Public Schools Urged to Step Up Jewish Studies As Part of Ethnic Studies Program

Key figures in the city’s public school system are urging a step-up in ethnic studies–including Jewish studies–in the general curriculum. At a recent symposium on “Cultural Pluralism in the American School of Tomorrow,” a plea for such a step-up was made by, among others, Dr. Seymour P. Lachman, chairman of the Elementary and Secondary Division of the Commission on Jewish Studies of the American Association for Jewish Education. Dr. Lachman, newly elected vice-president of the city’s Board of Education, told 100 social studies chairmen: “I do not believe that any of us in this room want any large ethnic group remaining in America to lose its authenticity in the mixing bowl of American life…(E)ach and every American can be equally proud of his own internal group as he is proud of his external nation. The most loyal American, in my mind, is a man with multiple loyalties.” As an example of the school system’s failure in the ethnic area, Dr. Lachman charged that textbooks were “judenrein–empty of the Jewish experience and contribution to the world.”

He continued: “The Judaism that I know, the Judaism that I live, is not only a religion. It is more–it is a culture, a people, music, dance, literature, philosophy, an entire way of life.” More authenticity in the public school curriculum was also recommended by Dr. Harvey B. Scribner, chancellor of the city school system. “The whole myth of the American melting pot has done more damage than anyone could have anticipated,” he declared. “This is ‘a nation of nations,’ but we have contradicted its spirit of diversity, which is the greatest strength we have in America,” Dr. Scribner called for a rejection of “the textbook route,” and said it would be “an important day when we can announce all of these ethnic studies in our curriculum.” Isaac Toubin, executive vice-president of the AAJE, said it was not the organization’s aim to encourage the “balkanization of public education,” but to “help the educational community move from an era of ethnic and cultural neglect to a time of pluralistic concern.” Ethnic-study pleas were also made by black, Chinese, Italian and Puerto Rican representatives. The AAJE plans to hold additional meetings on the subject.