed a partnership, jointly lobbying in Congress for the issues they could agree on, even though many key differences remained. ”The beautiful thing,” recounts Romero, ”is that the Jewish organizations were sensitive to our concerns. And we showed them we cared about their issues. We made sure they knew that the changes we advocated would not adversely affect the lawful immigration of Russian Jews. At the same time, when the Jewish groups lobbied for the bill, they always opposed employer sanctions and identity cards and emphasized their concern for Latinos and other minorities in this country.
”In effect,” says Romero, ”it showed Congress that it wasn`t just Hispanics who opposed this legislation. Here was a community–the Jews–who would not be affected but nonetheless were also troubled. Jewish lobbying became absolutely critical, and I mean absolutely critical, to our struggle in Congress,” says Romero.
”More than that, Jewish people helped us bridge the gaps with other groups such as the Polish community,” Romero adds. ”Between the Polish view and the Mexican view on immigration is a world of differrence.” Romero worked with David Roth, who arranged meetings with Ald. Roman Pucinski (41st Ward). ”We weren`t able to iron out all of our differences, but we made a lot of progress with them. The point is, there`s normally just no communication between us and the Poles. It would have been impossible without Roth.”
Equally important was the work of Gary Rubin of the American Jewish Committee in New York. Rubin authored a series of perspectives advocating ”a fair and generous immigration bill,” which were published in The Chicago Tribune, the Christian Science Monitor, the Denver Post, the Dallas Morning News and other newspapers. Some of these were co-authored by Charles Kamasaki, policy analysis director of the National Council of La Raza, a major Hispanic body.
Passage of an acceptable Simpson-Mazzoli bill is the most important element in the future rapid expansion of a Jewish-Hispanic coalition. All versions of the bill call for legalizing millions of undocumented Hispanics already living in America by a certain date, perhaps 1980 or 1982. ”The average age for Hispanics in America is 18 years. Many are younger,” says Gary Rubin. ”At some point those millions will become registered voters. That will suddenly create three or four million eligible Hispanic voters,” he says.
”Here is an alliance we think of instinctively,” says Roth. ”A decade from now there will be many more Hispanic candidates reaching out for Jewish support and vice versa. A decade from now you will see how many issues Hispanics and Jews will cooperate on–a true alliance.”
Until a genuine ”alliance” takes shape, wide-ranging Jewish-Hispanic cooperation continues to build its foundation. Ray Romero accepted an invitation to speak last week at Temple Kol Ami; his topic: ”Jews and Hispanics, tomorrow`s partnership.” The Jewish Vocational Service, which provides free job training and placement to Jews and non-Jews alike, including many in the black community, says that it will now broaden its reach-out efforts in the Hispanic community by announcing its services in the Latino media.
In Chicago the Anti-Defamation League is producing two filmstrips for schools that would explain the heritage of Puerto Rican and Mexican families. Shirley Sachs, Chicago director of the American Jewish Congress, says, ”Some Central American countries, such as Costa Rica, showed courage in being the only nations to move their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. To show our appreciation, the congress has incorporated tours to Costa Rica as part of our travel program.”
Mexico City`s earthquake last year hit during the Jewish High Holy Days. Although it was immediately reported in the Jewish press that only six Mexican Jews had died and that little damage was done in their neighborhoods, Jews in Chicago and elsewhere launched an effort to aid all quake victims. Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana are traditionally times of the biggest Jewish donations to Israel, but many congregations declared Mexican relief to be of equal importance.
On Yom Kippur Eve the Houston director of the American Jewish Committee and a Spanish-speaking physician flew to Mexico City to assess the damage there. In New York another AJC official set up constant contact through a New Jersey ham radio operator and a Mexico City counterpart. Israel dispatched special rubble-removal equipment developed in Lebanon to rescue persons buried beneath collapsed buildings.
In Chicago Rabbi Marx`s Glencoe congregation Hafaka and Rabbi Kaimon`s Chicago congregation Kol Ami each raised several thousand dollars in aid. Many Chicago Jews, not knowing where to send their donations, spontaneously mailed checks–totaling $16,000–to the Jewish Federation. The federation forwarded the money to the Joint Distribution Committee, a Jewish relief agency, which received $600,000 nationally for Mexican relief. Working through the Mexican Jewish community, three nonsectarian shelters for the homeless were opened.
”The American Jewish community really came through for us, and we won`t forget it,” says Ray Romero.
In the same spirit the Boston-based American Jewish World Service responded to the Colombian mudslide and created the ”Bricks for Colombia”
project to help rebuild obliterated Colombian villages.
In New York the American Jewish Committee actively lobbies for bilingual education. In Tucson and elsewhere Jews have joined the sanctuary movement. In addition to hiding Central American refugees in the homes of their members, reform synagogues have set up a joint information hotline, 1-800-LEV-1933, the call letters and numbers a reference to Leviticus 19:33, which commands, ”If a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.”
And, most notably, the historic commencement of diplomatic ties between Spain and Israel was expedited by continuous lobbying by U.S. Rep. Roberto Garcia of New York, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Although diplomatic recognition of Israel was required of Spain to become a member of the Common Market, Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez, fearing Arab retaliation, had been reluctant to formalize these ties. But Garcia raised the issue with Gonzalez and other Spanish officials on numerous occasions in Washington, D.C.; in Toledo, Spain; and at a meeting in Guatemala in January just two days before diplomatic relations were announced. Israeli diplomatic sources assert that Garcia`s role was a ”vital milestone” in the process.
Despite the many joint projects and the hopes for a strong future alliance, a frequent declaration of both Jewish and Hispanic leaders is that they still have a lot to learn about each other. But the recent experience of two Chicago Holocaust survivors tells volumes. The Jewish couple was watching a movie at a downtown theater. In the film two teenage refugees flee their village just as the soldiers are massacring their family. A nightmare of survival ensues as they flee to a forest, struggle across borders and finally find haven in the United States.
Young, frightened and unable to speak the language, the two live in hovels and take any work they can find. Hiding from the authorities, taken advantage of by slick urban vultures, frightened of anyone in a uniform–even mail carriers–the two refugees finally learn the second stage of their survival–that of a refugee in America. As the two Holocaust survivors left the theater, tears streamed down their cheeks. ”It was just exactly what happened to us,” the woman said as she placed her hands over her eyes.
The film was ”El Norte,” the heartrending story of two Guatemalans who escape their homeland to live in America as illegal refugees. Ironically, the Jewish couple at first were uninterested in seeing ”El Norte”: ”What would I know from Guatemalans?” But after seeing the film, they said, ”After the hell they`ve gone through, these people are just like Jews.”
It was the same sense of sudden recognition experienced by Julia Rodriguez in her new 18th Street apartment when she smiled and declared, ”I think these Jews are good Christians.”
