Racism and Antisemitism
Shanker was routinely branded a racist, and many African-Americans accused the UFT of being 'Jewish-dominated'. A Puerto Rican group in the Ocean Hill–Brownsville neighborhood burnt Shanker in effigy.
Shanker and some Jewish groups attributed the original firing of the teachers to antisemitism. During the strike, the UFT distributed an official pamphlet called "Preaching Violence Instead of Teaching Children in Ocean Hill-Brownsville", citing a lesson that advocated Black separatism.
Some members of the school community, as well as the New York Civil Liberties Union, accused Shanker of playing up antisemitism to win sympathy and support. Some of the rhetoric surrounding the strike may have been a self-fulfilling prophecy, crystallizing Black antisemitism where it had not solidly existed.
70% of the district's new hires were white, and half of these were Jewish.
Read more about this topic: New York City Teachers' Strike Of 1968
Famous quotes containing the words racism and/or antisemitism:
“I don’t think America’s the center of the world anymore. I think African women will lead the way [in] ... women’s liberation ... The African woman, she’s got a country, she’s got the flag, she’s got her own army, got the navy. She doesn’t have a racism problem. She’s not afraid that if she speaks up, her man will say goodbye to her.”
—Faith Ringgold (b. 1934)
“Worst of all, there is no sign of any relaxation of antisemitism. Logically it has nothing to do with Fascism. But the human race is imitative rather than logical; and as Fascism spreads antisemitism spreads.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)