Reds at the Blackboard by Taylor Clarence;

Author:Taylor, Clarence;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History/United States/State & Local/Middle Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA)
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2011-10-21T16:00:00+00:00

A DIVIDED COMMUNITY

Some people of Jewish heritage remained skeptical about TU claims regarding the board’s anti-Semitism. When the Teachers Union learned that the Eternal Light Committee of the New York Theological Seminary of America as going to give board president Maximilian Moss an award for his “devoted and active leadership in furthering mutual understanding among peoples of diverse faiths,” Russell wrote to Benjamin Browdy, chair of the committee, expressing amazement. Russell did not accuse Moss of being an anti-Semite or a self-hating Jew. Instead, she claimed he was influenced by anti-Semitic elements such as George Timone, Hearst’s Journal-American, the World-Telegraph Sun, and the Tablet. Russell argued that giving such an award to Moss was inappropriate. The TU considered the award “an affront to all those fighting with all their might to stamp and root out these evil influences from American life.” The conflict between the board and the union, Russell continued, was larger than job security. The TU, the largest teachers’ union in New York City, was not only the “staunchest fighter for better schools” but also had a record of “exposing and opposing all forms of bigotry and discrimination” that was “second to none.” The union’s militancy prompted the board’s attempt to eliminate it; if the school agency were successful, there would be dire consequences for New York. Moss’s values were incompatible with those of the Eternal Light Committee.28

Realizing that it would be embarrassing for the committee to reverse its decision, Russell pointed out that B’nai Brith had canceled its invitation to a Mr. Butenweiser after discovering that his prepared speech was an “apologia for resurgent Nazism.” In what seems to be an act of desperation, Russell then issued a threat: if the committee refused the union’s request, the TU would use “every means at our command” to expose Moss at the event. Union members might not behave peacefully. Raising the specter of a violent confrontation, Russell claimed, “Moss participated in organizing a mobilization of Christian Fronters at the Board of Education meeting on March 16, 1950. That meeting was an anti-Semitic demonstration deliberately arranged in order to provide a semblance of public support for the summary dismissal of Mrs. Sylvia Schneiderman, an excellent young teacher just completing her probationary period but dismissed one week before superintendent Jansen would have been obliged to prove his charging that she had given a false answer on her license application.”29

On June 14 Russell received the not unexpected news that Browdy would not rescind the award, which he contended had nothing to do with the Teachers Union and its predicament. The Jewish Theological Seminary, a beneficiary as well as a sponsor of the event, had not taken a position on the battle between Moss and the TU. Clearly, not every New Yorker of Jewish heritage was convinced that the union was a victim of anti-Semitism.30

The Jewish Teachers Association voiced its support of the board’s actions, which prompted one union member, an H. Katzen, to write a letter criticizing the JTA for not defending the fired teachers against anti-Semitic attacks.

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