Overview

Black-Jewish relations—at the symbolic level—are in shambles, writes Cornel West. One has only to recall the 1991 Crown Heights tragedy and its aftermath to recognize to what extent Black-Jewish relations have deteriorated. The emergence of frequently anti-Semitic black demagogues like Louis Farrakhan and Leonard Jeffries and the Jewish community's turn to neo-conservatism have only made matters worse. Mistrust, ambivalence, and other negative feelings characterize much of Black-Jewish relations. Unlike most books on this topic which are written from a sociocultural, historical, and literary perspective, this anthology looks at the psychological motives, beliefs, and desires that impair relations between the two groups. For example, unresolved vulnerabilities in respective communities from the Holocaust and slavery remain driving and complex passions that still disrupt Black-Jewish relations. Psychoanalysis is a powerful conceptual tool to untangle these issues and other aspects of the larger societal race-relations problem.

Full Product Details

Author:   Alan Helmreich ,  Paul Marcus
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Imprint:   Praeger Publishers Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 1.70cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.567kg
ISBN:  

9780275956660

ISBN 10:   0275956660
Pages:   240
Publication Date:   30 October 1998
Recommended Age:   From 7 to 17 years
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Introducion: Black-Jewish Conflict by Alan Helmreich and Paul Marcus Time Line of Black-Jewish Relations by Alan Helmreich and Paul Marcus Black-Jewish Conflict and the Regions of the Mind by Alan Hemreich and Paul Marcus If I Am You, Then You Are Fake by C. Fred Alford Black Liberation and the Jewish Question by E. Victor Wolfenstein Black Myths and Black Madness: Is Black Anti-semitism Different? by Mortimer Ostow Ruptures in Time: The Branch that Holds the Fork in African American and Jewish American History by Maurice Apprey and Howard F. Stein Unlearning Racism at Women's Music Festivals by Cynthia Burack and Bonnie J. Morris Speaking the Unspeakable by Aisha Abbasi Sharing the Mark of Cain: The Jewish and African American Communities in America by A. Michele Morgan The Conflict between Blacks and Jews: A Lacanian Analysis by Mark Bracher Black-Jewish Relations: A Social and Mythic Alliance by Lee Jenkins Practical Psychoanalytically Informed Suggestions for Communal Leaders for Improving Black-Jewish Relations by Alan Helmreich and Paul Marcus Index

Reviews

This superb book brings the psychoanalytic searchlight to the exploration of Black-Jewish conflict....By bringing psychoanalytic psychology into the discourse, the editors have filled a significant void in the scholarly literature on Black-Jewish conflict and admirably contributed to a deeper understanding of race relations in this country. Future work in this arena will be incomplete without reference to the book's observations and conclusions-both explicit and implicit. -The Psychoanalytic Review The essays, in general, are very well done. This is an excellent book... -Dimensions This book is a must-read for anyone hoping to build reconciliation between these two communities. -Tikkun Helmreich and Marcus have compiled a fascinating addition to the burgeoning literature on black-Jewish relations, most of which is written from sociological, literary, or historical viewpoints. This book provides a pschoanalytic, motivational perspective on this troubled relationship and on intergroup conflict generally. -Choice ?The essays, in general, are very well done. This is an excellent book...?-Dimensions ?This book is a must-read for anyone hoping to build reconciliation between these two communities.?-Tikkun ?Helmreich and Marcus have compiled a fascinating addition to the burgeoning literature on black-Jewish relations, most of which is written from sociological, literary, or historical viewpoints. This book provides a pschoanalytic, motivational perspective on this troubled relationship and on intergroup conflict generally.?-Choice ?This superb book brings the psychoanalytic searchlight to the exploration of Black-Jewish conflict....By bringing psychoanalytic psychology into the discourse, the editors have filled a significant void in the scholarly literature on Black-Jewish conflict and admirably contributed to a deeper understanding of race relations in this country. Future work in this arena will be incomplete without reference to the book's observations and conclusions-both explicit and implicit.?-The Psychoanalytic Review The editors of this volume have assembled an impressive array of experts to deal with the problems in Black-Jewish relations....Their aim of offering practical remedies from a psychoanalytic perspective is more successful than any prior attempts I am familiar with....The volume deserves to be studied and will then undoubtedly contribute to further dialogue and reconciliation which is the editors' fervent and justifiable hope. -Paul H. Ornstein, M.D. Professor of Psychoanalysis, Department of Psychiatry University of Cincinnati This is a critically important and path-breaking book. By delving into the deeper meanings surrounding how African Americans and Jews view each other, Helmreich and Marcus have greatly enhanced our understanding of this subject. To date, we have seen a great deal about the historical, political, and sociological aspects of this relationship, but very little on the approach presented here. This invaluable collection of essays is must reading for all scholars and lay people interested in this topic. -Francis D. Terrell Professor of Political Science City College of New York This collection of essays brings to our attention the hidden dimensions of ethnic conflict and the frightening fantasies that pit neighbor against neighbor. Even those who are not card carrying members of one of the eclectic traditions of psychoanalytic theory represented in this book will gain insight into the limitations of the most compelling social structural analyses and best crafted policies. For those committed to a world safe from ethnic cleansing and the killing fields, the stakes demand no less. If Blacks and Jews cannot coexist, who will? And if principled and practical diversity will not prevail in the U.S., where else? -Hillel Levine Sociologist and Historian Co-author of Death of an American Jewish Community: The Tragedy of Good Intentions

This collection of essays brings to our attention the hidden dimensions of ethnic conflict and the frightening fantasies that pit neighbor against neighbor. Even those who are not card carrying members of one of the eclectic traditions of psychoanalytic theory represented in this book will gain insight into the limitations of the most compelling social structural analyses and best crafted policies. For those committed to a world safe from ethnic cleansing and the killing fields, the stakes demand no less. If Blacks and Jews cannot coexist, who will? And if principled and practical diversity will not prevail in the U.S., where else? -Hillel Levine Sociologist and Historian Co-author of Death of an American Jewish Community: The Tragedy of Good Intentions

Author Information

ALAN HELMREICH was a freelance journalist specializing in Black-Jewish relations. PAUL MARCUS is a psychoanalyst in private practice and member of the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis. He is the author of Autonomy in the Extreme Situation, Bruno Bettelheim, The Nazi Concentration Camps and the Mass Society.

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