[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 196 (Monday, December 11, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S18369]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            PAST POLITENESS

  Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, Colbert King, a member of the editorial 
page staff of the Washington Post, recently wrote an op-ed piece about 
a group of young people who are meeting to establish greater 
understanding.
  It may seem like a small thing to many people, but it is precisely 
what needs to happen in our country.
  I remember many years ago speaking to the Hillel Foundation at the 
University of Illinois. This is the Jewish student organization there.
  It was an anniversary of some sort, and I suggested, among other 
things, that since at the University of Illinois there were people of 
both Jewish and Arab backgrounds that a few students getting together 
regularly might really contribute something. One of the students 
present said that would be meaningless but, interestingly, a few of the 
students got together and, for at least a short period of time, held 
some regular meetings between American Jews, Israeli Jews, and students 
from Arab countries. These were simply informal discussions long before 
President Sadat made his dramatic visit to the Knesset in Israel.
  I wish I could report to you that something dramatic came out of 
these student meetings. I do not know that anything came out of them, 
other than one extremely important thing--greater understanding.
  We are in a world that needs that, and I would like more people to 
read the op-ed by Colbert King, which I ask to be printed in the 
Record.
  The op-ed follows:

                [From the Washington Post, Dec. 2, 1995]

                    Past Politeness and Into Honesty

                          (By Colbert I. King)

       While countless adults have been living out the year 
     clenching their teeth by day and hyperventilating at home by 
     night over one racially tinged issue or another, a small 
     group of youngsters have been quietly making sure they don't 
     end up leading the same kind of lives. Seventeen area high 
     school students--nine African American and eight Jewish--have 
     been meeting since January to build a future in which their 
     generation will live without alienation and bitterness. What 
     they have achieved in 12 months should put us to shame.
       In a town that worships influence and power, these young 
     people have neither. But when it comes to tolerance, trust, 
     and having friendships that cut across racial and religious 
     lines, they're up there with the best of their elders. Not 
     that they started out that way.
       When they joined the first class of Operation 
     Understanding, D.C.--a fledgling nonprofit organization out 
     to revive the historical relationship between Jews and 
     African Americans through young peopel--many carried the same 
     heavy baggage that adults well into their autumn years still 
     lug around. To be sure, they were bright, curious, committed 
     to their community, and loaded with leadership potential--all 
     the things Operation Understanding, D.C., was seeking. But 
     they also tracked in a fair amount of ignorance, suspicion 
     and prejudice--some of which they acted out through words and 
     song during an Operation Understanding reception for parents 
     and guests a few weeks ago. A small sample:
       Jamie: ``I know what it means to be black. How come it 
     seems that the Jews don't know what it means to be Jewish in 
     America?''
       Andrew S.: ``How come blacks are so lazy? And how come so 
     many are on welfare?
       Johnathan: ``Isn't there a Jewish Yellow Pages where they 
     can use their own lawyers and doctors and accountants and 
     only go to stores owned by Jews?''
       Emily: ``Why are black men so scary?''
       Atiba: ``How come Jews have all that money? They live the 
     good life. How'd they get all that money anyway?''
       Mimi: ``How come blacks are such great dancers?''
       You get the picture: mistrust, misconceptions, 
     misunderstanding. These youngsters stand out, however, 
     because they chose not to remain smug and comfortable with 
     their hangups. They began meeting several times a month to 
     get to know one another, to talk about each other's culture 
     and history, to learn more about their own. They didn't do it 
     through touchy-feely gab sessions. They got into each other's 
     lives.
       They went to Daniela's sister's bat mitzvah; it was Tiba's 
     first time in a synagogue, Mimi went to Tiba's church on Palm 
     Sunday--her first time in a black church. Everyone went to 
     Muhammad's mosque in March.
       They called on Capitol Hill and heard D.C. Del. Eleanor 
     Holmes Norton and other black and Jewish members of Congress 
     discuss how they coalesced on legislation. They met with a 
     range of local speakers--as a sign they were long-suffering 
     and up for just about anything, they even endured part of an 
     evening with me. But they also got out of Washington and into 
     communities that would give them a deeper understanding of 
     African American and Jewish cultures and collaborative 
     history.
       Before their trip, however, they made a Shabbat dinner 
     together. As youngsters of the '90s, they did it their way: a 
     soul food Shabbat--fully equipped with fried chicken, 
     biscuits, greens, sweet potatoes, and challah, backed by lit 
     candles, recitation of the Motzi and prayer over the wine. 
     What can I say?
       And off they went to Crown Heights in Brooklyn--both the 
     Lubavitcher and African American sides--Ellis Island and the 
     Jewish Museum, and places that resonate with civil rights 
     history such as Selma, Montgomery, Birmingham and Charleston.
       They had hoped to go to Sengal and Israel, but despite the 
     plate-passing at black churches and donations from 
     foundations, corporations, congregations and individuals, 
     they couldn't raise enough money. Maybe next year in 
     Jerusalem and Dakar.
       But a lot was learned at home. Jamie could hardly believe 
     what he heard from Holocaust survivors in Atlanta and New 
     Orleans. The visit to the Charleston plantation made Simone 
     cry uncontrollably. ``It was as if all the slaves who lived 
     there came to me all at once,'' she said. They walked across 
     the Edmund Pettus Bridge and spontaneously began singing ``We 
     Shall Overcome.''
       The Class of 1995 ends in April; a new group of high school 
     juniors begins next month. Class No. 1 still meets monthly, 
     but unlike most of us older folks, they're long past being 
     polite with each other; now they're just honest. That's 
     because after all they've gone through, they know respect and 
     trust each other.
       Black nationalists and Jewish chauvinists out there, have 
     no fear: Operation Understanding is a life-changing 
     experience, but racial and religious identities don't get 
     lost. If anything, these young people now have a stronger 
     sense of themselves and their own history. They cherish both 
     their similarities and differences. It's America's cultural 
     and racial divides they will abide no longer. And no one's 
     going to tell them who can be their friend. These are strong 
     kids. They even think they can change the world.
       This is what Operation Understanding's kinetic (no other 
     word for it) president, Karen Kalish, hoped to achieve when 
     she started the D.C. program. The idea came from United Negro 
     College Fund president and former U.S. representative William 
     Gray III; who started Operation Understanding in Philadelphia 
     with George Ross of the American Jewish Committee 10 years 
     ago. The Class of 1995 is the new generation of bridge 
     builders they had in mind.
       As the program ended, Jessica, who is Jewish, began singing 
     ``Lift Every Voice and Sing.'' She was joined by the group--
     as the eyes of many African American parents and guests began 
     to glisten. Then Bridgette, an African American, began ``Oseh 
     Shalom''--and Jewish eyes were full. Those tears tell us a 
     lot about our times.
       Schmaltzy? Perhaps. But maybe if a few more Operation 
     Understandings had been at work around the globe long ago, 
     President Clinton wouldn't have had to visit Belfast this 
     week, and 20,000 American troops wouldn't be gearing up for 
     Bosnia. We're leaving our youth a pretty scratchy world. But 
     rest assured, as far as Operation Understanding's graduates 
     are concerned. America is going to be okay in their 
     hands.

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