Louis Finkelstein Quotes
I feel very strongly that it is vital for us to constantly keep in mind the fact that the Jewish problem is but a phase of the world problem.
Finkelstein, Louis. Quoted in Greenbaum, Michael B. Louis Finkelstein and the Conservative Movement: Conflict and Growth. Global Publications, Binghamton University, 2001.
There was extensive Northern opposition to the idea of Blacks fighting in the Civil War, even from some abolitionists who saw the war as a vehicle to end slavery. A few were concerned that Blacks would be executed by the South if they were captured, and hence would be exposed to unreasonable risk. Others, believed there was sufficient manpower and Blacks fighting would make the South fight harder. Many didn’t believe that Blacks were competent to be soldiers, and others didn’t want Blacks to develop the skills that would later enable them to compete for jobs with whites. Before Albion raising the 54th there were a few Negroes who were in Union uniform, but the concept of a Negro regiment was a much more visible, and controversial concept.
Jinnah was a Muslim nationalist who had blocked a united India after independence. However, once the partition began and a total bloodbath ensued, he tried to curtail the slaughter. A Muslim mob had attacked and surrounded a Hindu group in Karachi. Jinnah acted to protect the Hindus. Despite the efforts of many Hindu and Muslim leaders, things had gotten beyond their control and millions were killed.
This column outraged most of the Southern politicians but was extolled by African Americans and those who opposed segregation in the country. Her husband, the President, remained silent on the issue. That way the Southern segregationists could be grateful that the President did not endorse that they considered un-American statements, and meanwhile those who were outraged by the existence of legal segregation could take heart that the President did not oppose his wife’s statement.
Louis Finkelstein was a Talmud scholar, an expert in Jewish law, and a leader of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS) and Conservative Judaism.
