Newspaper Page Text
Four
THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Friday, April 26, 1946
The Southern Israelite
Published weekly by Southern Newspaper Enterprises. Inc . 8ulte
201-205 Olenn Building, Atlanta 3. Georgia. WAlnut 0791-0792. M.
Stephen Schiller, publisher; Willy Pels, business manager. Entered as
second clans matter at the post office Atlanta. Georgia, under the Act
of March 3. 1879 Yearly subscription. Three - dollars. The Southern
Israelite Invites literary contributions and correspondence, but Is not
to be considered as sharing the views expressed by writers. All material
should be received by Wednesday noon to insure publication In Issue
of that week.
Good Ground For Optimism
Our men were still dying on Pacific battlefields when
the San Francisco Conference was called to order—one year
ago today. The time seemed far off when international con
duct would be subjected to the hard tests of peace. The swift
surrender of Japan brought these tests sooner than we ex
pected. And the explosion of the atomic energy, forcasting
total destruction if another war should take place, raised
the stakes involved beyond our wildest fears.
Despite the carping of inveterate pessimists and down
right ill wishes, international co-operation, as blue-printed
by the San Francisco Conference has met the first year’s
tests. There have been thorny problems. There have been
temporary setbacks. But difficulties were to be expected.
The important fact is not that they have arisen, but that
up to this point they have been solved. A hopeful new kind
of international give-and-take seems to be in operation. The
crucial question for world peace is—will this spirit of co
operation continue in the future?
The answer to that question lies in the combined United
Nations war effort which set the tone of the San Francisco
Conference. On the battlefronts of the war, men and women
of all races, nations and religions joined forces in the com
mon cause of freedom. In the face of a compelling purpose,
surface differences—which might have obstructed joint action
before—melted away. Britisher and Pole, American and
Russian, Czech and Hollander worked together against the
enemy with old prejudices forgotten.
Our own servicemen went through similar experiences
among themselves. Some of them may have started out
with prejudices against the race, religion or social position
of other Americans. The first blast of enemy fire destroyed
those bigoted attitudes. They were luxuries which no man
could afford when his life depended on the teamwork of
his unit.
The statesmen who met at San Francisco were spurred
on by the success of their own people in wartime co-opera
tion. In the 12 months since then, this example has been
the key to agreement among governments on the combined
operations of peace. The list of successful actions includes:
United Nations administration of Germay and Japan; nego
tiation of loans for a staple international economy under
the Bretton Woods agreement; joint administration of relief
by UNRRA; and most heartening of all, the decision to
place atomic energy in the custody of the UNO.
After centuries of power politics!' progress toward a
global viewpoint is naturally slow. But we have good ground
for high hopes—as long as the peoples’ unity which won
the war remains a model for action in peace.
Immigration Bars
It is significant that the bill now before Congress seek
ing to restrict immigration further is being opposed by the
chief labor unions of the country. One of the principal argu
ments always advanced for restricting immigration is that
the flow of immigrants tends to cut down wage scales and
depress the labor market generally. If these arguments
were valid, we may- be sure the labor unions would be found
in the forefront of the fight against immigration, instead of
being for it.
The stand of the labor unions is not arbitrarily taken.
These great organization have their research departments,
manned by expert economists, and their position therefore
may be taken to be well grounded. The labor unions know
that in times of depression the flow of immigration is auto
matically checked. They know, too, that every immigrant is
more than a competitor for jobs; he must be housed, clothed
and fed and so constitutes an addition to the market of pro
duction. In other words, the immigrant not only takes em
ployment, he makes for the employment of others. It is
a fact that those parts of the country which have received
less of the stimulus o fimmigration are in general on the
lowest economic level. It is a further fact, for instance, that
the higher wage scales among labor are to be found among
the groups newer t othis country than among the older
stocks.
' One of the most disguised motives of recent immigra
tion bills is to further cut down the immigration from south
Europe, from which most Jewish immigrants derive. An
excellent pamphlet on the subject of immigration by Prof.
Maurice R. Davis of Yale University and published by the
Public Affairs Committee reveals that this prejudice has
shifted as far as its special tareet is concerned. “Through
out our historv,” writes Prof. Davis, “prejudice against re
cently arrived immigrants has shifted from Germans to
Irish'to Scandinavians to South Europeans. The despised
alien of yesterday becomes the 100 per cent American of to
day and joins the native born in scorning the freshly arrived
immigrants.”
' This is thought worthy of being remembered. The same
arguments now used against the South Europeans have at
one time or another been advanced against every racial
stock entering the country.
Fortunately, those arguments did not prevail. If they
had, the course of the last war might have been different,
as a mere cursory glance at the names in the casualty lists
would show to anyone. (Copyright 1946, SA|\)
Plain Talk
By ALFRED SEGAL
Recently my father was 90
years old. He has been Jewish
in the old way all these years.
I am sorry to say that at that
ripe age he is not hpapy in the
wayward ways of his son. He
thinks much on his departure
from this world and, before the
heavenly Throne, how can he
explain a son who has strayed
so far from the tried and true
paths of Israel? It is solemnly
commanded that a man should
teach the ways of Israel dili
gently unto his children?
Will not his son’s ways reflect
sadly on my father’s teachings
when the time comes for him
to be judged? Frequently when
he reads this column he is dis
tressed to observe my heresies, as
if I had not been brought up
in strite conformity.
He protests more in sorrow
than in anger, though, just at
[ times in the remote past, he was
sa dat my youthful dereliction,
feeling as he did that boys will
be boys and what’s to be done
about it?
Only now he says, “you’re a
grown man and should know
better by now. You are a grand
father and by now should have
gathered some wisdom. Grand
fathers shouldn’t be seen run
ning off on strange, new paths.
They should have learned
enough to follow the old, true
ways that were good enough for
their fathers and their father’s
fathers. It is even worse in you
because by your writing you may
be leading others astray.”
He feels hurt when he reads
the frequent letters that are
written against me. To think
that righteous hands in Israel
are raised against his son whom
he brought up to be an honored
man in Israel It’s not enough
that he brings upon himself the
displeasure of ordinary men in
Israel, but also of rabbis!
My father has kept himself
wrapped in spiritual separation
all his life and his deepest dis
tress on account of me has to
do with those occasions when,
in this column, he discovers me
reaching out friendly hands to
other faiths.
Is this being faithful to the
God of Israel? Is this the way
of a Jew who must stand
staunchly for the protection of
his faith against subversive con
tacts? Is this the way of the
fathers who proudly and bravely
walked with Torch, knowing no
other teaching?
He shakes his head sadly. I
listen in respectful silence, as I
used to do long ago when I was
being chided for one of my many
juvenile delinquences, busting a
neighbor's window or dragging
muddy shoes over the kitchen
floor, or making off with a
neighbor’s fence gate.
He says, he hopes I’ll mend my
ways; for a grandfather it’s
about time to be thinking of
i what kind of a name he'll hand
down to his grandchildren. To
I his grandchildren a man must
try to bequeath a Jewish name
| of which they will be proud
{ enough to speak to their chil-
j dren.
He leaves me actually con
scious of the conflict in being
j a Jew nowadays. To be a Jew
i used to be quite simple and there
were few arguments about it.
You stuck close to the traditions
which settled everything for you.
You wrapped yourself in spiritual
isolation and felt Jewishly com
fortable. There were no prob
lems. except that awful kid
around the corner who pulled
; the beards of old Jews, and he
' was just one hoodlum in an
otherwise' civilized world.
You felt nothing seriously bad
I could touch you in your separ-
I ate Jewish life. But my father’s
j son has become aware that there
j is no isolation. The terrible
i events pf recent years suggest
! that there is no protection for
■ Israel in being separate and
aloof, as the Polish Jews were.
Yet the case of the German
.Jews—they were people who
I (Continued on Page Five)
500 Million Facing This Tidal Wave
Lost Weekend" In Congress
By MURRAY FRANK
These vituperative remarks
about “New York kikes and da
goes” by some members of the
United States Congress may be
a result of over-indulgence in
mint juleps, Washington psychi
atrist says.—THE EDITOR.
In the event you have been
searching for an explanation of
the antics of some of our sena
tors and congressmen, who in
the name of the “white gentile
Americans” are shouting and
preaching from rooftops and
in Congress the well known
“ideology” of racte-hatred to
wards Catholics, Negroes,
Jewis, Italians, or what' have
you—you need not be discour
aged if your efforts have been
in vain. We have ji$5t dis
covered that it requires a psy
chiatrist to trace such be
havior to its sources.
Dr. Michael M. Miller, as
sociate medical officer at St.
Elizabeth Hospital in Wash
ington and psychiatrist of the
District Mental Health Clinic,
where he is pioneering a new
type of clinic for the rehabilita
tion of alcoholics, decides that
alehohol is the culprit. Says
Psychiatrist Miller:
“Alcohol is a major factor in
Congress and exercises a most
j damaging effect on legislation.”
This does not imply that all
members of Congress are under
the constant influence of intoxi
cating liquor. On the contrary,
I more than half the members of
I the Senate and House are tee-
j totalers, whp abstain from in-
: toxicating beverages (although
they are not necessarily prohi-
; bitionistst, and most of the re-
! mainder take an occasional
drink for social purposes.
On that score, we have no less
an authority that Representative
i John J. Sparkman (D..A!a.i, a
member of Congress for the past
nine years an da teetotaler him
self. “There is no group of men
in the United States with a
higher degree of sobriety,” says
Representative Sparkman of his
colleagues, and adds that only
10 per cent of all members of
Congress drink “other than for
social purposes.”
All that fits in splendidly with
the conclusions reached by psy
chiatrist Miller. Who are these
JEWISH CALENDAR
SHAVUOS
W ednesday-Thursday,
June 5-6
TISHA B’AV
Tuesday. August 6
ROSH HASHONAH—5707
Thursday, September 26
YOM KIPPER
Saturday. October 5
members comprising the 10 per
cent of inebriates in Congress?
Neither Representative Spark
man nor Dr. Miller identifies
them by name, but the latter
lists some fine analytical clues
which point directly to the fili
busters, to the rude and bel-
legirent legislators who enter
tain no great love for the dagoes
and the New York kikes, and to
those of vulgar thinking and ag.
gressive action who seek to in
cite racial and religious strife in
this country.
Here are Dr. Miller’s clues!
Alcohol, says he, produces the
following characteristics, "espe
cially in legislators”:
“1. Repetitive verbalization and
rationalization—a tendency of
ten noted in Congressmen who
repeat words and ideas over and
over. This is a very common
symptom of alcoholism.
“2. Vulgarity, rudeness, and
belligerency as displayed in fili
busters, debates and committee
hearings.
“3. Aggression directed not to
the welfare of society but to
their own special interests.
“4. Wishful amnesia. The Con
gressmen who had too much
liquor is a victim and tends to
forget important facts of signifi
cance to the national welfare.
“5. Impaired judgment. The
alcoholics’ judgment on impor
tant issues is by no means im
proved.”
These then are the peculiari
ties by which we can distin
guish the 10 per. cent from the
rest. One needs only to read
the speeches and the discussion
during the debates and the anti
poll tax bill by the advocates
of “white Americanism": to reau
the statements inserted by these
same gentlemen and their II*
in the Appendix of the Congres
sional Record; and read also the
series of “friendly” letters to
the dagoes, the kikes and others
by these crusaders of “true de
mocracy” in this country—and
you will understand what and
whom Dr. Miller means.
You will find in these out-
pourings all the traits listed d>
Dr. Miller. You will discover
that they are classics of ' re P et! '
tive verbalization”; you will fma
constant repetition of phrases
and lines; you will find the ruae
j and belligerent tone, the aggres
sive selfishness for the beneii f
of th few, the wilfull denial or
true facts and the poor judg
ment of matters of major im
portance.
Thus, it took a psychiatrist
to make the proper analysis o
the problem. That makes one
feel somewhat better about the
situation.