Shared Dreams: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Jewish Community

From Publishers Weekly
Schneier, founding rabbi of the Hampton Synagogue on Long Island, wrote this book to foster friendly relations between African-Americans and Jews. Based on interviews and previously unpublished sources, this is a commendable account of the associations Martin Luther King Jr. had with Jews and Jewish organizations. Schneier frankly confronts such issues as African-American anti-Semitism, the left-wing connections of King's important Jewish advisor, Stanley Levison, and the early reluctance of many Southern Jews to endorse the civil rights movement. These kinds of problems were balanced by the vigorous support King received from such Jewish leaders as Morris Abram and Abraham Joshua Heschel, Jewish participation in the historic march from Selma to Montgomery and the assistance King gave to the struggle against Soviet repression of Jews. Perhaps the most troublesome episode in the groups' relationship occurred during the Six-Day War, when King's powerful pacifist convictions and the anti-Zionist harangues of several African-American leaders combined to make him reluctant to advocate favoring Israel. However, he never endorsed anti-Israel attitudes and, in the last speech he made before his 1968 assassination, spoke fondly of his trip to Israel in 1959. Schneier's candid, well-balanced presentation is a significant contribution to African-American/Jewish harmony. (Jan.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Israel Singer, Secretary General, World Jewish Congress
"A powerful and meaningful book about the prophetic leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. and his colleagues.... It must be read by all who seek to improve the condition of human rights."


Kweisi Mfume, President and CEO, NAACP
"One of the most important books I've read this year. Rabbi Schneier thoughtfully illustrates the depth of the friendship between Dr. King and our Jewish brothers and sisters, thus providing us with a fresh and bold new perspective on both a beloved civil rights leader and a most revolutionary time in our history."


Howard Zinn, author, A People's History of the United States
"An important addition to the history of the civil rights movement, and an honest portrayal of the complex relations between blacks and whites in the movement."


Dr. Carolyn Goodman, President, the Andrew Goodman Foundation
"Offers us a fascinating perspective on Dr. King's relationship with the Jewish community."


Publishers Weekly, November 29, 1999
"Schneier's candid, well-balanced presentation is a significant contribution to African-American/Jewish harmony."


Book Description
Shared Dreams brings to life the impressive, surprising, and long-neglected history of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s efforts in support of the Jewish community. At critical moments in the life of the American Jewish community, of Israel and of the plight of Soviet Jews, Martin Luther King, Jr. stepped in as an advocate to speak out for the human and civil rights of Jews. His efforts to support world Jewry-within the constraints of his primary role in the civil rights movement-cannot be forgotten. Indeed, they must be remembered. Rabbi Marc Schneier presents the full story of Dr. King's involvement with the Jewish community. With the use of previously unpublished material and interviews with those who marched at Dr. King's side, the long-neglected story of mutual support and cooperation between Dr. King and the Jewish community is brought to life. It is a story that will shed new light on the commitment and the relationship between the Jewish and African American communities as they have struggled together to fight for justice and civil rights for our nation. Even more, it is a story that encourages all of us-people of all faiths, all backgrounds-to continue to fight for justice in our world.


Card catalog description
"Many people are familiar with the story of Jewish support for the American civil rights movement, but this history has another side - one that has not been fully told until now."--BOOK JACKET. "At critical moments in the life of the American Jewish community, of Israel and of the plight of Soviet Jews, Martin Luther King, Jr. stepped in as an advocate to speak out for the human and civil rights of Jews. His efforts to support world Jewry - within the constraints of his primary role in the civil rights movement - cannot be forgotten. Indeed, they must be remembered."--BOOK JACKET. "Rabbi Marc Schneier, President of The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, presents the full story of Dr. King's involvement with the Jewish community. Through the use of previously unpublished material and interviews with those who marched at Dr. King's side, the long-neglected story of mutual support and cooperation between Dr. King and the Jewish community is brought to life."--BOOK JACKET.


About the Author
Rabbi Marc Schneier is President of The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, dedicated to strengthening relations between the Jewish and African American communities. President of the New York Board of Rabbis and founding rabbi of the Hampton (NY) Synagogue, in 1997 he was invited by President Clinton to participate in the inaugural White House Conference on Race Relations. Martin Luther King III is President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.


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"There has to come a time in my life to prove to myself that I am what I profess to be. I must be counted and I must be visible. My wife shares myconvictions. We leave tonight for Alabama. And we are afraid." This is from a letter written by a Jewish man from Ohio just prior to joining 3,200 others who took part in the voting rights Freedom March from Selma to Montgomery in March, 1965.
It's but one example-albeit a powerful one-the author cites in his eighteen-chapter work detailing the intertwining relationship between the black leader and the Jewish community. Schneier traces this alliance from the early days of the Civil Rights Movement up to the last year and a half of King's life, when circumstances made for an uncomfortable and awkward connection.
It seemed a natural alliance. As King himself stated as guest speaker at the first American Jewish Congress held in a southern state: "My people were brought to America in chains. Your people were driven here to escape the chains fashioned for them in Europe. Our unity is born of our common struggle for centuries..." A large number of the leader's close confidantes were Jewish. Schneier highlights several, such as Rabbi Israel Dresner who was "beaten, battered and arrested" during the summer of 1964 Freedom Rides; Stanley Levison, the New Yorker who helped conceive the idea of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); and Abraham Heschel, Poland-born Hasidic scholar who appeared with King at many events including the Selma-to-Montgomery March.
The relationship was uneasy at times, Schneier suggests, because of the friction between local Southern Jewish congregations and their national political organizations. The locals still had to live where segregation existed and would naturally bear the brunt of any later potential violence; the out-of-towners would be out of reach. The behind-the-scenes machinations are enlightening. The later breaking-away of various support groups-the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) eventually deleted the word nonviolent from its name and young, disillusioned blacks joined the newly-founded and more radical Black Panthers-left the Civil Rights movement weakened as donations and support from Jewish groups also faded during disagreements on King's anti-war stance. Schneier's extensively researched treatise is a great addition to the documentation of a time in America's recent past no one should be allowed to forget.


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