Itt-Ott, 1974 (7. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)

1974 / 4. szám

Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Ukrainians, Serbs, Croats, the Baltic peoples and Romanians.

An Ethnic Hierarchy

Perhaps the reason for this omission is that an unwritten ethnic hierarchy relegates these groups to the lower rungs of the social ladder in the United States. In fact, a noted sociologist, Max Lerner, in his 1000 page work, America as a Civilization, provides us such "value rating" of America's ethnics, based on experience. Applied to Euro-Americans, the rating looks like this: English, Dutch, German, Scot, French, Scandinavian, Irish, Mediterranean, Jewish, Balkan, Slav. (The Hungarians are not mentioned.)

Of course, not everyone may agree with the above rating. It is especially disputable in the case of the Germans and the Jews. The reputation and influence of the former ( but not their merit) was marred by the two World Wars. On the political field their role never matched their numerical potential in this country. Or is it plausible to imagine that German-born Henry Kissinger could have been named Secretary of State if he had not happened to be of Jewish origin?

Kissinger's case is dramatic evidence that American Jewry's position is by no means secondary in American society -- if anything, it is prominent, mainly due to their intellectual brilliance and admirable solidarity. They ma.y be imitated but cannot be matched by any other group. Among American minorities they represent a unique category. They are the superstars and plutocrats among us. During^ single banquet they are able to raise more funds — tax deductible — for Israel's benefit than all the other ethnic groups combined can send to their poor relatives in the old countries — not tax deductible — in the whole year.

Their importance in New York City, the world's largest ethnic community, is simply overwhelming. The latest mayoral elections clearly demonstrated this predominance. The melancholic yiddish adage, "It is hard to be a Jew" may be applied in a reversed sense in Manhattan where it is hard, indeed, to be a non-Jew -- unless someone is black or Puerto Rican. While superattention is focused on these three minorities, all the others are left out in the cold. No less a dignitary than FrancisJ. Mugavero, Bishop of Brooklyn and Queens, raised his voice in protest against this injustice which he called "Manhattanopia":

ZWe seek7 ... a government that is free and open and not an instrument of special interest groups, be they economic, religious, or ethnic .... /K)ur residents/ . . . see neighborhoods decaying, buildings burning,areas demolished and no evident concern at the highest level of government to preserve their neighborhoods. . .. (Pastoral letter of October 17, 1973)

A little footnote may well illustrate the situation prevailing in New York. Recently, the Human Resources Administration granted $250,000 "to develop Jewish Community Programs" including a survey on the complaints of aged Jewish people living in Coney Island: "It is like living in a jungle," the report said, "people are paralyzed by fear and terror, and are afraid to go out at night to the street . . . even at daylight they fall victim to muggers. . .."

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