Finding commonalities in a history stained by bigotry

Munching on egg rolls and fortune cookies, a diverse group of about 30 students and community members gathered at the Greenfield Intercultural Center last night for a movie and discussion about Jewish scholars at African-American universities. An hour-long documentary based on Gabrielle Simon Edgecomb's book of the same name, From Swastika to Jim Crow, chronicled the plight of Jewish intellectuals who fled Nazi Germany, only to encounter anti-Semitism and anti-foreigner sentiment in the United States. Excluded from major American universities, some of these refugee scholars secured employment in an unexpected place -- historically African-American colleges in the segregated South. The event was part of a series of dialogues sponsored by Alliance and Understanding, a group dedicated to building relations between Jews and African Americans at Penn. "A lot of people our age don't realize that throughout the 20th century, Jews and blacks have been interacting in a variety of ways," said College senior Ari Alexander, co-chair of AU. He added that the dialogues would benefit the University community "by providing opportunities for students to come together... to communicate and open up and break down barriers." Through a series of compelling images and interviews with the scholars and their students, the film presented a picture of two peoples coming together in an environment full of hatred and tension. After Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime rose to power in 1933, German universities began expelling Jewish professors, artists and scholars, who then immigrated to the America, seeking to continue their intellectual pursuits. In the meantime, Southern African Americans faced equally daunting oppression -- Jim Crow laws which instituted strict racial segregation. Exempt from segregation laws, historically African-American private colleges provided a haven for both groups. From this convergence of Jewish scholars and African-American students, close relationships grew, defined by mutual respect and the belief of a shared history of persecution. After the film, the idea of a shared history resurfaced during a dialogue among students and Philadelphia residents. Discussion facilitator Brian Armstead, of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, called the film "a good reminder of some of the common issues that African Americans and Jewish people have faced." Another key discussion topic centered on the film's relevance in today's social climate. One student pointed out that many modern immigrants undergo the same difficult experience as the scholars in the movie. And another student mentioned that self-segregation occurs often at Penn -- evidence of a dramatic racial divide. Admitting that he had not previously heard of the Jewish scholars, College senior Halik Carter said, "Even though we don't have something that's in our face today like World War II or Jim Crow laws, our histories can still bring us together.