Anti-Defamation League Raps Discrimination Against
Jews in Michigan's Resorts, Hotels, Clubs; Urges
Con-Con Delegates Incorporate Strong Bill of Rights
The substantial presence of
discrimination against Jews in
Michigan clubs, resorts and ho-
tels was attacked by the Anti-
Defamation League of Bnai
Brith at its annual meeting
Sunday at the Sheraton-Cadillac
Hotel.
Denominational religious
practices of the public schools
in outstate Michigan was also
criticised, and a plea was is-
sued for due care in drafting
a bill of rights to safeguard
minorities at the Constitutional
Convention now in progress.
Four main speakers for the
League were Circuit Judge Vic-
tor J. Baum, newly-elected
chairman of the Michigan Re-
gional Advisory Board of the
ADL; Irving Fidelman, chair-
man of the ADL Committee on
Emerging Issues in Church-
State Relationships; Oak Park
Municipal Judge Burton R.
Shifman, chairman of the ADL
Committee of the ADL Re-
search Committee; and attorney
G. Vernon Leopold.
Said Baum: "In our constitu-
tion, we try to strike a proper
balance between majority power
and minority rights. The Bill of
Rights is the means by which
this balance is struck. The Bill
of Rights protects all minori-
ties against oppression by ma-
jorities. -
"As- a public service organi-
zation with roots in American
life going back more than one
hundred years, the Bnai Brith
Anti Defamation League treas-
ures strong bills of rights. We
want a bill of rights which will
keep the legislative door open
to progress. With other free-
dom-loving Americans, we want
a meaningful Bill' of Rights
which will shield the liberties
and opportunities of minorities.
We recognize, of course, that
there are moral and legal re-
sponsibilities which accompany
minority rights.
"While we look upon the
Convention with optimism, we
must nevertheless be alert for
any move to weaken the Bill
of Rights or to limit opportu-
nity for minority groups. Let
us hope that we emerge from
the Convention with our great
tradition of ordered liberty
Strengthened."
Fidelman, of South Haven, re-
porting on a survey of 26 sepa-
rate municipalities throughout
the state, indicated the preval-
ence of practices which the
Anti-Defamation League has al-
ways felt abrogated the "wall
of separation" between church
and state.
Fidelman listed the distribu-
tion of Bibles through public.
schools; the celebration of
Christmas and Easter in such a
manner as to "virtually com-
prise church services;" Bible
classes during school time and
on school property; utilization
of denominational ministers for
religious instruction in the
classroom; the recitation of de-
nominational prayers and their
utilization in opening exercises
and in school cafeterias; Bac-
. calaureate services, frequently
compulsory, held in local
churches; and utilization of
ministers who offer denomina-
tional messages in assembly
programs. -
Shifman reported on a re-
cent survey of membership pol-
icies of private clubs in 14
communities in outstate Michi-
gan. Clubs selected for study
were drawn from a scientific
sample at random.
The report disclosed that
of the 29 clubs studied, 16
maintained exclusionary pol-
icies directed at Jews. Of
these 16, 10 refused to ac-
itself is not based on reli-
gious sentiments or convic-
tions. He pointed out that a
community such as Battle
Creek, which has a high de-
cept any Jews into their
membership, and six main-
tained tight quota arrange-
ments on Jewish member-
ship. Two of the clubs drawn
in the sample were found
not to conform to the defini-
tion of a private club, and
while they were included in
the total, the results were
not •germane to the study.
This left 11 clubs which were
hospitable to application by
Jewish residents.
In some instances, the ex-
clusionary policy of the club
is not only well understood in
the community, but included in
the constitutional provisions of
the club. In others, particu-
larly where a quota is main-
tained on Jewish admissions,
policies are unofficial and fully
understood only by the club
membership committee or the
club's directors.
Included in the survey were
clubs which varied according
to size of community and status
of their membership in the
community. The status of the
club seems to have little re-
lationship to its policy. Both
moderate and high status clubs
were found to include and ex-
elude Jewish members. This
was also true whether the club
was a city club, a country club,
a golf club, or a boating club.
Shifman noted that while
religion seems to be a basis
for exclusion, discrimination
gree of religious participa-
tion in local 'churches has
a reputation for a high de-
gree of religious enthusiasm,
is probably the least" discrim-
inatory in Michigan.
'Four clubs in Battle Creek
were studied and all of them
have excellent records of
hospitality to people in the
Jewish faith.
On the other hand, a commu-
nity such as Grand Rapids, in
which six clubs were studied,
indicates that four of them had
a completely closed member-
ship policy and the two re-
maining clubs maintained quota
systems.
New patterns of evasion are
being invented by Michigan re-
sorts to avoid head-on collision
with the state's Fair Accommo-
dation legislation, according to
Leopold's report (read by an-
other ADL delegate due to Leo-
pold's illness).
Leopold called for legisla-
tion to convert the present
Fair Employment Practices
Commission into a state-wide
civil rights agency. In partic-
ular, he called for an exten-
sion of the duties and author-
ity of the Fair Employment
Prictices Commission into
the field of fair accommoda-
tion.
Leopold reviewed the results
of the casual survey in the field
of resort discrimination con-
ducted by his committee.
"Two years ago, the League
conducted a careful state-wide
survey of resorts and discov-
ered that 45 per cent of Mich-
igan's resorts indulged in one
form or another of discrimina-
tion.
"The important point is that
none of the discriminatory re-
sorts actually denied accomo-
dations to the Jewist applicant.
However, they did not offer
equal accomodations to both
Jew and non-Jew."
Sidney J. Karbel, outgoing
Michigan chairman of the
League, urged Baum, the in-
coming chairman, to forward
the information obtained to the
attorney general's office as well
as to the West Michigan Resort
Association.
Other officers by the Mich-
igan board of ADL include
Paul O. Libert of Grand Rapids,
first vice chairman, and Archie
Katcher of Detroit, second vice
chairman.
The Anti-Defamation League
of Bnai Brith ' reported that
political activities of a number
of North-west Home Owners
Associations are being directed
by persons who have intimate
connections with segregation-
ist and anti-semetic organiza-
tions.
The league pointed to the
National Civic Association
which claims to be a "non-
partisan political association
comprised of 21 individual
home owner groups located in
all parts of Detroit."
The National Civic Associ-
ation was condemned by the
Michigan Fair Election Prac-
tices Commission, on Octo-
ber, 1958, for injecting racial
and religious issues into a
political campaign.
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