By JACK SIEGEL
(A Seven Arts Feature)
Atlanta has a Jewish population!
of 18,000 and a Negro census (1960),
of 186,500 or about 38 per cent of;
the total in the city. Atlanta is no
the home of Julian Bond, the Geo - •
gia legislator, the base of the
Southern Christian Leadership Con-
ference of the late Martin Luther
King and the hub of almost all
surface traffic to the South. It is
therefore a key city on the Ameri-
can scene from several points of
view. While Atlanta is liberal, the
rest of the state voted for George
Wallace and Lester Maddox.
This roundup of views of black
citizens in Atlanta towards Jews is
based on meetings with Black Na-
tionalists who are lawyers, doctors
and part-time activists. They live
well and have no apparent eco-
nomic gripe, They form part of the
middle and intellectual class. Their
viewpoints and attitudes are a
composite of what one hears else-
where in the United States. There
seems to be a difference, however,
in their approach and attitude to
Jews and to white Christians. For
some reason, they expect more of
Jews than they do from the rest of
white society. In the initial petition
for a meeting, one of the men said,
"If you were white Christian, I'd
say to hell with it. But since you're
Jews . . ." They consider them-
selves the buffer zone between the
Jews and rest of the whites. "Once
they (the WASPS) take care of
us," one of them said, "you (the
Jew) are next."
But while the Jew is considered
differently, he is included in the
white, "honkie" category as racist
and non-human.
The Jews, they said, were the
"niggers" of Europe and should be
sensitive to the black problem. The
Jews were brought to Europe in
slavery and therefore share a hu-
miliation in history. Anti-Semitism,
they feel, is a result of anti-black
feelings and only the Black Revo-
lution, they said, will save the
Jews. Black racism, they insist, is
good because it emphasizes the
good in black people and does not
put anybody else down. White rac-
ism is bad because it has enslaved
and shamed the black man.
Profuse use of the word "nigger"
drew a statement from the white
"liberal" that it was a word he had
not used in 30 years. "Nigger," he
was told. "is the creation of the
white man onto whom he had pro-
jected his own meanness."
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
6—Friday, December 6, 1968
A Report From Atlanta—Black Attidudes Toward Jews
or disas Canadian Nazis Use Phone to Spread Bate
taken, is not done necessarily
-
events. He is discarding
in
any conspiratorial sense. But the sociating himself from a religion
lent him to disguise a hateful situa-
ideas parallel one another and
have a consistency of pattern, to lion with love, And his new theme,
simply stated, is that he wants a
be exposed to revelation and in-
sight. piece of the past, as well as the
The Black Community is seeking present, action. Nothing more, but
to give itself substance. Lacking a nothing less. He wants for him and
Bible of their own, the black man his people to walk across the stage
is creating his own record of of the world like a pride of lions.
TORONTO (JTA) — The Bell libelous.
Telephone Company said Monday
that the use of telephone service
for anti-Semitic purposes by the
Canadian National Socialist Party
was legal and the company could
not cut off the service unless it
'was established that the recorded
' messages used were obscene or
The party, headed by John
Beattie, is distributing a Toronto
telephone number which, when
called, puts the caller onto a
recorded message which extols the
National Socialist movement and
accuses the Jews of controlling the
Canadian press.
Israel Chanukah Dinner
Distinguished Guest Speaker
MINISTER
PINCHAS SAPIR
Secretary-General
of the Israel Labor Party
Guest of Honor
MINISTER SAPIR
Dr. Jacob E. Goldman
Director, Ford Motor Company Scientific Laboratory
Vice President-Designate, Xerox Corporation
If the Jews, they were asked,
were so attached to white so-
ciety, how come they sought out
Negroes and stated that they
would not be deterred by black
anti- Semitism from helping
Negroes?
Because, they said. Jews were
attracted to strength, and the
strength of the black people, they
said, lies in pride of self and peo-
ple. Jews. they said, should not
patronize blacks.
How, they were asked, should
the bridge be built? That's your
problem, they said, not ours. But
communication, they added, must
take place, and on an equal level.
After Dr, King's assassination, ,
there was an outbreak in Atlanta.
Of two Jewish stores on one street,1
one suffered damage, the other
didn't. The one which escaped,
they said, had dealt fairly with the
black customers. On the question
of how deep black anti-Semitism !
is, they don't know, and don't care.
However, the white theory that the
black middle class doesn't go along
with the lower class on violent
demonstrations, provoked their dis-
agreement. While the black middle
class might not agree with the eco-
nomic theories of the lower class,
they will support them along racist
line.
The impression from discus-
sions, meetings and surveys one
gets is that there exists a kind
of national committee which is
fashioning both the new black
thought and what action is to be
DR. GOLDMAN
Guest Artist
JAN
PEERCE
General Chairman-Robert Brody
THURSDAY; DECEMBER 19-7:00 P.M.
Grand Ballroom-COBO HALL
Chanukah Music by Eric Rosenow and his Continentals
For Reservations
$6.50 per person
call DI 1-5707
Dietary Laws Observed
Reserved Seating for .1968 Israel Bond Purchasers