American business and industry is still discriminating against Jews and persons from other minority groups when it comes to promoting personnel to the upper levels of management, it was reported here today by Morris B. Abram, president of the American Jewish Committee. This report on discriminations regarding the promotion process within “the executive suite” was made at the conclusion here today of the AJC’s national executive board meeting.
Based on a two-year survey conducted by the Survey Research Center of the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, under Prof. Robert L. Kahn, the study showed that, often, promotions are based on criteria “that have little or nothing to do with ability,” taking into account such factors as a person’s race, religion, social background, club membership, appearance or personal friendships.
“In recent years, for example,” the study showed, “Jews have comprised perhaps 12 to 15 percent of the graduating classes of the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, an institution to which the executive recruiters of many large companies regularly turn. Among the executives of such companies appearing at Harvard’s seminars and training programs for businessmen, only one-half of one percent were estimated to be Jewish.”
On another issue, Mr. Abram urged the United States Government to ratify the United Nations Convention Against Genocide, adopted in 1948 by the UN General Assembly but never given adherence by the American Government. The president of the American Jewish Committee is the United States expert on the United Nations Sub commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. He pointed out that the anti-genocide convention has been ratified by 67 nations, and was presented to the U. S. Senate for ratification as early as 1950.
Ralph Friedman, chairman of the AJC’s executive board, announced at the meeting that a joint Catholic-Jewish research center has been established in Rome, for the purpose of analyzing and combating religious misunderstandings throughout the world. The new institute, named the Leonard M. Sperry Center for Inter group Cooperation, has its headquarters at the International University for Social Studies, Pro Deo, in Rome. The late Mr. Sperry, after whom the Center is named, was a Los Angeles industrialist and an officer of the American Jewish Committee.
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.
