Chicago and Federal officials yesterday sharply condemned racial and religious discrimination in defense employment at the opening of hearings here by the President’s Committee on Fair Employment Practices.
Jewish and Negro students of the Illinois Technological Institute charged that the Buick automobile company had excluded them from employment on racial and religious grounds, although the company had assured the Institute that all students taking defense courses would be employed. Of nine Jews in the class, only one was hired although all finished the course with high marks, the students asserted. The Buick company denied any discrimination, pointing out that among 321 workers, 62 were Jews. Questioning by the hearing board, however, elicited the information that of the 62 only 27 had identified themselves as Jews when seeking employment.
David Sarnoff, president of the Radio Corporation of America, who is a member of the Committee, bitterly condemned the company for putting questions on religion and race in their application form, a procedure, he stated, which “is contrary to the spirit of American democracy.” Mark Ethridge, chairman of the Committee, stated that “this is an all-out war and anything that does not fall in line with it is close to treason. We cannot afford to play Hitler’s and Japan’s game by indulging in prejudices.” Mayor Edward Kelly of Chicago declared that “if we want to win this war for all people we do not want one part to wear patches, the hearings will continue here for several days.
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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.
