GETTING OVER ELI?N IN MIAMI

By: Mark Fitzgerald Herald Sponsor 'Moving On' Round Tables



The Miami Herald, which has been both praised and criticized for its blanket
coverage of the Eli?n Gonz?lez situation, is taking on a new task: Helping
Miami get over the divisions aroused by the case of the 6-year-old Cuban
shipwreck survivor.



'Moving On' is a series of round-table talks broadcast by the local NBC TV
affiliate and co-hosted by Herald Editorial Page Editor Tom Fiedler.



The first meeting reflected community passions. A black woman complained that a
Cuban-American priest felt empathy for Eli?n's plight - but not for African
Americans facing racism. A local Chamber of Commerce member said, 'I haven't
liked being a Miamian much recently.'



And Knight Foundation President Hodding Carter said Miami's Cubans, blacks, and
Anglos are in a 'rush to separate.'



Arthur Teitelbaum, the southern area director for the Anti-Defamation League, said
Eli?n wasn't really the problem. 'Before Eli?n Gonz?lez made headlines, was anything
different?' he asked. 'Did we have compassion then - and we suddenly lost it?'



Related stories:



EDITORS DEFEND UNCEASING ELIAN COVERAGE (05/19/00)



'THE RAID' AND 'THE REUNION' (04/28/00)