Blacks and Jews – A Picture Worth 1000 Words

The birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. is approaching, so I think it's appropriate to reflect a moment on his legacy. 

For decades, most of the so-called black leaders – the Jacksons, the Sharptons, the Farrakhans, the Reverend Wrights – have been doing all they can to demonize Jews. Their efforts have borne bitter fruit, even (Freddie's Fashion Mart; Crown Heights) including the murders of innocent people by young black men incited to mob violence by the words of those self-appointed leaders. 

Yet all of those leaders claim to follow in the footsteps of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

How can that be? I'm old enough to have met Dr. King in person, when he came to WKCR-FM, the Columbia University radio station, for an interview:

I'm not in the picture because I was a broadcast engineer, not a newsman, but all of us were honored to meet him and shake his hand. 

At that time, it was common knowledge that Dr. King, unlike some other prominent black leaders of the time (Elijah Muhammad; Malcolm X) held both Jews and Israel in the highest regard, and had zero tolerance for anti-Semitism either overt or covert, as, say, "anti-Zionism." Consider, for instance, these authenticated quotes assembled by Robert Spencer in Martin Luther King, Jr.: supporter of Israel:

"I cannot stand idly by, even though I happen to live in the United States and even though I happen to be an American Negro and not be concerned about what happens to the Jews in Soviet Russia. For what happens to them happens to me and you, and we must be concerned."

"Israel's right to exist as a state in security is uncontestable."

"Peace for Israel means security, and we must stand with all our might to protect its right to exist, its territorial integrity. I see Israel as one of the great outposts of democracy in the world, and a marvelous example of what can be done, how desert land can be transformed into an oasis of brotherhood and democracy. Peace for Israel means security and that security must be a reality."

"I solemnly pledge to do my utmost to uphold the fair name of the Jews -- because bigotry in any form is an affront to us all."

"When people criticize Zionists they mean Jews, you are talking anti-Semitism."

Not surprisingly, then, when the time came that Dr. King needed the support of prominent Jewish leaders, it was always given generously and unstintingly. Here, for instance, is a picture of the famous march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama four years after that radio interview. In the front rank, marching between Ralph Bunche and Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, is one of the most learned and respected rabbis of the time, Abraham Joshua Heschel. Directly behind Dr. King in the second rank is another prominent American rabbi, Maurice Davis.

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, second from right, participating in the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, on March 21, 1965.

First row, from far left: John Lewis, an unidentified nun, Ralph Abernathy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph Bunche, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Fred Shuttlesworth.

Second row: Visible behind (and between) Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ralph Bunche is Rabbi Maurice Davis.

Why were these rabbis there? For one reason: because it was the right thing to do. Here are a few of Rabbi Heschel's thoughts on racism, Dr. King and his movement, and the duty of Jews to help defeat the evil in any way they could:

"Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason."

"When I marched in Selma, my legs were praying."

"All it takes is one person… and another… and another… and another… to start a movement."

"A Jew is asked to take a leap of action rather than a leap of thought."

"Speech has power. Words do not fade. What starts out as a sound, ends in a deed."

Isn't it long past time to honor Dr. King's memory by boldly disavowing those who have made careers out of inducing us to hate one another? I hope that the day will come that self-aggrandizing hatemongers like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Jeremiah Wright, and Louis Farrakhan will rant in vain in near-empty halls. Of course, in a country as large and diverse as ours, they'll always have a few deluded followers. But we'll know we have arrived when their congregations have diminished to Westboro Baptist Church proportions.

Until that time comes, though, the majority of honorable, upstanding black Americans should be doing everything in its power to neutralize the poison being fed to the young by the minority of hate-spewing scoundrels. No one else can do the job. After all, those who have been led to believe that all of their troubles are the fault of the whites and the Jews are unlikely to listen to those of us who are both white and Jewish.