Voting for ‘one’s Own’ Discussed at Forum on American Ethnicity

For Minerva Stegianopoulos, a Greek-American, support for Michael Dukakis is a statement of pride.

For Paul Gibson, an Afro-American, the nearly unanimous response of blacks to the candidacy of Jesse Jackson is an expression of hope.

But for Hyman Bookbinder, a Jewish-American, voting by ethnic group, while understandable, can also be a “sign of a lack of progress.”

In a truly pluralistic America, he argued, members of ethnic groups need not look to their own for the representation they deserve.

Stegianopoulos, Gibson and Bookbinder, along with former Rep. Herman Badillo (D-N.Y.), were participants Thursday in a forum on ethnicity and politics conducted as part of the Second National Consultation on Ethnic America, held here June 22 to 24.

The conference marked the 20th anniversary of the first landmark consultation and, like its predecessor, was sponsored jointly by the American Jewish Committee and Fordham University.

The 1968 conference came at the height of discussion of what came to be known as “the new ethnicity,” and crystallized around the debate over whether America ever was, or should be, a “melting pot.”

This year’s conference demonstrated that ethnicity continues to be a potent force in Americans’ private and public lives.

MOST ETHNIC CAMPAIGN SINCE 1960

The unavoidable focus of the politics forum was the 1988 presidential campaign, which pits against one another the most identifiably “ethnic” candidates since 1960, when John Kennedy was elected the first Catholic president.

For Stegianopoulos, a professor of communications at the City University of New York, the candidacy of Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, a Greek-American, has had an electrifying effect on the nation’s Greek community.

Dukakis has brought out “every hibernating Greek-American there was. They have returned to the fold” of the Democratic Party and are working hard, she said.

“Poor and rich are digging into their pocketbooks now that its possible for one of their own to make it to the White House.”

For Gibson, a manager with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Communications, the overwhelming black vote for the Rev. Jesse Jackson represents a more profound dynamic than mere ethnic pride.

“The black community is by no means monolithic, but the force of Jesse brings us together,” he said. “His candidacy is seen as a stepping-stone for many blacks.”

JACKSON IMPACT ‘UNDERSTANDABLE’

Bookbinder, lately retired from his position as special Washington representative of AJCommittee, and currently a member of the Dukakis campaign, did not disagree with Gibson’s assessment. He called Jackson’s impact on the black community “marvelous, glorious, understandable.”

Nevertheless, he said, “it is also a sign of a lack of progress . . . that as many as 99 percent of the country’s blacks feel the only way to express their hope is to vote for the black candidate.”

Bookbinder acknowledged that Israel remains the single most important issue among Jews, but continued: “Jews are not a bloc that can be counted to give its solid vote,” adding later that “the Jews — and thank God, I say — don’t have to vote automatically Jewishly.”

One conference participant took exception to Bookbinder’s comments, calling his interpretation of the black vote “overly simplistic.”

TWO ‘VERY DIFFERENT’ GROUPS

“The Jews and the blacks are two very different kinds of groups,” said James Banks, professor of education at the University of Washington.

“Yours is a much more empowered group, while for us, Jesse Jackson is a symbol for children who haven’t been able to dream.”

Referring to his own children, Banks said that Jackson allowed them to “see the hope that Jews can see in many different kinds of institutions.”

In reply, Bookbinder seemed eager that his words not be misconstrued and said he meant no criticism of the black support of Jackson.

“What I was saying was that someday, we will be able to look at election votes and find so much progress that blacks and Jews and Greeks and Poles don’t find it necessary to vote on the basis of their background.”

In concluding remarks, Badillo, the first voting member of Congress of Puerto Rican descent, said that bloc voting by ethnic groups is inevitable.

“Practically every group votes for its own,” he said, especially if a candidate is the first one from that group to run for the office. “There is absolutely nothing unusual about it.”