Powerful Appeals for Just Rights for Negroes
in Silberman's 'Crisis in Black and White,'
Harry Golden's Mr. Kennedy and the Negroes'

Few volumes can possibly have
the effect that an impressive book
by Charles E. Silberman, a mem-
ber of the board of editors of
Fortune Magazine, is certain to
exert in the civil rights issue.
"Crisis in Black and White,"
Silberman's brilliant analysis of
the Negro-white situation, pub-
lished by Random House, is a
classic. It is marked by thorough
research. It is a scholarly work.
It is based on a deep-rooted con-
viction on the need to help the
Negro acquire the dignity that is
so vital in the assurance of all the
just rights now sought for the
colored people.
Silberman draws upon all
available sources to emphasize
his theme—upon the wisdom
and the policies of Abraham
Lincoln, upon Biblical lore (such
as Leviticus XIX, 33-34, "ye shall
not do harm to a stranger . . .
for ye are strangers in the land
of Egypt"); James Baldwin, Tol-
stoi, Isaiah ("Shudder, you com-
placent ones") ; Heine, Ibsen;
and the current relevant litera-
ture on the subject.
There is firmness in his views.
He explains how it is possible for
a Negro to become angry, and he
shows how "to be a Negro is to be
suspect." -
"For their own protection," Sil-
berman points out, "Negroes, no
Matter how rich or how poor, had
to avoid any form of provocation.
But the anger and hate were there
(increased by Negroes' hatred of
their own submissiveness) and had
to find some outlet . . ."
That's how there developed an
inner struggle, all part of a prob-
lem that needs solution and to-
wards which "Crisis in Black and
White" offers positive ideas.
Silberman does not mince words.
Ile does not shirk issues. He
shows how, during the last war,
the discriminated-against Negro
soldiers "even suffered the ulti-
mate humiliation of seeing Nazi
prisoners of war treated with more
respect than they received. The
prisoners were allowed to eat with
white soldiers and civilians in rail-
road dining cars or in station res-
taurants while the Negro soldiers
—assigned to guard the Nazis en
route to Southern POW camps—
were barred . . ."
"World War Two," Silberman
declares, "also destroyed what-
ever illusion American Negroes
may have had remaining about
white sincerity. 'White folks
talking about the Four Free-
doms,' Negroes cynically ob-
served, 'and we ain't got none'."
"And so we are all, black and
white together, trapped in a
vicious circle from which no one
seems to escape," Silberman
writes. "But we must escape, and
it is up to the whites to lead the
way; the guilt and the responsi-
bility are theirs."
Occupying the slums that were
bequeathed to him by those who
left for greener pastures—Italians,
Poles, Slovaks, Jews—"in contrast-
ing his lot with theirs, the Negro
is positive that "the man'—the
white man—has stacked the cards
against him. Among the great mass
of working-class Negroes, there-
fore, and among many of the
middle class as well, apathy exists
side by side with a growing, fester-
ing resentment of their lot. These
Negroes are more and more con-
vinced that they should have a
better life; they are less and less
convinced that they themselves
ean do anything about it."
With the Negroes' "impatience,
bitterness and anger .. . likely to
increase the closer they come to
full equality," Silberman asserts:
"To solve the Negro problem
will require difficult and occa-
sionally heroic decisions on the
part of businessmen, educators
and civil and political leaders,
and changes in the behavior of
Americans in every walk of life;

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, May 15, 1954

38

teachers and students, employers
and employees, trade union offi-
cers and members, parents and
children. Those who hesitate to
act because of the magnitude of
the problem or the character of
the opposition should ponder the
the structure of Edmund Burke:
`The only thing necessary for
the triumph of evil is for good
men to do nothing.' Nor can
there be any question about the
moral issue involved, unless we
are to discard the Judaeo-
Christian tradition altogether.
`Unlike any other social problem
religion has ever had to come
to grips with,' Rev. Will D.
Campbell of the National Coun-
cil of Churches has written,
"here is one on which there is
no room for argument . . . It
was settled for the Jews in the
wilderness when they were ad-
monished to accept the Ger, the
sojourner, the stranger within
their gates . . . and it was
settled for Christendom at Pen-
tecost when members of every
race and nation and tongue were
"altogether in one place hearing
the mighty words of God." "The
question, therefore, is no longer
what to do, but whether there
is still time in which to do it."
In his thorough analysis, there-
fore, Silberman views every situa-
tion, points to the need for free-
dom everywhere, in schools, in
industries, in politics. He turns, to
the Old Testament to point to the
role the black man played in the
development of ancient civiliza-
tion. He describes the emerging
racial self-consciousness among
Negroes. He declares that just as
industry came to terms with labor
in the 1930s so must business play
"a similar role today in averting
race warfare."
To emphasize the need for
school integration, Silberman
draws an analogy with the situa-
tion among Oriental Jews in Israel.
He shows that while there is cur-
rent superiority among the Occi-
dental children that there was a
flowering of Jewish culture among
Jews of old in Arabic countries,
that Iraqi Jews wrote the Talmud
and Maimonides lived in North
Africa.
He points to studies by Israeli
educators who said there was
lack of stimulation among
Oriental children, occasioned by
impoverished environment, and
Silberman similarly points to the
need to overcome this short-
coming. Further encouraging
that Israel's experiences be
taken into account, he writes:
"The Israeli educators have
tried to isolate the critical points
in intellectual development. The
first is during the nursery school
years; the second is in the first
and second grades, when the
children learn to read. The
Israelis are convinced that any-
one, even the mentally retarded,
can be taught to read . . . The
third critical point at which
these youngsters need help is
the junior-high period . . . The
object is to provide all the help
needed to produce an intellec-
tual elite among these young-
sters . . . thereby demonstrating
to the Oriental community as
well as to the Western Jewish
community that Orientals DO
have the capacity to move to the
top of Israeli society."
Thus, a brilliant analysis of a
very critical American situation
draws upon every asset to assist
in reaching a just solution to a
grave problem. Silberman has
made a definite and very positive
contribution towards solving this
issue with his "Crisis in Black
and White."
* * *
Harry Golden's Study of
Civil Rights Issue in
`Kennedy and the Negroes'
Another analysis of the civil
rights issue has been made by a
man who has lived in the South,
who knows the attitudes there and
who also proposes firm positive

steps in getting things solved.
Harry Golden presents his views
in "Mr. Kennedy and the Negroes,"
published by World.
Golden is convinced that "the
late Mr. Kennedy was the first
President of the United States
since Lincoln to declare publicly
that racial segregation and dis-
crimination are morally indefens-
ible." That is why he named his
new book, which is a general
analysis of the position of the
Negro and the reactions of the
South to the civil rights issue, as
he did.
All the issues relating to the
Negroe's problems are discussed
by Golden, and he gives accounts
of many incidents that had taken
place in displays of bigotry
against the black man.
Time and again, Golden likens
the Negroes' experiences to the
Jews and he makes much of Jew-
ish attitudes on civil rights and
on pressures exerted upon Jews
by both segregationists and in-
tegrationists.
"It is true," he writes, "that
Jews lived in the South before
there was a South. They came
with Oglethorpe - to Savannah in
1733, and established the indigo
trade in South Carolina in the
1750s. Yet, the surrounding society
never thinks of them as Southern-
ers, not really, and when an occa-
sional Jew joins a White Citizens
Council, thinking perhaps he has
been accepted as a bona fide
Southerner, his enthusiastic ini-
tiation merely signals the defector.
My own views on racial problems
have been inspired mainly by
those few Southerners who did
indeed renege, who did betray
their tradition and inheritance
and risked their livelihood and
their place in a stable community
to speak out against the evil of
segregation."
Golden knows the South and
the Negro. The Jewish compari-
sons, however, and his rebukes
to Southern Jews often sound
like generalizing and may not
stand exposure to total analysis.
He is quite hard on Eisenhower,
and pointing to the fact that
"Franklin D. Roosevelt captured
the Negro vote," he states "Roose-
velt himself was never an open
champion of the Negroes." This
is part of the hero worship and the
elevation of President Kennedy to
the status of being the first
President to champion equal rights
for Negroes.
Golden does, however, credit
Mrs. FDR with valiant efforts in
the Negroes' behalf, and he does
state:
"The Roosevelts made it easier
for President Truman to begin
to end racial segregation in the
armed forces and President
Truman made it easier for John
F. Kennedy to become the first
President in this century to make
public declaration that the
Negro's struggle was a moral
issue . . ."
Golden's view is: "The Negro
revolt is now, in the 1960s . .
because the major overpowering
institution in this country—
business — is waving welcome
whether it knows that it is waving
or not."
His objections to the attitude
of Eisenhower is that the former
President insisted that "law was
not enough, that the hearts of
men must change of themselves."
Referring to his book "For-
gotten Pioneer," in which he de-
scribes how Jewish peddlers in
the South filled the Negro's
needs, Golden believes that the
Jewish storekeeper and the
peddler did not make the Negro
contented but "made him less
mutinous" by keeping him "in
check" with their services.
Chief Judge Simon E. Sobeloff
of the U. S. Circuit Court of Ap-
peals of the Fourth Circuit is given
credit for a firm stand in behalf
of the Negro with a ruling on the
14th Amendment.
Golden's discussion. about Jews

A Louis Marshall Anecdote

Louis Marshall, who, in his lifetime, was among the acknow-
ledged leaders of American Jewry, and who was one of the
creators of the Jewish Agency, was a noted lawyer, and many
anecdotes were told about him. He died in Zurich, Switzerland, in
September, 1929, during the first sessions at the founding of
the Jewish Agency. In 1937, an anonymous writer, "Delectus,"
related this anecdote about Mr. Marshall:

•

4:

The late Louis Marshall, who
was one of the greatest consti-
tutional law-
yers in his day,
first appeared
before the
Court of Ap-
peals at Al-
bany, N.Y., be-
fore he had
achieved more
than a local
reputation i n
the then small
Marshall town of Syra-
cuse, N.Y. Although I cannot
vouch for the whole truth of the
story of his first apperance be-
for the High Court, I had heard
the story told so often in my
youth, that I had almost come to
believe I was present at the
time.
Young Marshall was slight of
build, diffident and walked as
though in a dream. To his attire
he gave little or no thought. Well
do I remember him in his over-
large derby hat that always
seemed to rest upon his ears,
and his "high water" trousers
that ended where his gaiters be-
gan. In winter, especially when
the snow was deep, Marshall,
like others in our town, wore
leather boots into which were
crammed as much of the trou-
sers as they could hold.
The case in which he was to
appear in court was an impor-
tant one. Sauntering about the
hotel in Albany, the night be-
fore the hearing, the young
lawyer suddenly found himself
in a room in which several
guests were gathered about a
table drinking wine. The men,
evidently -lawyers from New
York, who were to oppose him
on the morrow, were in dinner
attire, as were the women of the
party, when one of the men
called out: "Come in stranger,
and join us."
Marshall moved toward the
table and seated himself.
"Haow's crops daown your
way?" asked one of the men in
what he believed was the native
dialect. The young up-state law-
yer sensed that these people
mistook him for a country boob
and were going to have some
fun at his expense. He would
not disappoint them.
"Fair to middlin'." he replied
with an apparently innocent
simplicity.
'An' haow's the caows?" en-
quired another. The women
were giggling behind their
gloved hands.
`They're milkin' fair," replied
Marshall.
- More smart questions were
asked and all were answered to
the evident delight of the party,
when one of the men asked the
stranger whether he would care
for a glass of wine. "Don't mind
if I do," replied the pseudo
simpleton. The wine was poured
out and one of the party called
for a toast from the stranger.

and the South is extremely inter-
esting. The civil rights supporters
will be heartened by his refer-
ences to courageous rabbis who
stood for the right. But there is, at
the same time, an excoriation of
the frightened Jews who yielded
to pressures and threats from the
segregationists. The Golden story
is complete. The fact is that the
English-Jewish press in the South
has taken a firm stand in defense
of civil rights and many Jews have
risked their livelihoods to be just.
There were and there are anti-
Negro Jews in the South. They
are the frightened Jews, but they
are the vast minority.
Golden's story nevertheless is
most interesting. It is highly en-
lightening and as part of the his-
torical record it renders a great
service to the cause of justice for
the Negro. —P.S.

Marshall rose, raised his glass,
stood for a moment in thought,
and then, in a quiet, even voice,
which in later years commanded
rapt attention from his hearers,
spoke: "Ladies and gentlemen,"
he said, "I wish you health, hap-
piness and more wisdom as your
years advance, bearing ever in
mind that outward appearances
may be deceiving. You took me
for a boob because of my
clothes: for the same reason I
took you to be ladies and gentle-
men. We were both mistaken."
The dismay of the party, how-
ever. was nothing compared to
the shock that the New York
lawyers received the following
day when, appearing in court,
they found that their guest of
yester eve was the lawyer who
was to op-pose them.

JWV Adds Protest
to Hotel Bias Policy

America's oldest aP:tive war vet-
erans organization added its voice
today to the storm of protest
against the segregation policies of
a New Orleans hotel which refused
a room to a Negro member of the
New York delegation attending
the annual convention of the Adju-
tant General Association of the
United States.
Daniel Neal Heller, national
commander of the Jewish War
Veterans of the U.S.A., in a tele-
gram to Department Commanders,
recommended that all departments
of JWV urge their respective Gov-
ernors to withdraw state delega-
tions from the convention.

Council of Federations
Extends Recruitment of
Young Communal Workers

NEW YORK (JTA)—Intensified
recruitment of Jewish young men
and women for professional work
in Jewish communal institutions
is now being conducted by the
Council of Jewish Federations and
Welfare Funds, it was reported
here by Philip Bernstein, CJFWF
executive director.
Part of the recruitment pro-
gram, Bernstein reported, is the
Council's scholarship program,
under which 50 scholarships have
been offered to date through
special contributions by communi-
ties. Most of these scholarships in-
volve additional matching funds
by the sponsoring communities.

Major Jewish Groups
Hit Hussein's Advice

NEW YORK (JTA)—Condemna-
tion of King Hussein for his un-
warranted lecture to "American
Jews about their deep affection
and affinity for the people of
Israel," was voiced by the Con-
ference of Presidents of Major
American Jewish Organizations.
The statement by the leaders of
18 organizations, comprising major
Zionist and non-Zionist groups
representing all Jewish denomina-
tions in the U. S.. declared that
King Hussein and his fellow Arab
leaders must reappraise their at-
titudes on Israel if peace in the
Middle East is to be achieved.

Yale U. Hillel Foundation
Seeks Funds for Building

NEW HAVEN, Conn., (JTA)—
The Bnai Brith Hillel Foundation
at Yale University has announced
plans for embarking on a capital
fund drive to cover the mortgage
on the building which it recently
purchased in downtown New Haven
adjacent to the university campus
and to endow the program of the
Foundation.
The building will serve as the
home of the Hillel director to aid
him in being continuously acces-
sible to the students at the univer-
sity and will also serve as a center
for informal student meetings.