Lewis H.Weinstein, chairman of the National Community Relations Advisory Council, submitted a statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee urging early favorable action on a comprehensive civil rights measure.
Joining in the statement were six national Jewish religious and civic organizations rand 66 Jewish councils in cities throughout the United States, all of which are affiliated in the NCRAC, through which they coordinate their policies and programs.
The national organizations are: American Jewish Congress, Jewish Labor Committee, Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A., Union of American Hebrew Congregations, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, United Synagogue of America.
“Human rights for everyone is an inseparable tenet of the Jewish faith,” Mr. Weinstein told the Senate committee. “Everything in our theology reminds us of that in terms of unmistakable clarity.”
While not all the organizations Joining in the statement have primarily religious orientations, he added, all are Jewish. “This means,” Mr. Weinstein said, “that they have in common an historical-cultural tradition that places unique stress upon freedom and justice and that gives them a strong sense of social responsibility.”
Calling for legislation “putting our federal government squarely in the role of guarantor and defender of the constitutional rights to all our people, regardless of race, religion or color,” Mr. Weinstein added: “It is no time for half measures, palliatives or grudging concessions. It is a time for sweeping away the injuries and inequities that have been allowed to stand for so many decades as barriers to equal participation in our national life by the one-tenth of our people that is Negro.”
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.
