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bIn September 1965, President Lyndon Johnson had pre- bscribed an “affirmative action program” in Executive Order b11246. In practical terms, the government set guidelines bdesigned to give members of historically disadvantaged bgroups an edge in the process of competition by: (1) seeking bout qualified applicants among disadvantaged groups; (2) bgiving preferential treatment to applicants from disadvan- btaged groups whose qualifications were roughly equal to bthose of other applicants; (3) eliminating “cultural bias” bfrom examinations; (4) providing special training and ap- bprenticeships for qualifiable applicants. bOne particular example of Jewish leadership’s hypocrisy boccurred in 1969, when Bert Zwiebon spoke at the affluent bRego Park Jewish Center and attacked reverse discrimina- btion. The pompous local rabbi rose to give a patented bmoralistic reminder on the need for Jews to make way, to bcompensate Blacks for past injustices. Zweibon, who can be ba vindictive fellow when faced with pompousness, rose and bsaid, “Rabbi, there is a young Black Jew I know who is bstudying for the rabbinate at Yeshiva University. I look bforward to your resigning in favor of him.” The wild bapplause of the congregation was sweet music. bReverse discrimination and quotas touched many areas of bJewish life. What was wrong with it was that people who had bno share in whatever inequities were caused to so-called bdisadvantaged groups would now be penalized, people who bwere in many cases in the same social and economic position band who needed the position just as badly as the minority bgroup. Secondly, not all so-called minority groups or disad- bvantaged groups were given the benefit of “affirmative ac- btion.” bThus in San Francisco when, under “affirmative action,” bthe school board decided to eliminate a number of adminis- btrative positions and exclude all non-whites from the firing, ba representative of the school superintendent, asked bwhether Jews with a history of persecution and disadvan- btage would fall into an ethnic category also exempt from the bfiring, said, “We have no category for you as a Jew.” bIn practical terms, we find that in San Francisco the b
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