Jack Salzman, Cornel West Struggles in the Promised

164 // CHERYL GREENBERG
rights almost exclusively, and responded so slowly to requests for help on Jewish
issues that the AJCongress, the most liberal and perhaps the staunchest Jewish
advocate of Black civil rights, lamented in I960:
our organizational structure is completely committed to the elimination of
all forms of prejudice.. ..We adhere to this position even though corresponding
Negro support of Jewish objectives...has not been extensive.
Faced with problems far more severe than those of the Jewish community,
Negro defense activities have been shaped far more by their own immediate
and pressing problems than by general principles... .If one views the
situation in terms of striking a balance, there is a large Negro deficit. 22
For their part, Jews, eager to be accepted among their white gentile neighbors,
often hesitated to act in ways that might alienate them. Thus the AJC tempered
its call to action against the Miami dynamiting spree with, "At the same time,
there is a relationship of Jews to white Christians that needs to be maintained on
friendly terms." 23 Deciding that its top priority, the promotion of tolerance as a
broad virtue, could be disregarded in certain circumstances, the Institute for
American Democracy, funded primarily by the ADL, produced two sets of "brotherhood"
comics for children. In one, a scene of children included a Black boy. The
other, for use in the south, depicted an entirely white crowd. As Walter White
noted in a letter of protest, "It seems to me that if members of the ADL living in
the south cannot stand up for the brotherhood of all human beings, including
Negroes, there is little point spending money to print 'brotherhood' literature at
all." In his reply, ADL's Ben Epstein admitted being
as shocked as you were The IAD, largely subsidized by the ADL, nevertheless
operates somewhat independently and in this specific instance we
are vigorously opposed to what was done—This does not at all detract
from the fact that some materials will be more acceptable in the South than
others.
ADL's Alex Miller noted that Black leaders expected that "Jews, as fellow objects
of persecution, should be the first to rush to the aid of the Negroes."
Unfortunately, he lamented, "This is.. .completely at variance with the behavior
pattern of the Southern Jewish community which has clothed itself quite completely
in the mores of the area." 2/4
Great bitterness on both sides was reflected in the often strained relations
between Black and Jewish leaders. Jews were, after all, white people, and on occasion
responded to problems as whites rather than as Jews. This was particularly
true when the issue was one of class, since race had a hand in helping Jews achieve
middle-class status. When confronted with exploitative behavior by Jewish merchants,
the ADL responded, "if it [discrimination] be common practice. ..then