Six Houston rabbis joined 173 clergymen of other denominations in this city in urging all residents to support the United States Supreme Court decision on desegregation of public schools. The statement was issued a day after a Federal District judge directed the Houston School Board to integrate its schools.
The rabbis who aligned themselves with the cause of desegregation were: Hyman Judah Schachtel. Robert I. Kahn, Max Geller. William S. Malex, Harry Sky and Eugene Labovitz.
“We believe it to be the duty of every God-fearing citizen to encourage respect for our courts and obedience to all (their) decisions,” the statement read. “We further believe that for an individual or group to defy decisions with which he or they are not in agreement is to encourage other dangerous elements in our society to follow the same destructive procedure for their own ends. This can only lead to anarchy in which the rights of none are respected.”
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.
