Inspired principally by the reaction to former Ambassador James W. Gerard’s recent speech on Jews and Communists, an editorial in the Jewish Daily Forward expresses the following view:
It is our opinion that the most effective manner in which to combat anti-Semitism in America is a broad, intelligent enlightenment campaign, and especially the appeal to Americans through the “sense of fairness’ which true Americans have to a high degree.
No by making an outcry, not by a to-do, not by hysterics, not by antagonizing true friends and not by merely attaching a label of anti-Semitism to every innocent thought uttered by a non-Jew will the campaign against anti-Semitism be aided. A broad movement for enlightenment must be carried on, with dignity and tact, without underestimating the danger of anti-Semitism where it rears its ugly head, but also without exaggerating or inflating it.
We do not need to assure our readers that the Forward does not believe in the policy of keeping silent. But it does believe that it is injurious and foolish to decry friends of the Jews as anti-Semites and to look for anti-Semitism where it does not exist.
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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.
