UCLA Social Sciences
In a new four-part series on PBS, “Black and Jewish in America: An Interwoven History,” renowned Harvard University professor, literary scholar and Emmy/Peabody Award-Winning filmmaker, Henry Louis Gates Jr., examines the “rich, complex relationship between Black and Jewish Americans.”
David N. Myers, UCLA’s Sady and Ludwig Kahn Chair in Jewish History and Bedari Kindness Institute director, provided historical insight into Black-Jewish relations throughout the series, with longer appearances in the second and fourth episodes.
The fourth episode titled “Crossroads” closes with a look at the UCLA Dialogue across Difference Initiative’s (DaD) efforts to build bridges across divides among students in the wake of campus polarization.
“I came to see, even before October 7th, that something was not right in our culture at the university,” said Myers.
“We were in silos in which we felt very comfortable. We had lost the muscle to engage one another. When the opportunity came along to get involved in the Dialogue Across Difference initiative, I jumped at the chance,” he continued.
In the segment, Gates Jr. also interviewed current and former UCLA students Stephany Cartney, Mikey Aboutboul, Felicia Graham (DaD graduate student fellow) and Celie Fischer about DaD’s impact on campus.
“I think the initiative is really important to bring people that are on different parts of the identity and the political spectrum — bring them in the same space,” said Aboutboul.
When Gates Jr. asked the students if there are lessons to be drawn from recent events to the relationship between Blacks and Jews, students emphasized the importance of reaching across communities to acknowledge each others pain and struggles.
“Black people and Jewish people have always been looking for spaces for representation,” said Cartney. “If we are able to come together and have discussions and understand that our struggles are intertwined, I think we can make progress together in that way.”
Related Links:
PBS- BLACK AND JEWISH AMERICA: AN INTERWOVEN HISTORY Community Engagement & Discussion Guide
UCLA College- The next generation of bridge builders
UCLA Newsroom- From polarization to pluralism: Harnessing the power of the public university to bridge divides
UCLA Newsroom- UCLA’s David Myers on how the public university can address society’s ‘kindness deficit’