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African America-Jewish Forum held on January 11, 2006
Remembering the Past, Building a Future
Excerpts from Ike Leggett’s opening comments
About
ten years ago, I was engaged in a series of conversations with a
variety of student groups and others regarding African American
and Jewish Relations and the historic contributions they
individually and collectively had made in this country’s civil
rights struggle. The basis for the discussion was to highlight
how cooperatively the two groups had worked together in the
past.
While discussing our joint history and contributions, I was
suddenly struck by the students’ lack of awareness and
misunderstanding about our common history. These students, and
sadly, many others had little appreciation of the contributions
each had made (African American or Jewish), and frankly, they
did not appear to be terribly interested.
For me and my generation, and for some that immediately
followed us, we simply took it for granted that everyone should
get involved in the civil rights struggle. It was significantly
important to all in our society at the time; it permeated every
part of our lives: from basic education, public accommodation,
employment to every fabric of our society.
I personally became involved in the civil rights struggle
very early in my life for a variety of reasons. I grew up as one
of thirteen children in a poverty stricken environment under the
harshest of conditions of segregated Louisiana. Until I actually
entered college, except for what I saw on the all too few
television sets in our community,- we were so poor and so
segregated, that I had personally never seen a black doctor, a
policeman, a lawyer, a bank teller, a mailman, or any
professional other than a teacher or a preacher.
Giving these conditions, I was determined that I wanted to
and could make a difference. And I got that opportunity later as
a student leader serving as the Student Government President at
Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. At that time,
Southern University was the largest Black institution by
enrollment in the country. I was excited and proud to lead our
sit-ins, protest marches and many of the rallies occurring
around the campus, the state of Louisiana and throughout the
south.
I even had the opportunity on two occasions to meet Dr.
King--once in Alexandria, Louisiana and in Blue Ridge, North
Carolina. His messages were truly inspirational and uplifted
those who attended to fight the good fight that he so eloquently
articulated.
Throughout all of these good fights and the struggles we
faced, our Jewish sisters and brothers were right there by our
sides: they participated in the sit-ins, they marched in the
protest rallies, they joined the boycotts, they gave generously
of their talents, resources and time – and sadly, far too many
Jewish citizens, they gave the ultimate sacrifice--they gave
their lives. They did so, not just for their own fight against
discrimination and bigotry, but for all of us, and for all of
America. ----And sadly, this was not the message far too many of
our young people were hearing.
I do not want to mislead anyone here tonight that cooperation
between African Americans and Jews was always harmonious during
the height of the 60’s civil rights struggle. Towards the latter
part of the 60s, lead primarily by young student leaders for
which I was a part, we began to struggle with Black
self-awareness, with our own identity and our leadership roles
in the civil rights movement. Far too many of us had been
beaten, thrown in jail, kick out of school, and frankly, we had
had it with the passive nonviolence and slow pace of change we
were experiencing at that time. Some even turned their backs on
Dr. King. The answer, we believed, was a call for separation and
to direct the movement towards black pride, black identity and
black awareness, and even “Black Power”. This, for us, seemed
natural; it gave us our own voice,-it elevated black leadership
almost exclusively to the forefront of the civil rights
movement.
With this new direction and the struggle within the Black
community, we isolated many of our most important allies and
partners in the Jewish community. This isolation was then aided
by those seeking to further divide Backs and Jews, and, it was
also aided by our genuine differences on such matters as:
affirmative action, economic empowerment, international
relations and differences about the state of Israel and its
neighbors.
Many of these issues and the open wombs they caused have yet
to fully heal, and much, much more work needs to be done. But I
am hopeful about the future. I am hopeful because I am reminded
about the message Dr. King delivered to those of us assembled in
Alexandria, Louisiana in the Rapides Parish Coliseum.
Dr. King’s message was taken from the old testament, from the
book of Nehemiah. It was really about leadership and cooperation
with people who were divided and had lost hope. Dr. King
explained that Nehemiah was a man of God highly gifted in his
leadership abilities. Nehemiah was called on to help lead his
people in the almost impossible task in rebuilding the Walls
around Jerusalem in order to protect the city from its enemies.
Nehemiah was able to accomplish this difficult feat in record
time. He did so by assigning each family in the city a specific
section of the wall to rebuild and to be responsible for its
completion. Nehemiah was personally engaged in the
reconstruction and supervised much of the details of this
difficult work. Each family and each individual worked
separately yet together toward the ultimate goal to ensure the
reconstruction of the wall and the protection of the city. They
did not take their eyes off this important prize.
We do not have Nehemiah today. And sadly, we no longer have
Dr. King. But African-Americans and Jews do have a common
history of great accomplishments: working together for the
common good of this great nation. And, if we utilize the
tremendous talents, leadership and resources African Americans
and Jews have together, and most importantly, keep our eyes on
the prize for equality and justice for all, we too will realize
Dr. King’s dream for this country.
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