Jews & Blacks

[leftyjew]

So I just finished my friend's copy of Jews & Blacks which I borrowed from him before he opened to page 1. (Thanks, Brian!)

For those of you who don't know anything about it, it's a dialog between Michael Lerner (progressive intellectual "Jewish Renewal" rabbi) and Cornel West (progressive intellectual Black Studies prof at Princeton[?] now, Harvard[?] then). Published in 1994 so the material is a bit dated but most of the concerns are still valid. Really interesting stuff. It's not often that you can get two people on the Left to sit down and have a conversation about things they disagree on.

What are your opinions?


I think in a lot of ways I agree with Cornel West more than with Lerner. For example, West is opposed to nation-states and Lerner sees them as a force for good if they are used correctly. I tend to not be as optimistic as Mr. Lerner. Also, I think Mikey uses this book to pitch himself a bit too much. Tikkun is mentioned so many times, and he cites his own books (how obnoxious!) He even capitalizes his little "Politics of Meaning" thing. Cornel never mentions his works even though he's probably published more than Lerner.
I also think that Lerner overlooks a lot of Jewish racism. He says that black progressives should be more vocal, meanwhile trumpeting Tikkun - a magazine that no one outside of the Jewish progressive political world has heard of.
However, that Politics of Meaning™ philosophy is really interesting. I think it's a really insightful idea about how the Conservatives have managed to tap into people's spiritual pain created by a capitalist society and redirect their angst toward "liberalism". Instead, a progressive Politics of Meaning™ can show people the spiritually destructive side of capitalism and create an alliance between all those who are oppressed by the capitalist state - spiritually, economically and emotionally. Basically, helping the poor should not be about helping the poor - it should be about helping society. Blah, I'm not expressing myself clearly. One part that I found interesting is that he says welfare, as it is structured, does not let the poor feel they are provided for (spiritually or economically) and does not give anyone a warm fuzzy for helping provide for the poor. it's an anonymous deduction from your paycheck that you get pissed at. that's not constructive or compassionate.
this fits in well with Thomas Frank's What's the Matter with Kansas. Frank seems to be missing the pain that Lerner (and West to some extent) point to. Frank sees it as purely economic and can't understand why people pull to the Right. Lerner, I think, provides the answer here.
anyway. i need to get back to work. interested to hear others' thoughts.

Comments

[somethng-vague.livejournal.com]

this really doesnt have too much to do with what you posted, but the other night hbo had a documentary about jewish professors who fled germany during the holocaust and settled down to teach in the south at primarily black colleges. it was really touching. there were a lot of students that graduated that dedicated books to these amazing professors. it was interesting to see the relationships that they built.