[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 48 (Tuesday, April 16, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3410-S3411]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IS IT NOT ENOUGH TO BE A RACIST

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, on Martin Luther King's birthday, 
the Washington Post had an op-ed piece by a long time friend of many of 
us, Hyman Bookbinder.
  It was so good, I set it aside and I have now just re-read it.
  For those of you who have read it before, it is worth reading again. 
For those who have not read it, they should.
  I say this as one who participated in the civil rights struggle three 
and four decades ago. I visited the South as well as participated in 
programs in the North.
  One of the things that has troubled me is the willingness of some to 
create a division between the black community and the Jewish community. 
When I was involved in the civil rights struggle, those in the white 
community who were most active in behalf of the rights of African-
Americans were not Lutherans--which I am--nor Catholic--which my wife 
is--nor Baptist nor Presbyterian nor Episcopalians. They were people of 
the Jewish faith.
  With the name of Simon, people assume that I am Jewish and 
particularly when I get on some call-in radio program when there is a 
predominately African-American audience, I will occasionally get some 
of the haters on the phone. I have to add that happens occasionally in 
white communities.
  I am pleased to say that compared to 50 years ago, anti-Semitism is 
not as great a problem today as it was then.
  But we have to learn to become one Nation under God, indivisible and 
reach out to one another regardless of our personal background.
  I ask that Hyman Bookbinder's article be printed into the 
Congressional Record.
  The article follows:

                   It Is Not Enough Not To Be Racist

                         (By Hyman Bookbinder)

       I'll never forget that moment 12 years ago. I recall it 
     with special poignancy every Martin Luther King Day.
       I was sitting in a reserved Senate gallery, and proud to 
     find myself right behind Coretta Scott King, widow of the 
     slain civil rights leader. The senators had just given 
     overwhelming approval to the King holiday bill, which had 
     already secured House approval. President Reagan, after long 
     hesitation, had stated that he would now sign such 
     legislation. So the Senate vote meant that the long campaign 
     had finally succeeded.
       At that moment, the senators all rose, turned to face Mrs. 
     King, waved at her and applauded for some time. Mrs. King 
     acknowledged the applause and then turned to her children 
     sitting by her side and embraced each in turn. She then 
     turned around and hugged me. We were not personal friends, 
     but she knew I had done whatever I could on behalf of the 
     American Jewish Committee to mobilize support for the 
     legislation. As she hugged me, she spoke words I have 
     cherished all these years:
       ``This is your holiday too.''
       I do not know whether Coretta King, at that moment, meant 
     ``your'' to mean white American or Jewish American. But 
     whichever, or both, her words were most gratifying because 
     they reflected precisely what I had been urging for years--
     hoping, and I still do, that my fellow Jews and all Americans 
     could feel that way.
       On the several occasions that I had testified on behalf of 
     the holiday, I had expressed the hope that the holiday would 
     not only recognize the extraordinary attributes of an 
     extraordinary black American, but would also provide the 
     occasion for celebrating the unique cultures of our many 
     religious, ethnic and racial groups even as we seek to 
     enhance the common culture that binds us all as Americans.
       Dr. King never failed to define his quest for racial 
     justice as part of the goal of universal justice for all 
     people. In his historic ``Dream'' speech, his ringing 
     peroration called for speeding up ``that day when all of 
     God's children, black men, and white men, Jews and gentiles, 
     Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and 
     sing in the words of the Negro spiritual, `Free at last, free 
     at last, thank God Almighty, we are free at last.' ''
       In Martin Luther King Jr., American Jews always had a 
     friend and an ally who understood Jewish agony even as we 
     tried to understand the agony of his people. Only months 
     before he died, he wrote. ``It is not only that antisemitism 
     is immoral--though that alone is enough. It is used to divide 
     Negro and Jews--who, have effectively collaborated in the 
     struggle for justice.''
       That collaboration can and most endure despite some 
     difficult policy differences that have developed over how 
     best to overcome the discrimination and disadvantage and 
     inequality that persist. Dr. King would undoubtedly share his 
     widow's satisfaction in knowing that every King holiday since 
     1985 has prompted more and more interracial and 
     interreligious commemorations during which his life and work 
     are remembered and commitments renewed to help realize his 
     dream.
       In the nation's capital, two events have always been 
     particularly moving. At one, the Embassy of Israel fills its 
     auditorium with several hundred invited guests from the 
     political community, the Jewish community and the black 
     community. Each year, one African American and one Jewish 
     American are cited for their special contributions to civil 
     rights. The other event, a collaboration with the city's 
     principal black churches, fills the sanctuary of Washington 
     Hebrew congregation at a Friday evening Sabbath service. The 
     church choirs enrich the moving ceremony.
       At this year's events, the year just ended provides grounds 
     for much despair but also for some hope. The bigots and 
     racists, the antisemites and hate groups are still doing 
     their dirty work. Two much-reported events in 1995 painfully 
     reminded us of the racial divide that persists. When Susan 
     Smith said that ``a black man'' had kidnapped her children, 
     she counted on anti-black stereotyping to add credibility to 
     her story; when the lie was revealed, black Americans were 
     furious.

[[Page S3411]]

     And, of course, the opposite reactions to the O. J. Simpson 
     verdict among blacks and whites told us more than we wanted 
     to believe. How many more Mark Fuhrmans were there?
       But if there are racists in America, it does not mean that 
     we are a racist nation or that most Americans are racists. If 
     this were so, could a Colin Powell be odds-on favorite public 
     personality in the country? Would the Congress of a racist 
     country enact a legal holiday for a black civil rights 
     champion?
       But it is not enough not to be racist. It is incumbent upon 
     all of us to isolate and repudiate those who are. It is 
     essential that we insist upon full compliance with the laws 
     enacted to counteract discrimination and inequality. And it 
     is our responsibility to see that our schools and workplaces 
     and churches do their part in closing the gap between 
     ``majority'' and ``minority'' Americans.
       All this, and much more, we must do, but not in a 
     patronizing, paternalistic spirit. We owe it to ourselves to 
     help create a society that, as Dr. King admonished us, judges 
     its people by the content of their character, not by the 
     color of their skin. We would all be the winners.
       To Coretta King's gracious, generous comment that today is 
     ``your holiday too,'' every American should respond, ``Yes, 
     racial disadvantage is our problem too.''

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