King provided inspiration for Jews
by Rabbi Benjamin A . Kamin
North American Director,
W orld Union f o r
Progressive Judaism
M a r lin L u th e r K in g , Jr. w ou ld
have been 54 yean old on January
I ) . Since h it death at the age o f 39,
D r. King's dreams have evaporated
and most Americans have turned in­
ward.
It is getting harder and harder to
rem em ber how K ing ig n ited us,
changed us, and returned American
Jews to th eir pro ph etic tra d itio n .
But he did.
The Jews, a people with generally
decentralized patterns, responded to
King as to no other American in the
country's history. In effect, he ba­
carne the living m oral flagship for
the n atio n — and especially fo r the
lib e ra l Jewish c o m m u n ity in the
1960s. T h e Jews had ap p laud ed
H a rry T ru m a n 's courageous en ­
dorsem ent o f Israel in 1948 and
gathered around Bobby Kennedy in
the 1960s, but had never involved
themselves em otio nally and physi-
cally as was the case with D r. King.
W ith uncharacteristic exuberance,
and real bravery, Jews trusted and
worked for M artin Luther King.
Albert Vorspan, vice president o f
the U n io n o f A m e ric a n H ebrew
C ongregations and d ire c to r o f its
Commission on Social A ction, was
an associate o f K in g in the c iv il
rights movement. He recalls that the
B lack-Jew ish a llia n c e was at the
heart o f the movement. “ He had an
extraordinary impact on us,'* Vors­
pan recalls. “ L ik e no o th e r non-
Jewish partner, American Jews gave
to D r. King a blank check o f com ­
mitment.**
A remarkable Black-Jewish part­
nership was galvanized by D r. King.
In the great struggle to de segregate
the South, rabbis were hosed and
beaten and ja ile d alongside K ing
and the many other freedom fig h t­
ers o f all backgrounds who join ed
the battle against the tyranny o f ra­
cism.
Jewish representation was dispro­
portionately high in the dangerous
Mississippi summer o f 1964 and in
every an ti-discrim ination e ffo rt o f
those lim es. T h e n o to rio u s and
cold-blooded executions in Philadel­
p h ia , M is s ., o l three young c iv il
rights workers in 1964 took the lives
o f tw o Jews and one Black. A t the
great March on Washington in 1963
and in St. Augustine and B irm ing­
ham and Selm a and M o n tg o m ery
and M em phis, Jewish involvement
in the life lin e o f M a r tin L u th e r
King’s campaign for human dignity
was signal. Through it all. it was the
vision and awesome dynam ism o f
D r. King him self that moved Jews
and others beyond themselves
The adm iration Jews felt for Dr.
King, and the strong historical a ffi­
nity o f the Jews to the Black exper­
ience, was by no means one-sided.
When he spoke at the convention of
the U n io n o f A m e ric a n Hebrew
Congregations in Chicago in 1963,
King related his dream to the proven
ability o f Jews to transcend discour­
agem ent and d esp a ir. In his later
writings, the Black preacher wrote:
“ The lesson o f Jewish mass involve­
ment in social and p olitical action
and education is w orthy o f em ula­
tio n ” King encouraged his own
i
brothers and sisters to become ac­
tive politically, as Jews had done, i n ./
order to assure a more equal role in
society.
In 1983, however, it can be fairly
asked w hat has become o f D r .
K ing's historic struggle. Does the
dream he a rtic u la te d and shared '■
with so many o f so many d iffering
backgrounds speak to us still? Cer- it
tainly, the times are different, the is­
sues blurred by overriding economic •
obsessions. But one is saddened by
those whose recollections o f those .
urgent and heady days have dim in- .
ished in to n ostalgia. N o t enough
youngsters, black or w h ite, know ,
much about M a s rtin L uth er King
today, and Am erica in general has
fallen into a resigned non-concern. r>
That M artin Luther King's dream
o f full equality in a free society for
all Americans remains a vision too
far fro m realization is our failu re,
not his. But because we Jews shared i
so much o f what was his, we remem­
ber him now, on his birthday, with
special w arm th and id e n tific a tio n
and love.
<
A role model for public service
by Lamta Duke
At home w ith the family.
Grassrool News, N. IF .— Am ong
Portland A fro -A m e ric a n p olitical
leaders Charles Jordan stands alone
as a man who stood up for his con­
victions and paid a price, much like
King w ho stood up and was shot
down. “ When I think about King I
King children aee picture of their father who took to hoepital bed for needed i
am reminded o f what he stood fo r.
This was the courage, sacrifice and
the suffering o f struggling people.
He spoke not only fo r black people
but disenfranchised people every­
where. He left the world with princi­
ples and if these principles were fo l­
lowed today it would be a much bet­
ter world. He did make a difference
and is making a diffcrcned today.**
C onsidering D r. King meant so
much to so many people, why did
the system target King for destruc­
tion? "Because Dr. King was making
a difference and anytime you stand
up for a belief you set yourself apart
fro m the c ro w d .*' Jordan said. I f
King had lived th ro u g h the 1980s
there is no tellin g w hat this w orld
would be like. Dr. King stepped out­
side o f the boundaries the system es­
tablished for minorities. When that
happens the system knows how to
put you in yo u r place. W ith his
death the system is saying you can
o nly go so fa r . Y o u s till w ltf n o t* *
achieve full freedom.
" I t is unfortunate but sometimes
the system w orks th ro ug h sick
minds. D r. King taught that you do
not use violence and oppression to
deal with violence and oppression.
This tactic was working on the con­
sciousness o f the w o rld . He would
not have been as powerful as he was
i f there were not televisio n . H e
brought the plight o f the black man
in the South to every home in A m er­
ica. The system worked through sick
minds to quiet the m an, D r. King.
T hey could not a ffo r d to a llo w a
man like that to move at the rate he
was moving. Dr. King was making a
difference.”
Today, we have the most complex
communication system in the world.
W here is the consciousness o f the
world? “ The counsciousness o f the
w orld is wrapped up in econom ic
problems. Now, the almighty dollar
is number one. People are in a sur­
vival mode. People do not mind giv­
ing when things are going well; but
now life is tougher and they are not
so c h a rita b le . It 's every m an fo r
himself and the moral consciousness
o f the world has fallen asleep.*'
W ill we ever have a n o th e r lik e
Rev. D r. M a rtin Luther King, Jr.?
"T h e re are moral leaders out there.
Throughout history, anytime G od ’s
people are facing a crisis, he sends
them a Moses. His name may not be
Moses but M a r tin L u th er King or
one o f your readers. I do not think
we have reached that point where it
is timely fo r the Lord to send one.
But, I know one w ill arise and stir
the m o ral consciousness o f the
w orld.”
W h a t does M a r tin L u th e r King
mean to Charles Jordan? “ A role
model. This man was arrested and
brutalized but he still kept on m ak­
ing a difference. He was one o f the
finest role models I ’ve ever had.”
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THE POOR
"The dispossessed of this nation—the poor, both white and Negro—live in a
cruelly unjust society. They must organize a revolution against that injustice, not
against the lives of the persons who are their fellow citizens, but against the
structures through which the society Is refusing to take means which have been
called for, and which are at hand, to lift the load of poverty."
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Page 10 Section III Portland Observer, January 26, 1963
i
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