Attitude polls of the Jewish communities of Memphis and Miami over a two-year period indicate that desegregation tensions in the South have had “no serious adverse affect” on Jewish-non-Jewish relationships in those cities, it was reported here today.
The report was made by Morris Abram of Atlanta, a member of the executive board of the American Jewish Committee, and southeast area consultant to the AJC. He made the report at the committee’s executive board meeting here.
He said the findings were that there was a “large flow” of social contacts between Jews and non-Jews in those cities. Memphis has a Jewish population of 8,000 in a total population of 500,000. Miami has a Jewish population of 90,000 out of 900,000 total population.
Another finding was that, in Memphis, 71 percent of the Jews reported they had heard of no anti-Semitic incidents in that city, but 15 percent reported experiencing such incidents. In Miami, 20 percent of the Jews said they or their families had experienced such incidents, while 60 percent said they had heard of no such incidents in Dade County in recent years.
Mr. Abram said that both the desegregation tensions and the “growing tendency” toward religious sectarianism and increased activities under religious auspices, had not affected the social contacts between Jews and non-Jews. More than 75 percent of those interviewed in Memphis said there had been extensive socializing between Jews and non-Jews. Two-thirds of Miami Jews reported similarly on social contacts with non-Jews.
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