HUC Grads Protest in 1964
“We could not say no to Martin Luther King, whom we always respected and admired and whose loyal friends we hope we shall be in the days to come,” read a letter from 16 rabbis who were arrested with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in St. Augustine, Florida in 1964 at a protest against racial segregation. “We could not pass by the opportunity to achieve a moral goal by moral means – a rare modern privilege – which has been the glory of the non-violent struggle for civil rights,” they wrote.
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These HUC rabbinic grads were among numerous Jewish activists who were arrested with Dr. King during the Civil Rights Movement. They issued this joint letter the day following their arrest. Although MLK did not comment on the rabbis being arrested, he often spoke at Jewish institutions trying to support the efforts of the Community in supporting the cause.
“There are Hitlers loose in America today, both in high and low places,” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said in a May 14, 1958 address to the National Biennial Convention of the American Jewish Congress. “As the tensions and bewilderment of economic problems become more severe, history(‘s) scapegoats, the Jews, will be joined by new scapegoats, the Negroes. The Hitlers will seek to divert people’s minds and turn their frustration and anger to the helpless, to the outnumbered. Then whether the Negro and Jew shall live in peace will depend upon how firmly they resist, how effectively they reach the minds of the decent Americans to halt this deadly diversion….”
