Despite governmental decrees and efforts by private and official agencies, there still exists a great deal of discrimination against Jews, Negroes and other minorities by employers in war industries, it was charged yesterday by Lawrence Cramer, executive secretary of the president’s Committee on Fair Employment practice, addressing the National Conference of Social work which is now in session here.
Citing the fact that there are 5,000,000 Jews in the United States, Cramer stated that failure to fully utilize their manpower was hindering the war effort. Discrimination against other minorities, to an even greater extent, is having equally harmful effects, he said. Speaking specifically on the problem of anti-Jewish discrimination, Cramer stated.
“Slightly less than 10 percent of complaints (received by the F.E.P.C) allege unequal treatment because of creed. Most of these are from Jews. The pattern of discrimination against Jews varies greatly in different sections of the country and is strongest in the Eastern and Northeastern Seaboard states. Want ads specifying “Gentiles only” and the requirement contained in application forms, calling for the disclosure of the applicant’s race and religion, have served as effective means for excluding Jews. In this connection it may be observed that the Government has taken the lead in eliminating the question of race and religion from its own application forms and is ready to require its removal in all war industries.”
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.
