I`m sure there are many thousands of us who, along with Mayor Young and Msgr. Egan, wonder ”what went wrong in Chicago?” There is of course no one answer, but it is clear that with the death of Harold Washington the gates were opened for opportunists who view the city as a potential black preserve rather than as a base for building a stable interracial community.
As a Jew, highly conscious of the injustices done to black people through the years, I`ve done whatever I could to help right the wrongs for over 50 years. That included carrying FEPC and fair housing petitions, marching in civil rights protests, helping to arrange speaking platforms for Dr. King, providing help for countless legal battles, college fund drives, etc.
In past years, many of us concerned about differences that developed between our communities involved ourselves in setting up dialogues to talk out problems, and sometimes we even confessed guilt. On a number of occasions we took public positions against some Jewish organizations which on principle were opposed to affirmative action. We`re now waiting to hear broadly based regrets from the black community for what many of its leaders have subjected us to in recent weeks.
As William Raspberry said in a recent Tribune column, ”If blacks are to be taken seriously in their insistence on being treated fairly, they have to recognize that ethnic fairness is a two-way street.” Raspberry, Mayor Young and many other individuals see what went wrong in Chicago as a black problem. It is hoped their wisdom and insight will bring home to the broader community that self-serving chauvinism is not in its own long-term best interest.
