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The Southern Israelite
Vol. LIX
The Weekly Newspaper For Southern Jewry
Atlanta, Georgia, Friday, August 26, 1983
'Since 1925
No.
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March coverage: Issues and answer
The editor responi
CRC disputes
TSI reporting
on King march
Editor:
The coverage in your Aug. 19
issue of the 20th Anniversary of
Martin Luther King Jr.’s Historic
March on Washington is
extremely disappointing. Rather
than focusing on the critical
elements of the march which
involve the Atlanta Jewish
community, as is evidenced by the
front page article covering the
community observance at Dr.
King’s tomb together with the
Statement and invitation from the
Atlanta Jewish Federation, you
emphasize the divisive elements
and viewpoints within the march
and highlight your emphasis with a
derogatory cartoon on your
editorial page which is totally
negative in nature
The Executive Committee and
the Community Relations
Committee of the Atlanta Jewish
Federation spent many hours
reviewing the march and the
disturbing elements of the march
and their effects on the
relationship between the Black and
Jewish communities in Atlanta.
After long deliberation, a decision
was made to co-sponsor with the
Atlanta Rabhinic Association the
Aug. 25 observance at Dr. King’s
tomb While it would have been
relatively easy and much less time
consuming to focus our attentions
on the negative aspects of the
march and therefore refuse to have
any involvement with either the
march or any of the related
commemorative activities, we
decided after review that it was
much more in keeping with the
best interests of the Jewish
community to attempt to
strengthen our relationships with
the Black communitv and to
The Southern Israelite
The Weekly Newspaper For Southern Jewry
Since 1925
A different drummer
1983 march seen as straying from King’s dream
Atlanta Jewish community
plans service at King tomb
reaffirm our Jewish community’s
support for Dr. King’s dream.
“One day (to) live in a nation where
(we) will not be judged by the color
of our skin, but the content of our
character." That dream is as
important to us as it is to the Black
community for we too are
concerned about the criteria for
judging
By focusing on the negative. The
Southern Israelite promotes
disharmony between the Jewish
and Black communities rather
than serving as a communicator of
understanding.
Our ultimate goal must be to live
in harmony and cooperation with
all of the fellow members of the
Atlanta community. While there
may be many valid reasons for our
Jewish community not to seek
avenues of mutual understanding.
We would hope that The Southern
Israelite would be a source of
positive enlightenment with
respect to that goal
David N. Minkin
Chairman
Community Relations Committee
Atlanta Jewish Federation
Atlanta anti-Semite put behind bars
Sam Greenberg, national editor
of Jewish War Veterans of the
II. S. A., and Fred Lester, a
MARTA bus driver in Atlanta,
united to put anti-Semite Henry
Whatley behind bars. In their
testimony before the Atlanta City
Court, the following story
emerged:
Cireenberg and eight other
members of the JWV were
passengers on Lester’s MARTA
bus on Aug. I9 during the annual
JWV convention in Atlanta. Ethel
Toobin, one of the ladies in the
JWV party, was asking the bus
driver questions about the
schedule, when a large white man
yelled, “You're a stupid lady. You
must be Jewish. Hitler should have
put all the Jews in the ovens."
Fred Lester immediately
informed Whatley that he didn’t
want to hear that language on his
bus. Whatley's response was a
stream of anti-Semitic vulgarities.
When he referred to Lester as a
“black Jew," the bus driver replied,
“I’d rather be black than a white
like you.”
Lester told Whatley to leave the
bus. Whatley refused and
continued his anti-Semitic
diatribe. Sam Greenberg, a World
War H veteran, then lunged for
Whatley. As JWV members
restrained Greenberg, Lester
stopped the bus, locked the doors,
and assisted in keeping the two
men apart. Lester advised
Greenberg that the bigot should be
smacked, but it wasn't worth it.
Instead, bus driver Lester called
the police, who surrounded the
locked bus within minutes and
arrested Whatley.
Cireenberg and Lester were the
primary witnesses at the court
hearing the following day at which
Whatley pleaded guilty to
disturbing the peace and delaying
public transportation. He was
sentenced to 60 days in jaH.
Magistrate Andrew Mickle and
other municipal officials offered
apologies to Greenberg and all
members of JWV. Judge Mickle
advised Greenberg, “The citizens
of the Atlanta community are not
like this." Bus company security
officer Evans told Greenberg that
he, a Black American soldier in
World War II, helped liberate
Dachau and he knew what
happened to the Jews.
The Southern Israelite shares
the worthy goal expressed in Mr.
Minkin’s final paragraph: “to live
in harmony and cooperation with
all of the fellow members of the
Atlanta community."
We appreciate the serious
deliberations of the Community
Relations Committee in its search
for “avenues of mutual
understanding” between the Black
and Jewish communities in
Atlanta and laud the resultant
commemorative service held
Thursday at Dr. King's tomb.
However, there are some points
in the above attack on this
newspaper which must be
addressed because they go to the
very root of what the proper role of
a newspaper should be.
In his first paragraph, the
chairman of the Community
Relations Committee expresses his
disappointment with our coverage
because, he says, it does not focus
on “the critical elements..jBhich
involve the Atlanta Jewish
community..." But then, oddly, he
correctly points out that the
announcement of the community
observance at Dr. King’s tomb was
on the front page.
Since the letter refers to
emphasis on “divisive elements
and viewpoints," one must assume
that the writer believes our readers
should be sheltered from the
knowledge that the majority of
national Jewish organizations had
declined to endorse the actual
march in Washington, not because
their commitment to civil rights is
any less, but because the agenda
for the march had become so
fragmented and politicized with
issues unrelated to the civil rights
goals of Dr King’s memorable
1963 speech.
This newspaper has an
obligation to inform its readers by
providing balanced coverage of
events. As a Jewish newspaper, we
have an additional responsibility
to provide information as it relates
to the Jewish community in greater
depth than is offefed in the g
media. Failure to do this
compromise the integrity c
newspaper
The Southern Israelite is a
newspaper, not a public relations
organ I* would not command the
respect u has in both the Jewish
and non-Jewish communities if it
failed to live up to its journalistic
responsibility.
We will continue to enlighten
our readership even if, on
occasion, a fesy people are
uncomfortable with our coverage.
Most puzzling in the above letter
is the reference to the cartoon as
“derogatory.” Derogatory to
whom? Dr. King? Both the artist
and the editor were staunch
advocates of Dr. King and the civil
rights movement during his
lifetime and retain that
commitment to civil rights today.
The intended message of the
cartoon was to point out how far
mat of the elcaaants ia Iks M9
march have strayed from Or.
KtngY 1963 dr—in of brotherhood.
Those who fe*d something else
into its message went beyond its
simplicity.
To suggest that"... The Southern
Israelite promoted disharmony
between the Jewish and Black
communities...” does a disservice
to this newspaper. The Southern
Israelite published an important
national story in all its
ramifications and highlighted in
full, on the front page, the positive
and constructive plans of the
Atlanta Jewish community. We
firmly believe our coverage was
responsible, both journalistically
and Jewishly.
Cooperation between The
Southern Israelite and the Jewish
institutions of Atlanta has been a
tradition for almost 60 years.
Despite an occasional disagreement,
we know it will continue to be so.
Vida Goldstar
Editor & Publisher
The Southern Israelite
Look for special
Rosh Hashana
issue next week!