Mayor Wagner, at A.j. C. Meet, Backs National Parley on Bigotry

Strong support for a national conference to rally the American people against bigotry and lawlessness was voiced today by Mayor Robert F. Wagner in an address here launching “American Jewish Congress Month” in New York and across the nation. Mayor Wagner told 200 leaders of the AJC that his own experience as chief executive of New York City had convinced him that “such a conference could contribute greatly to changing the climate of lawless resistance to the decrees of our courts.”

Another speaker, Justice Justine Wise Polier, chairman of the executive committee of the AJC, urged that moral leadership by the Executive branch of the government and Congressional legislation, requiring all departments of the Federal Government to share in the responsibility for the peaceful and effective implementation of the Supreme Court decision on desegregation is needed now. “There can be no hope of restoring respect, or eliminating racial or religious violence, until the Executive and Legislative branches accept their full responsibility.” said Justice Polier. “Neither the President nor the Congress can abdicate this responsibility without further inviting the violence they decry.”