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September 30, 1988 - Image 7

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1988-09-30

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

CONTENTS

OPINION

26

CLOSE-UP

A Unique Appeal

KEN SCHACHTER
Part investment, part charity,
Israel Bonds express solidarity.

41

BUSINESS

Revitalize

KIMBERLY LIFTON
Oak Park plans a new shopping plaza,
but may lose some Jewish flavor.

46

SPORTS

Young
Courtiers

Bridging racial gaps: "This depends on me."

Sanctifying The Name Of God
Amid Hatred In Mississippi

RABBI ARTHUR J. LELYVELD

n 1964 we turned Mississippi around!
There is a great satisfaction in being
able to look back on a measurable
achievement.
Before that long, hot summer the some
900,000 blacks constituting more than one-
third of the population of Mississippi were
not ony totally segregated and frequently
abused, but also had been effectively
denied the right to vote. Lynchings and
killings were the lot of many who par-
ticipated in the struggle.
Among those murdered in 1963 were
Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner and
James Chaney. Andy and Michael were
Jewish. James was black.
The focus of our campaign in 1964 was
on the central issue of voter registration.
We judged, rightly as it turned out, that
registering black voters would spell the
beginning of the end of segregation.
The struggle in Mississippi came under
the direction of COFO, the Council of
Federated Organizations. The participation
of Northern college students in the project
during the summer of 1964 was organized
by the Commission on Race and Religion
of the National Council of Churches. In
Cleveland, we organized an Emergency
Committee of the Clergy on Civil Rights,
of which I served as chairman.
When Andy Goodman and his fellow
volunteers disappeared, we didn't believe
they would ever be found alive. Tragically,

I

Rabbi Arthur Lelyveld is rabbi emeritus of
the Fairmount Temple in Cleveland. This
article first appeared in Manna, a quarterly
publication of Progressive Judaism in
London.

we were correct. I later had the unhappy
experience of addressing the memorial ser-
vice held in New York to honor them.
"Beautiful and pleasant . . . were they in
their lives and in their death they were not
separated.
I put my name on a "maybe" list. The
"maybe" indicated that if the call should
come and if it could be shown that my
presence in Mississippi would be useful, I
would be willing to join those who were car-
rying on the work for which those three
young men had sacrificed their lives.
My "maybe" was converted into a clear
affirmation when the call came from the
National Council telling us that help was
needed by the Hattiesburg Ministers' Pro-
ject in their voter-registration drive.
We were to report to Memphis for inten-
sive orientation, conducted by Grady
Pollard, a brilliant young black staff
member of the National Council. Under his
leadership, we began to learn what to ex-
pect in Mississippi.
Unbelievably, registration was a task
challenging to the point of being frighten-
ingly intimidating. To register to vote in
Mississippi at that time one had to take an
examination. The registrar was the sole
judge as to whether the applicant passed
or failed. A black applicant who had
courageously by-passed warnings and road-
blocks and had come to register was almost
certain to fail.
When we found it difficult to under-
stand the kind of harrassment we would
have to face, Grady Pollard introduced the
technique of role-playing. To our colleague,
the distinguished black minister, Dr.
Donald Jacobs, he said, "You sit here. Now

MIKE ROSENBAUM
Local players
are becoming
a force
on the
national
tennis
scene.

1

ENTERTAINMENT

The Acting Bug

MAIDA PORTNOY
Acting is not just a dream
for 16-year-old Elizabeth Berkley.

83

TRENDS

Ins And Outs

AVIVA KEMPNER
A tongue-in-cheek peek at what's hot
and what's not for the year 5749.

85

ANN ARBOR

Apples & Honey

A photographer eyes a New Year
celebration at the Washtenaw JCC.

99

SINGLE LIFE

The Love Doctor

HEIDI PRESS
A New York psychologist puts victims
of "Ioveshock" back on the track.

DEPARTMENTS

14
30
32
42
50

60
74
89
98
130

Frontlines
Inside Washington
Synagogues
Women
Mideast

For Seniors
Cooking
Engagements
Births
Obituaries

CANDLELIGHTING

September 30, 1988 6:58 p.m.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

7

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