Racial Controversy in NYC Grows With 2 Incidents

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Commonwealth, Whitney Seymour
Sr., former president of the Amer-
ican Bar Association, and Frank-
lin Williams, director of the Urban
Center at Columbia University.
The committee based its report
on a five-week study of racial and
religious hostilities in New York
City. It brought together studies
of such bigotry made by various
human relations and civil rights
agencies, a mass of printed mat-
ter, interviews with key figures in
the school dispute, and more than
10,000 of the 50,000 letters received
by the mayor's office and other
sources.
About 7 per cent of the 10,000
letters contained defamatory ex-
pressions, the committee said.
Extremists distorted the dispute
issues with injections of bigotry,
and hate peddlers sought to en-
gender an atmosphere of fear.
Bigotry from black extremists
was "open, undisguised, nearly
physical in its intensity and far
more obvious and identifiable
than that emanating from
whites." Anti-black bias tended
to be expressed in more sophisti-
cated ways "often communicated
privately and seldom reported,
but nonetheless equally evil, cor-
rosive, damaging and deplor-
able."
The committee summary omit-
ted the bigoted printed material
distributed during the school dis-
pute. The report said there would
be "no constructive purpose served
in thus adding to the circulation
of such material," and it refrained
from naming "blameworthy indi-
viduals or organizations because
none were asked to testify under
oath, protected by appropriate
constitutional safeguards.
The committee called the pres-
ent situation "intolerable" with
hostility continuing to grow and
deplored the lack of communica-
tions between the black and white
communities. It proposed further
investigation to assess definitely
the extent, depth and impact of the
printed and verbally circulated
bigotry. The committee said it was
"ironic" that the conflict should
have developed "so speedily and
massively between Jews and
blacks—two groups which for many
years have so successfully coop-
erated with each other in attempt-
ing to promote a higher level of
human dignity and equality." The
committee proposed creation of a
continuing city-wide conference of
representatives of human rela-
tions and civil rights agencies to
provide a forum "for the discus-
sion of diverse needs and inter-
ests and projection of construc-
tive solutions to different prob-
lems."
(In Baltimore, a Negro civil rights
leader told a Jewish audience that
the extent of anti-Semitism in the
Negro community has been "great-
ly exaggerated." James Farmer,
former national director of the
Congress of Racial Equality, said
that Negro anti-Semitism was only
one manifestation of growing anti-
white sentiment in the black com-
munity that is directed "against
whites who are the most obvious
and visible."
(Sometimes this happens to be
Jews and at other times different
ethnic groups, Farmer said in a
speech at the Baltimore Hebrew
Congregation. "There is no more
anti-Semitism in the black commu-
nity than in the white community,"
he added.)
An anti - Semitic poem read
by a controversial Negro
teacher on a public subscription
radio station broadcast last
month became the newest ele-
ment in the ongoing struggle be-
tween the teachers' union and the
advocates of community control
of public schools. The United
Federation of Teachers has
lodged a strong protest with the
Federal Communications Com-
mission over the poem, read on
WBAI-FM by Leslie R. Camp-

40 Friday, January 24, 1969

—

bell Dec. 26. It was purportedly
written by a 15-year-old Negro
boy, was dedicated to Albert
Shanker, head of the teachers'
union and opens with the lines,
"Hey Jew boy, with that yar-
mulka on your head/You pale-
faced Jew boy, I wish you were
dead."
Campbell, a key figure in the
Ocean Hill-Brownsville school dis-
pute, was suspended on charges
of harassing union teachers but
was reinstated earlier this month
when a state panel, headed by Dr.
John Fisher, president of Teach-
ers College, found evidence against
him "insufficient to warrant dis-
ciplinary proceedings." Campbell
read the poem as a guest on the
Julius Lester Program.
The UFT has charged WBAI-FM
with spreading anti-Semitic propa-
ganda in general "and attacks
against New York teachers in par-
ticular." The station, owned by the
Pacifica Foundation of Berkeley,
Calif., and supported by contribu-
tions from listeners, is known for
broadcasting intensely controver-
sial material.
Lester, host of the weekly pro-
gram is field secretary of the
Student Non-Violent Coordinating
Committee and the author of a
book about the black revolutionary
movement. He said his intention
in allowing Campbell to read the
poem was "to demonstrate what
a lot of people don't want to take
seriously—the strong and growing
hostility and resentment of Jewish
whites among ghetto blacks."
The poem linked Israel's strug-
gle with the Arab countries to
white supremacy in the city's re-
cent school crisis. One verse read,
"When the UN made Israel a free
independent state/little four—and
five-year-old boys threw hand
grenades; they hated the black
Arabs with all their might/and
you, Jew boy, said it was all
right."
Shanker, in a statement said
that the WBAI program ought
to provide new grounds for
Mayor Lindsay and Dr. Fisher
to reverse Campbell's reinstate.
ment. He said his reading of the
anti-Semitic poem "is an indi-
tion of his teaching approach."
Frank Millspau, the manager of
WBAI-FM, rejected Shanker's
charges of anti-Semitism. He said
Monday that there was anti-Semitic
feeling on the part of some Negroes
and anti-Negro feeling in the Jew-
ish community. He said it was "the
responsibility of the news media in
general and WBAI in particular to
make a full disclosure of these
biases and to fully explore their
depths and their origins."
Millspau accused Shanker of try-
ing to get support for an unpopular
strike by raising fears of anti-
Semitism
Mayor Lindsay was accused by
the head of the African-American
Teachers Association of "trying
to appease the powerful Jewish
financiers of the city" for order-
ing an investigation into the
reading of tne poem.
Albert Vann, president of the
Negro teachers organization, said
that Mayor Lindsay had, in effect,
called for the dismissal of Camp-
bell and threatened that "the black
community . . . will not tolerate
such action." He claimed that
there were no anti-Semitic over-
tones in the poem but conceded
that it was "critical of the Jews."
Mayor Lindsay denounced the
poem as "obviously anti-Semitic."
The American Jewish Committee
meanwhile urged the immediate
suspension of Campbell in a tele-
gram to John Doar, president of
the New York City Board of Edu-
cation. Theodore Ellenoff, president
of the AJCommittee's New York
Chapter, said there was no place
in public schools for bigot as
teachers, no matter what their
color, and demanded a full investi-
gation of Campbell's fitness to
teach.

.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Former Board of Education
president Mrs. Rose Shapiro de-
manded that her successor, Doar,
dismiss Campbell. Mrs. Shapiro's
demand for the ouster was echoed
by the Council of Supervisory As-
sociations, an organization of pub-
lic school administrators, in tele-
grams to Dr. James E. Allen, the
State Education Commissioner, and
Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller. Rabbi
Gilbert Kiaperman, president of
the New York Board of Rabbis,
made the same demand in a tele-
gram to Doar.
In a related development, the
director of the Metropolitan Mu-
seum of Art apologized Tuesday
to "all persons who have been
offended" by a catalogue for the
museum's exhibit on life in Har-
lem which contained an intro-
duction that has been condemned
as anti-Semitic. Thomas P. F.
Hoving said he took sole respon-
sibility for what he termed "an
honest intention" but "an error
in judgment."
Hoving, former New York City
parks commissioner, had originally
defended the introduction against
charges by Mayor John V. Lindsay
and others that it was "fascist,"
particularly anti-Semitic, but of-
fensive to the Irish and Puerto-
Rican as well.
Mayor Lindsay, assailing the
catalogue, said: "It suggests that
black Americans have joined a
national majority not by their
efforts for justice and dignity, but
through anti-Semitic feelings. This
is a slander on both the black
and white community, as well as
an insult to the Jewish commun-
ity," he said. He declared that
"No exhibit which bears the en-
dorsement of the city . . . should
reflect this kind of bigotry." He
urged the museum to withdraw
the publication from distribution
until the remarks are expunged.
Robert L. Bernstein, president of
Random House, publisher of the
hard-cover edition, had rejected
the mayor's request for withdrawal
and said the book, "taken as a
whole is a responsible document
which will contribute to the under-
standing of a difficult problem."
Allon Schoener, of the State Coun-
cil on the Arts, who was coordina-
tor for the "Harlem on My Mind"
exhibit and assembled the cata-
logue, said there was no attempt
"to provoke anti-Semitic feelings"
and added that as "a member of
the New York Jewish community"
he felt that "the Jews must accept

the realities of the world in which
we live."
After an announcement by mu-
seum officials that a disclaimer
would be inserted into all cata-
logues declaring that "The facts
were organized according to the
socio-economic realities in Harlem
at that time" and that "any racist
overtones which were inferred
from the passages quoted out of
context were regrettable," the
American Jewish Congress re-
newed an earlier demand for re-
call of the catalogue.
"The so-called 'disclaimer' is
entirely unsatisfactory. Indeed,
it adds insult to injury by insist-
ing that the original slander was
based on 'facts' that were sup-
posedly 'organized according to
the socio-economic realities in
Harlem at that time,' " the state-
ment read.
"What 'facts' does the Museum
mean—the libel that Jews exploit
the blacks of Harlem? What 'time'
does the statement refer to? Surely
not time past, since the 'disclaimer'
uses the present tense.
"The negligence of the Metropoli-
tan in giving credence and support
to the racist remarks in the cata-
logue cannot be mitigated by any
disclaimer, particularly one as
half-hearted as this one. It can be
repaired only by withdrawing the
catalogue in its present form from
circulation. Nothing less will be
acceptable."
In the earlier letter to Hoving,
Rabbi Arthur J. Lelyveld, presi-
dent of the Congress, wrote that
he had read "with disbelief and
dismay" the statement by Hoving
that the catalogue was "not racist"
and "not bigotry" and "not
slander."
The American Jewish Congress
leader quoted a sentence in the
catalogue introduction by Candice
Van Ellison, written two years ago
as a high school term paper,
stating:
"Behind every hurdle that the
Afro-American has yet to jump
stands the Jew who has already
cleared it."
Rabbi Lelyveld commented:
"The statement is more than un-
true; it is a deliberate accusation
that the Negro plight today is the
result of some kind of conspiracy
by the Jews."
Rabbi Lelyveld also challenged a
statement in the catalog introduc-
tion that "Almost all of the high-
priced delicatessens and other
small food stores are run by

JDC to Give ORT $2,350,000 in 1969
for Overseas Vocational Training

NEW YORK—The Joint Distribu-
tion Committee will provide at
least $2,350,000 during 1969 toward
the overseas vocational training
program of ORT, the Organization
for Rehabilitation through Training,
it was announced by officials of
both organiaztions.
This is $100,000 more than the
amount allocated in 1968, reflecting
the increased need for vocational
education among Jewish youth and
training for adults overseas, espe-
cially in Israel and France.
The JDC grant will help finance
technical education, youth wel-
fare, and economic rehabilitation
services of ORT in Europe, Is-
rael, North Africa, Iran and In-
dia. More than 50,000 persons are
expected to receive such assist-
ance in these and other areas
during the coming year.
ORT activities in Israel, with
trade schools in 38 cities and towns,
comprising the largest vocational
school system in the country, will
receive by-far the largest portion
of the 1969 JDC grant.
The JDC allocation also includes
provision for substantial funds to
be used by ORT in France for vo-
cational education and other job
training programs for North Afri-
can refugees. ORT trade schools,
epprentice programs for youth and
special courses for adults have

been greatly enlarged to meet the
needs of 30,000 arrivals of recent
years.
JDC, American welfare agency
aiding distressed Jews abroad, re-
ceives its funds from the cam-
paigns of the Utiited Jewish Ap-
peal. ORT is the principal agency
affording cocational education to
Jews overseas.
Signing the financial pact for the
two agencies were Louis Broido,
JDC chairman, Dr. William Haber,
president of the American ORT
Federation, and Max A. Braude,
ORT director-general.
The new pact is the 23 consecu-
tive annual financial agreement
between the two agencies. JDC has
made $35,718,000 available to ORT
in the past 22 years to assist the
vocational training of over 500,000
persons.
The new agreement specifies
that the American ORT Federa-
tion will refrain from conducting
independent fund-raising cam-
paigns in the United States, but
will continue its membership ac-
tivites.
Vocational training assistance
through ORT represents one aspect
of JDC's overseas programs. In
1969, JDC requires a minimum of
$24,665,000 to provide welfare and
rehabilitation services for hundreds
of thousands of needy Jews in 27
countries around the world.

Jews" and that "the lack of com-
petition allows the already badly
exploited Black to be further ex-
ploited by Jews."
The American Jewish Congress
spokesman cited studies published
by the Kerner Commission and
one by the Congress itself indi-
cating that whites own "a minor-
ity and declining share of business
establishments in the ghetto." He
added that the charge of "exploi-
tation" was "not substantiated by
any studies with which we are
familiar."
Some 30 members of the Jewish
Defense League picketed the Met-
ropolitan, and urged that it be boy-
cotted. Rep. James H. Scheuer,
Bronx Democrat and a Jew, who
has announced his candidacy for
mayor, denounced the passages in
the catalogue as "crude and ob-
vious, virulent anti-Semitic and
anti-ethnic remarks."
Hoving said Tuesday that when
he approved the introduction
"many months ago, I wholly
failed to sense the racial under-
tones that might be read into
portions of it. I now fully realize
that her (Miss Van Ellison's)
essay was not appropriate to the
catalogue and should never have
been used as such."
Hoving said Tuesday that a sec-
ond disclaimer would be inserted
explaining who Miss Van Ellison
is and the circumstances under
which she wrote her essay. The
disclaimer also will be inserted
into the hard-cover edition of the
catalogue.
The New York Times said in an
editorial Wednesday that the cata-
logue's introduction, "blatantly of-
fensive to Jews" was "made more
rather than less offensive by the
subsequent insertion of an explana-
tion that the anti-Semitic state-
ments are intended to reflect socio-
economic realities, not racism."
The Times accused Hoving of hav-
ing approached the Harlem exhibit
at the Metropolitan Museum "with
as little sensitivity as if it were
just another of the carefree hap-
penings he used to arrange in the
parks."
Before Hoving's apology was
made known, the American Fed-
eration of Jews from Cent al
Europe sent a telegram to the
chairman of the museum's board
protesting "Hoving's inexcusable
obtuseness toward the racism found
in the catalogue."
The wire, signed by Curt C.
Silberman, chairman, said: "As
victims of Hitler's persecution
we are shocked by this ill-advised
attitude."
State Senator Albert B. Lewis,
of Brooklyn, introduced a resolu-
tion in the State Senate con-
demning the New York State
Council on Arts, Hoving and
Schoener for using $25,000 in
public funds to promote "anti-
Semitic and racist statements" in
the catalogue.
Lewis said he had written to
State Comptroller Arthur Levitt
calling for an immediate probe
into use and authorization of the
state funds. The New York Council
on Arts contributed $25,000 in em-
ploye man hours to the exhibit,
he said.
In another development, a com-
munity relations consultant of the
American Jewish Committee
warned here that Jews must align
themselves with moderate Negro
leadership in order to dampen the
effects of black militants. Israel
Laster, a specialist for ethnic and
minority programs of the AJCom-
mittee, spoke at Yeshiva Univer-
sity's alumni mid-year conference.
He said "The absence of a contin-
uing moderating effort on the civil
rights efforts could lead to a dan-
gerous stalemate between the two
communities so important to each
other." Laster warned that the
burden of the moderating role will
fall on Orthodox Jews because
Conservative and Reform Jewry
generally is not located in the
urban ghettos. "It is imperative
actively concern itself with the
plight of the ghetto dweller," he
said.

