Jewish Groups Urged to Help Solve American Economic Problems

In their own self-interest, Jewish groups should get involved in trying to solve the economic problems plaguing America, two leading Jewish community relations specialists counseled the plenary session of the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council (NJCRAC) here this week.

“With or without us,” said Seymour Samet, director of domestic affairs of the American Jewish Committee, “the ideological and political battleground for minorities in the year ahead will deal with new social and economic policies….With us or without us, others–often with less skill and some with less integrity–will not hesitate to press their views.”

At the same session, Howard Rieger, a nationally-known expert on urban affairs, urged delegates to try to rekindle some of the activity that led to the social reforms of the 1960s. Rieger, director of community relations and urban affairs of the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, said that such activity is necessary not only to help meet the needs of the country, but also to “strengthen our own organizations.”

The Plenary is the highest policy-making body of the NJCRAC, which coordinates the community relations work of nine national Jewish agencies and 101 Jewish community groups across the country. Delegates to the annual Plenary Session discuss challenges that will face the Jewish community in the coming year, and formulate guidelines for activities. The meeting here opened yesterday and concludes Wednesday.

One of the major problems pointed out by Rieger is that “the old coalitions (that worked together for social change in the 60s) have truly died.” Now that the struggle of the 60s for civil-rights legislation is over, “economics have become, to a significant extent, the present day inter group relations agenda. Yet this agenda, in and of itself, is incapable of generating ongoing coalition activities at the local level,” he said. Jewish groups must carefully explore new methods of generating coalitions.

JEWISH COMMUNITIES BEING HURT

The first step in this process, according to Samet, is for Jewish groups, like other groups, to “more clearly understand what we want and need for ourselves before we espouse and support programs for economic and social change.” Samet described how Jewish communities are being hurt by the current wave of inflation and unemployment.

He pointed out that “most Jews live in, or close to, and are affected by, regions that are in economic stress, with declining populations and waning political power. This is a threat to the health of the Jewish community, which will predictably maintain its largest populations in areas now threatened by social, political and economic decay.”

These areas have the fastest rising cost of living, and the highest crime rates. Even though many Jews are moving to the suburbs, by and large their livelihoods are based in the cities worst hit by crisis. But, Samet maintained, the federal government has shortchanged these areas in recent years. He said that in the Northeast, 25 percent of the Jewish population live in households with incomes of under $8,000 per year. Jewish college graduates are among those hardest hit by lack of suitable jobs. And even where Jews are not directly troubled by joblessness, they pay for it. Unemployment, Samet said, has been shown to be responsible for the higher crime rate. Furthermore, the government is forced to raise taxes to cope with the various problems created by lack of work.

Citing further examples of how Jewish communities are being affected by the crisis of the cities, Rieger said there is a drastic need for work in at least the following areas: school desegregation problems; hunger, community development; translating the promises of the new administration into action, and Black-Jewish relationships.