The Chicago Daily Defender, one of the nation’s two Negro daily newspapers, came out with an editorial asserting that “there is no organized anti-Semitism among Negroes.” The paper urged that both Jews and Negroes avoid becoming “over-exercised about superficial interracial frictions.”
The editorial was based on a review of an evaluation of Jewish-Negro relations made recently by Dr. Judd Teller, an observer of the American Jewish scene, who called tensions between Jews and Negroes “the most fateful domestic Jewish issue in American history.” The editorial agreed with Dr. Teller that Jews should not leave the battle for the Negro’s civil rights because of occasional Negro expressions of anti-Jewish feelings but otherwise did not indicate agreement with Dr. Teller’s view of the significance of the issue.
The editorial, dealing specifically with Negro charges against Jewish businessmen operating in Negro slum areas, declared that the fact was that Jews “do their best to satisfy the wants and needs of their Negro customers” but that “the relationship breaks down when the Negro buyer is unable to live up to the terms of his commitment.”
The editorial said that when, in such cases, the usual “harsh legal procedures” were instituted, the Negro reacted with resentment and “cries of usury, unfair advantage and gouging.” However, the editorial added, the Negro buyer “who does not know his financial limitations and who besides is callous about his obligations, comes in for sharp criticism from his own people.”
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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.
