Liberal and progressive Jews in the South are not afraid to participate in the civil rights movement, it was reported at a press conference here today by Irving Gordon, representative of the Jewish La or Committee and of the Workmen’s Circle following his return from the Selma-Montgomery march jacking the rights of Negroes in Alabama to vote.
“I was particularly proud of many Southern Jews whose very presence among the marchers belied the remarks of some to the effect that Southern Jewry would fear to rise and be counted in this historic adventure. The liberal and progressive Southern Jew has constantly been in the foreground of every effort on behalf of civil and human rights within his community.” The National Community Relations Advisory Council, coordinating body of major national Jewish organizations and of local Jewish Community Councils, was represented at the march by Isaiah Minkoff, executive vice-chairman.
At a ceremony yesterday in the offices of the Nations Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Workmen’s Circle received a life membership plaque from the NAACP. Representing the 70,000 members of the Workmen’s Circle–a Jewish fraternal order–in the ceremonies were Jacob T. Zukerman, president of the organization; Benjamin A. Gebiner, executive secretary; and Nat Peskin, director of membership activities.
Rabbi Israel Mitter, president of the Rabbinical Council of America, announced this weekend that 200 Orthodox rabbis, members of the Council, have joined a “special task force for civil rights.” He made that announcement at a special conference, at Yeshiva University, held by the Council’s Social Actions Committee.
At the same conference, Hyman Dechter, national counsel for CORE, one of the principal organizations in the Negro rights actions, told the assembled rabbis that 70 percent of the whites involved in the civil rights movement were Jews. He reported that 95 percent of the white attorneys serving the movement without pay are Jews.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
