An executive order creating a fifteen-member Civil Rights Committee to combat hatred and intolerance in the United States was issued by President Truman last night. The new body was directed to study and recommend new civil rights legislation and other measures “to protect all parts of the population “in the United States.
The committee will be headed by C.E. Wilson, president of the General Electric Company. It includes among its members Rabbi Roland G. Gittelsohn of New York City, who is spiritual leader of the Central Synagogue at Rockville Long Island, and recipient of the Navy Commendation Medal for his services as the Jewish chaplain of the Fifth Marine Division at Iwo Jima; Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., chairman of the housing committee of the American Veterans Committee; Morris Ernst, New York lawyer and author, and Boris Shishkin, economist for the American Federation of Labor and a former member of the FEPC.
The full text of President Truman’s order reads as follows:
“Freedom from fear is more fully realized in our country than in any other on the face of the earth. Yet all parts of our population are not equally free from fear. And from time to time, and in some places, this freedom has been gravely threatened. It was so after the last war, when organized groups fanned hatred and intolerance, until at times, mob action struck fear into the hearts of men and women because of their racial origin or religious beliefs.
“Today, freedom from fear, and the democratic institutions which sustain it, are again under attack. In some places, from time to time the local enforcement of law and order has broken down, and individuals–sometimes ex-servicemen, even women–have been killed, maimed or intimidated.
“The preservation of civil liberties is a duty of every government–state, Federal and local. Wherever the law enforcement measures and the authority of Federal, state and local governments are inadequate to discharge this primary function of government, these measures and this authority should be strengthened and improved.
SAYS PRESENT STATUTES ON CIVIL RIGHTS ARE INADEQUATE
“The constitutional guarantees of individual liberties and of equal protection under the laws clearly place on the Federal government the duty to act when state or local authorities abridge or fail to protect these constitutional rights.
“Yet in its discharge of the obligations placed on it by the Constitution, the Federal government is hampered by inadequate civil rights statutes. The protection of our democratic institutions and the enjoyment by the people of their rights under the Constitution require that these weak and inadequate statutes should be expanded and improved. We must provide the Department of Justice with the tools to do the job.
“I have, therefore, issued today an executive order creating the President’s Committee on Civil Rights and I am asking this committee to prepare for me a written report. The substance of this report will be recommendations with respect to the adoption or establishment by legislation or otherwise of more adequate and effective means and procedures for the protection of the civil rights of the people of the United States.”
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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.
