IS THERE A CUIli FOR ANTI-SEMITISM?
389
Savage. It was not just the black leaders of Chicago who didn't respond.
Nobody responded. Nobody except for a Catholic friend of mine, who
wrote a piece in
The New York Times
about it. The Chicago papers
immediately attacked him. The
Chicago Triblln e
attacked him for
damaging the reputation of the city of Chicago in a national newspaper.
I then wrote a piece for the
Chicago Tribllne
on this subject, pointing
out how very dangerous the whole thing was and how much dynamite
there was in these charges, and what public irresponsibility there was
among the people in politics and the people in public life, none of
whom stepped forward to discuss this. They all agreed that the subject
was taboo and that it had to be endured rather than discussed. This is
very common now in the United States, and I think that in itself is just
as interesting a question as the question of the anti-Semitism of the
blacks. The blacks have felt it necessary not to acknowledge the Jewish
assistance during the civil rights struggle because they don't want to be
beholden to them. But the question is a very complicated one, and it
could lead us into some rather nasty discussions, and I would rather not
take it up just now.
Edith Kurzweil:
I've been told that it's getting late, so I'd like to
thank the speakers for having given us a wonderful evening. And I want
to remind you that tomorrow's meeting is at nine o'clock, at 130 East
59th Street, and that the proceedings will be printed in the Summer issue
of
Partisal1 Review.
Thank you all for coming.
§§§
Edith Kurzweil:
Good morning. Welcome to you all at this second
day of our conference. We will have two sessions this morning. Norman
Podhoretz and Robert Wistrich will begin the first one. I want to thank
last night's speakers for opening up so many avenues of discussion.
r
will
refrain from asking my own questions, which I'm quite sure are going to
be brought up among today's six speakers, but I do want to clarity just
one point. We organized this conference not to bemoan the fact that
Jews throughout history have been victims, but to get intelligent individ–
uals who have spent much time delving into the question to pool their
insights and exchange their views and their approaches to these issues.
There will be time for you all to ask questions.
Now I will introduce the speakers. First is Norman Podhoretz, who
has been the Editor-in-Chief of
Commentary
magazine since 1960. He is
the author of
The Bloody Crossroads: Where Literature and Politics Meet;
W7IY
We Were in Vietnam; The Present Danger;
and
Breaking Ranks: A
