The relationship between African-American and Jewish students at San Francisco State University could be described as tenuous at best.
However, the controversies that propelled the campus to national prominence landed five of its students and leaders at the recent National Conference of Black-Jewish Relations on the College Campus — and a chance to change the chilly political climate between the two groups.
For three days last month, students and staff from SFSU and 16 other American universities met in Washington, D.C., to vent anger, dispel stereotypes, share successful programming strategies and tell painful stories.
The focus was on the practical — sharing ideas that work to bring together blacks and Jews on college campuses.
UCLA students described their annual Passover seder, an event that provides a backdrop for multicultural programming.
SFSU representatives recounted the fracas that erupted on campus two years ago at the unveiling of a mural of Malcolm X, which included Stars of David, dollar signs, skulls-and-crossbones and the words “African Blood.”
“This was not a conference of all happy feelings,” said Stacey Roberts, director of student programming for Hillel at SFSU. “People had hurt feelings, differences of opinion. Plus they had to confront their own prejudices while dealing with their neighbors’.”
Roberts attended the conference along with SFSU senior Sebastian Attie; Eunice Aaron, a lecturer in the department of ethnic studies; Philip McGee, dean of the School of Ethnic Studies; and Nina Jo Smith, director of A Safe Place, the on-campus domestic assault program.
There was no African-American student representative from SFSU at the conference, which was sponsored by the NAACP, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, the United Negro College Fund and Hillel — the Foundation for Jewish Life on Campus.
All the participants from SFSU were excited about a renewed black-Jewish partnership and the idea of getting together to share programming. However, reactions to the conference varied.
“This is one of the real gritty issues that’s faced us for some time,” Aaron said. “I think there was a real bond [between black and Jews] at one time. It was true and it was a real force. But it was about a water fountain and a voting box. Today we’re fighting about a seat at U.C. Davis and a job at Stanford University. It’s a different thing altogether.”
Although an equal number of black and Jewish speakers were scheduled, Aaron said the conference “seemed to be about anti-Semitism and not anti-Semitism and racism.” Nonetheless, she is excited at the prospect of forging a working relationship with Roberts, Smith and Attie.
“I think the black students at S.F. State feel the people beating the drum about repairing the relationship are inauthentic,” she said. The relationship needs to be built “one by one, an exponential conversion.”
Roberts agreed.
“You can’t build a dialogue without trust. You have to take time to build trust,” she said. “The first 10 meetings might be about drinking coffee and eating cake before you get to the meat and potatoes of it.”
While Roberts and Aaron discussed potential for on-campus dialogue and interaction, Attie put philosophy into practice right at the conference.
Rooming assignments were made by matching up a black and a Jewish participant for each room. Attie shared a room with Dale Burnett, a black student from Boston University.
Attie arrived at the conference at nearly midnight. He and Burnett sat up talking until 6 a.m.
Burnett spoke about growing up in Queens and watching friends get shot before his eyes. He talked about wanting to travel the world but feeling resentment from his black friends who question why he wants to leave the community. He said the brotherhood among members of his college fraternity “lifts him up and keeps him on his feet.
“The pain he expressed was unbelievable,” Attie said.
While the two men were able to speak openly and honestly and forge a friendship, Attie is realistic enough to know that replicating the experience on campus will prove more difficult.
“The 90 or so people there were motivated and wanting to move forward and raise their consciousness,” he said. “The problem is not the people at the conference, but grabbing 100 people on campus and getting them to go to a similar seminar.
“These are the people who need to talk and dispel myths.”