o blacks (West 106). West indicates that American blacks and Jews remain centrally divided by two social questions: first, what constitutes the most effective means for black progress; and second, the meaning and practice of Zionism as embodied in the state of Israel (West 107). In Lovesong Lester can be seen attempting to embrace the Jewish experience with a ferocity alien to the average black man.
West contends that the current impasse in American black-Jewish relations can only be overcome through discussions which surpass the isolation of group interests. What is needed, according to West, is an interracial discussion which includes what "being black or Jewish means in ethical terms" (West 109). Such a discussion hopefully would enable both groups "to formulate strategies and tactics to sidestep the traps of tribalism and chauvinism" (West 109). Further, West specifies that blacks must struggle to overcome three basic tenets of their anti-semitism. First, they must understand it to be "a species of anti-whitism" (West 111). Se
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