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The Story of the Jewish Defense League |
bschools. The article, the lead one in the issue, was titled “The
bPhenomenon of the Anti-Black Jews and the Black Anglo-
bSaxon.” It began:
b“We are witnessing today in New York City a
bphenomenon that spells death for the minds and souls of
bour Black children. It is the systematic coming of age of
bthe Jews who dominate and control the educational
bbeaurocracy of the New York City public school system
band their power-starved imitator, the Black Anglo-
bSaxons. It is the avowed thesis of this paper that this
bcoalition or collusion or whatever one wishes to call it is
bone of the fundamental reasons why our Black children
bare being educationally castrated . . .
bHatchett’s article brought forth neither censure nor dis-
bcharge from the Board of Education and he remained with
ba growing number of other Black racists to create a climate
bof hate in the public schools. Finally, following a flagrant
bviolation of a specific Board of Education order—he took
bstudents to a blatantly anti-white Malcolm X memorial
bprogram—he was dismissed as a teacher only to surface,
bincredibly, in July 1968 when appointed by New York Uni-
bversity to be director of the school’s new Martin Luther
bKing, Jr., Afro-American Student Center.
bThe major Jewish organizations protested the appoint-
bment strongly while the New York Civil Liberties Union,
btwo NYU Jewish trustees, Jack Seilman and Herbert Sil-
bverman, and the Black militant group CORE defended it.
bCORE’S Victor Solomon defended Hatchett’s article by say-
bing that it simply attacked “those in power and it happens
bthat the majority of them are Jews.”
bAs the controversy grew and Black NYU students and the
bJewish radical Left threatened violence, NYU President
bJames M. Hester asked the most famous Jew in America,
bArthur Goldberg, to look into the matter and give his opin-
bion. It was clear to us at the newly formed JDL that
bGoldberg, the “court Jew,” had been chosen to come up with
ba face-saving solution for NYU whereby it could keep
bHatchett and thus spare itself trouble from the radical stu-
b