Murder of a D.C. Jewish Merchant and Jewish Dilemma

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BY MILTON FRIEDMAN

(Copyright 1968, JTA Inc.)

WASHINGTON—The bullet that
killed Meyer Kanter in Washing-
ton, D.C., bad an impact on every
white merchant who continues to
operate in the black ghetto. It had
special significance for Jews. Mr.
Kanter, vice president of a syna-
gogue, was gunned down by Negro
thugs in his small furniture store.
Community leaders insisted that
neither Mr. Kanter nor other re-
cent Jewish murder victims were
slain because they were Jewish.
The real murderers were poverty
and despair, not the two youths
charged with the crime, they said.
The accused pair were merely
striking out in understandable rage
against the nearest white target.
The leaders went on to say that
law-abiding Negroes are also the
victims of black brutality. Jews
should not be hypersensitive mere-
ly because more whites are being
assaulted and murdered. The Jews
should show compassion and re-
spond constructively by contribut-
ing to humanitarian projects to
redeem t h e black community.
They should help the Negroes con-
vert the ghetto into a visible and
healthy community where local
residentS would control police and
schools.
This concept is being rejected
today by many Jews; like those
who shed tears at Mr. Kanter's
grave. They see growing terror-
ism inflicted by Negroes upon
whites. They believe that anti-
Semitism is rising in the black
community They feel that Jew-
ish merchants in the ghetto are
subjected to the cutting edge of
the black revolution.
Many Jews are now convinced
that black criminals are being
coddled and the police restricted.
They want social justice for all—
but they also desire a community
where people will not be victim-
ized because of their color—white
or black.
A call for "more effective police
protection" was issued by Dr.
Isaac Franck, executive vice presi-
dent of the Jewish Community
Council of Greater Washington.
"This was not the first such loss
of a precious human life, and no
excuses can be made for it. It
was an act of sheer criminality
and lawlessness."
Chairman John W. Hechinger of
the District of Columbia City Coun-
cil is also a Jewish merchant.
His business does not involve a
small shop but a prosperous chain
operating throughout the capital
and its suburbs.
"With the rise of demagoguery
and the pressure of the public call
for law and order," said Hech-
inger, "I fear the withdrawal of
certain portions of the Jewish
community." Hechinger sought to
minimize Negro anti-Semitism and
warned against "a cop-out for
those Jews who have other rea-
sons for wanting to abandon the
struggle."
The council chairman of a
city now three-quarters black,
Hechinger said the issue was
not "simply a problem of Jew

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(THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
and Gentile or black and white. theid American police state may
Friday, November 29, 1968-9
The problem is man's inhuman.
emerge, they fear.
ity to man."
Hechinger said "the 1 o c a 1
establishment," Jewish and non-
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Jewish, shared blame for allowing
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"a black Ghetto with rat-infested
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He told a Jewish audience that
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ppi. Washington has the unfortu-
nate distinction of being the city
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Hechinger added that "out
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welfare assistance, two are illegiti-
mate. Of those pupils in the 9th
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