NYU Explains Hatchett Appointment
in a Mailing to 160,000 Alumni
NEW YORK (JTA) — Dr. James
M. Hester, president of New York
University, has defended the ap-
pointment of John F. Hatchett as
director of the school's new Afro-
American Student Center. The for-
mer Harlem teacher has been
widely denounced as anti-Semitic.
At the same time, Dr. Hester dis-
closed that the university, in an
unusual action, had explained the
Hatchett appointment in a letter
to its 160,000 alumni, more than
a third of whom are estimated to
be Jewish.
The alumni mailing included a
statement by Hatchett that "I am
not an anti-Semite" and declaring
that his controversial article in a
1967 issue of the Afro-American
Teachers Forum was meant to be
an attack on the "establishment"
and not on "Jews because they
are - Jews."
The article blamed "the Jews
who dominate and control the edu-
cational bureaucracy of the New
York public school system" for
alleged lack of progress by Negro
pupils. It was assailed as "black
Nazism" in a joint statement from
the American Jewish Congress, the
M.E. Dominance
by USSR Conceded
By MILTON_FRIEDMAN
(Copyright 1968. JTA Inc.)
WASHINGTON — Coincidental
with the invasion of Czechoslova-
kia, the Soviet Union has made
ominous military moves in t h e
Mediterranean aimed at both Is-
rael and the United States.
Russian TU-16 jet bombers, bear-
ing Egyptian markings and oper-
ating from Arab air bases, now
maintain surveillance over Israel
naval units and the U.S. Sixth
Fleet. The jets are flown by So-
viet "advisers" and are equipped
With the latest radar and anti-
submarine devices.
This information was elicited by
a tenacious inquiry waged by Rep.
Bob Wilson, California Republican,
a member of the House Armed
Services Committee, who is chair-
man of the Republican Congres-
sional Committee.
In response to a series of probing
inquiries by Rep. Wilson, the State
Department has finally admitted
fk the first time that the super-
sonic Russian jet bombers, tech-
nically transferred to the "United
Arab Republic Ait Inventory," are
flying surveillance missions ; di-
rected at the U.S. Navy in . the
Mediterranean. The same missions
scrutinize Israeli naval and mari-
time activity.
Assistant Secretary of State Wil-
liam B. Macomber, Jr., admitted
also that the State Department's
latest estimate of Russian a n d
Eastern European military per-
sOnnel in Egypt, Syria, and
geria is about 4,000. This includes
some 2,000 in Egypt; 1,000 in Syria
and less than 1,000 in Algeria.
Rep. Wilson feels there are twice
that many. 'Macomber " conceded
that inclusion of : Soviet, technical
personnel, - "Could, however, give
a total of between 8,000 to 10,000."
Rep. Wilke said "the. State De-
partment's admissions accentuate
the deterioration of the. situation
in the Mediterranean and the urg-
ent need for new policies challeng-
ing the growing ComMunist Mili-
tary infrastructure there."
"The State Department is appar-
ently trying to sweep the Russian
build=fip undei• an Arabian rug,"
asserted the Congressman.
Hospital Opens Program,
to Train Med Students
MONTREAL (JTA) Miamonides
Hospital and Home for the Aged
has expanded substantially during
the past year its list of affiliations
as a training center for teaching
students of medical schools of all
types. The affiliations include the
McGill University, Montreal Uni-
versity, the Jewish General Hospi-
tal and the Montreal Diet Dispen-
sary.
-
Catholic Interracial Council and
the Protestant Council, and criti-
cized by other Jewish and civil
rights groups.
Dr. Hester, in an interview
with the New York Times, up-
held Hatchett's disclaimer of
anti-Semitic intent, saying that
if he thought the Harlem teacher
was an anti-Semite "in the clas-
sic sense, we could not keep him
in the position."
On Aug. 9, Dr. Hester had an-
nounced that, acting on advice
from former Supreme Court Jus-
tice Arthur Goldberg, the univer-
sity would not cancel the appoint-
ment. Goldberg's advice was re-
quested by Dr. Hester a n d ar-
ranged by McGeorge Bundy, Ford
-Foundation president.
Dr. Hester said, in the interview,
that he did not think Hatchett was
prejudiced against Jews "as an
ethnic group" but rather that his
controversial article was meant to
be critical of "what he considers
to be the Establishment' in t h e
public schools."
Dr. Hester added that he
thought "it is true that there is a
preponderance of Jewish teachers
and administrators" and that it
was to this that Hatchett had re-
ferred. Asked why the new direc-
tor should have found it necessary
to name any ethnic group, Dr.
Hester said that Jewish teachers
were organized in a Jewish Teach-
ers Association and that "in this
way they have drawn attention to
the fact that they a r e Jewish
teachers."
The NYU head added that he
could understand how Hatchett
could make such a reference to
Jews "when there is an organiza-
tion that calls itself the Jewish
Teachers Organization."
Dr. Hester also said that "in a
system in which teachers are or-
ganized—the Jewish teachers, the
Catholic teachers—and in which a
preponderance do happen to be
Jewish, I could understand how
someone might make such refer-
ences and at the same time not
be anti-Semitic."
Dr. Hester was critical of the
description of the Hatchett article
as "black Nazism," asserting that
"we have a very serious respon-
sibility" to be "quite precise" in
dealing with such "inflammatory
issues."
Meanwhile Rep. Bertram L.
Podell, New York Democrat, has
urged New York University to
dismiss Hatchett on the grounds
that he was a racist and urged
the appointment of another di-
rector of the university's Afro-
American Student Center. In a
statement, the Congressman call-
ed the Hatchett appointment "an
affront to the thousands of Ne-
groes in our city who are impec-
cably qualified to direct the new
Center but are not affiliated with
racist. doctrine.' i
In Hollywood, Fla., the Jewish
War Veterans of the United States,
at its convention, called the Hatch
ett appointment "an affront to
Americans, black and white, who
strive to erase bigotry from our
national existence." The sharply
worded resolution adopted by the
veterans' group also criticized
Goldberg for what it termed a
"casual whitewash" of the appoint-
ment.
Albert Vorspan, director of the
commission on social action of the
Union of American Hebrew Con-
gregations, accused Dr. Hester of
a "tortured and outrageous effort
to de-odorize the noxious anti-
Semitism" of the article by Hatch-
ett. He warned at the same time
that "beneath the viciousness and
racism of Mr. Hatchett's article
there is a real problem for public
education that must be faced."
Vorspan called the NYU head's
statement "a clumsy effort to
justify the original appointment"
of Hatchett and accused Dr.
Hester of becoming "an apolo-
gist for Mr. Hatchett's views
while blaming critics of the arti-
cle for creating tension.
However, Vorspan added, "sim-
plistic reactions on either side do
not serve the interests of anyone.
Both the black student who threat-
ens to riot if Mr. Hatchett is re-
moved and the Jewish alumnus
who says simply, 'he's an anti-
Semite . . . let's get him fired'
are sweeping live problems under
the carpet, where they will smold-
er until they burst into a confla-
gration."
Vorspan stated further that
"while it is malicious and unfair
to accuse the Jewish teachers of
New York, as a graup, of being
anti-black, there may well be some
anti-black teachers, both Jewish
and non-Jewish. We call upon such
teachers to examine their con-
sciences and determine whether
they are conveying such attitudes
in the classroom . While
charges of conscious cultural geno-
cide and educational emasculation
are unconscionable, it may be true
that white teachers sometimes re-
flect values which have become
repugnant to many black people."
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
10—Friday, August 30, 1968
Needy Jewish Kids Get Free Camp in Eight Lands
from Eastern Europe who were ae-
commorated at a youth camp near
NEW YORK—The Joint Distribu- Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia. Thirty-one
tion Committee subsidized free of them were from Czechoslovallia
summer camps for 13,000 needy and two from Romania.
Jewish children in seven countries
He said that the largest number
in Europe and North Africa and in of Jewish summer camps in Eur-
Iran, it was reported here Wednes- ope are in France where, collect-
day by Louis D. Horwitz, director ively, they provided summer vaca-
general of the JDC.
tions for nearly 10,000 children and
Horwitz said that in Morocco, youths.
more than 1,000 children, mostly
from the ghettos of Casablanca and
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ance
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professional
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skirts of Tunis provided summer
tensive training program
holidays for 250 children. The JDC
begins September 9.
leader said he was happy that it
For free aptitude test to
was possible this summer to re-
see if you qualify, Call
sume the camping programs in
Morocco and Tunisia which were
MAURICE A. BETMAN,
interrupted in 1967 because of un-
Assistant General Agent
settled conditions that followed the
NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL
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According to Horwitz, this year's
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