William H. Booth, chairman of the New York City Commission on Human Rights, issued today a point-by-point rebuttal in response to a charge by Rabbi Julius G. Neumann that the commission had ignored anti-Jewish discrimination. Rabbi Neumann resigned as a member of the commission over those charges.
Rabbi Neumann also accused Booth of “whipping up animosity” among New Yorkers by an alleged policy of sidestepping grievances of Jews and Puerto Ricans to concentrate exclusively on those of Negroes. Mr. Booth, a Negro, is a former leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The American Jewish Committee asked Mayor John V. Lindsay to meet with “interested parties” to discuss the charges.
Mr. Booth declared that the Commission had been “on the top of the situation” involving American Jewish Committee charges of discrimination against Jews in the banking profession. He said that as soon as he learned of the situation, he conferred with Roy M. Goodman, New York City Finance Administrator and that Mr. Goodman said he would keep him advised of developments.
The chairman rejected Rabbi Neumann’s charge that the commission did not accept complaints from Jews seeking permission from employers to observe religious holidays. He said that the commission had been instrumental in obtaining from Mayor Lindsay an amendment of Civil Service Commission rules to enable Sabbath observers to ask for special examinations to avoid conflict with their religious beliefs. Mr. Booth also reported that the commission was currently processing six complaints by Jews of alleged discrimination in employment.
The chairman said that, on its own initiative, the commission made a special effort in connection with a severely-criticized program by David Susskind in which Negroes made openly anti-Semitic comments. Mr. Booth said that the commission obtained changes in the television show script before it was shown but that later, on January 23, the commission took a strong stand in a letter on the program content even after the revision.
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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.
