Editor's Letter

Reinforcing Black-Jewish Bonds

ven overshadowed moments can have staying power.
Consider two such moments linking Rabbi Joachim
Prinz, the early-1960s American Jewish Congress
president, with America's civil rights folk hero, the Rev. Martin
Luther King,-Jr.
First, Rabbi Prinz had the arduous task of speaking at
the historic civil rights march on
Washington justilefore Rev. King.
It was Aug. 28,1;963: The crowd of -
250,000 was hot and restless. There
were scattered sighs when Rabbi
Prinz began to speak from the Lincoln
Memorial's granite steps. The wait for
Rev. King — and his message•of free-
dom, equality, justice and nonviolent
civil protest — seemed interminable.
The 61-year-old rabbi was spiritual
leader of Temple B'nai Abraham in
Newark, N.J., and a civil rights activ-
ist. After 11 years as the leader of Berlin's Jews, he was exiled
from his native Germany in 1937 for speaking out against
Nazism and its outward hate toward European Jews.
Rabbi Prinz spoke for just two minutes at the March on
Washington for Jobs and Freedom, but his words forever
bound Jews at the hip of the growing civil rights movement.
"As Americans," he said, "we share the profound concern of
millions of people about the shame and disgrace of inequality
and injustice, which makes a mockery of the great American
idea.
"As Jews," he added, "we bring to this great demonstration,
in which thousands of us proudly participate, a two-fold
experience — one of the spirit and one of our history"
Rev. King spoke next. He shared his dream of freedom ring-
ing from every nook and corner of this great nation.
"And when this happens," he said, "we will be able to speed
up that day when all God's children — black men and white
men, Jews and gentiles, Protestants and Catholics — will
be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro
spiritual, `Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we
are free at last!'"
The march paved the way for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Rev. King, the son of a Southern Baptist minister, was just
39 when he was gunned down in Memphis, where he had
gone to support the sanitation workers. His 1968 murder
came 13 years after he rose to prominence in the Montgomery
• .
bus boycott, a seminal event in civil rights history.

Still Resonant
Rev. King was eminently quotable. But in accepting the
American Jewish Committee's Liberties Medallion - in 1965,
he quoted Rabbi Prinz, who once said: "The most urgent,
the most disgraceful, the most shameful and the most tragic
problem is silence, not bigotry and hatred."
That quote came to light again in remarks by Pastor Glenn
Plummer of Ambassadors for Christ Church in Detroit and a
leader in the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
At the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit-sponsored
rally for Israel on July 19, Pastor Plummer spoke about the
durability of black-Jewish ties. "We must acknowledge that a
whole lot of Christians and a whole lot of blacks in this coun-
try are not silent and we shall not be silent: We shall stand
with American Jewry and we shall stand with Israel and we

will not be silent!"
At a rally in support of Israel in its two-front war against
Arab aggressors, Pastor Plummer's magnetism and message
not only energized the 3,500 participants, but also lingered - • -
the longest. It was a magical moment.
Rev. King may have looked to white Christian brethren to
walk arm in arm with, Pastor -Plummer said; but "Jews in
America stood with Dr. King. Jews were going to jail with us.
Jews were hurt and even killed with us."
Jews also helped found the NAACP and National Urban •
League. "Jews stood with us as true friends during the deep-
est struggle of our life as a people in this country:' Pastor
Plummer said.
Suddenly, I understood why this dynamic preacher was
talking civil rights. It was context for his conclusion that
blacks and Jews today face common enemies, be they a nation
(Iran), a faith (radical Islam) or
a terrorist network (Hezbollah).
All favor indoctrination and
control over civil liberties and
equality. "But they will not
persevere proclaimed Pastor
Plummer, who founded the
Plymouth-based Fellowship
of Israel and Black America.
"They will not succeed!"

Work To Do
In 1967, Rabbi Prinz, then head
Pastor Plummer
of the Conference of Presidents
of Major American Jewish Organizations, urged "all respon-
sible Negro leadership" to condemn "the tragic crime of Negro
anti-Semitism." Indeed, black-Jewish harmony requires a
two-way street.
In 2006, blacks and Jews still must guard against stereo-
typing or diminishing one another. The Jewish Community
Council, Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish
Committee as well as our synagogues are among the local • -
Jewish groups working to improve black-Jewish relations.
• Meanwhile, Jews must encourage Pastor Plummer so he
feels appreciated as Israel's ambassador of good will to black
America. Let us applaud his courage to build support for the
Jewish state. For too long, we stayed silent as Jew-hater/anti-
Zionist Louis Farrakhan. of the Nation of Islam spewed his
invective. Last year, the city of Detroit inexplicably bestowed
a Spirit of Detroit Award and a key to the city on Farrakhan.
Beware: He and his ilk continue to convert willing black
Muslims to a brand of radical Islam. -
I urge the black and Jewish communities to engage in the
kind of bridge-building that Pastor Plummer exemplifies:
genuine concern, mutual respect, reciprocal commitment. I I

At Shabbat Under the Stars at 7z30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 11, at Temple

Israel in West Bloomfield, Pastor Plummer, who was just in Israel,
will speak on "Why Black America Should Stand in Solidarity with

Israel." Sermon co-host is Stand With Us/Michigan.

Do Metro Detroit Jews and blacks interact or
simply live among one another?

E-mail letters: letters@thejewishnews.com

August 10 • 2006

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