CURRENT SOCIAL ISSUES

The following three resolutions, adopted at Habonim conventions in the past decade, show the thinking of the movement on several contemporary social and economic issues.

CIVIL LIBERTIES

America has two ways of meeting the challenge presented by a divided world: it can choose the prospect of atomic destruction, or it can inaugurate an era of unparalleled progress. It can meet this challenge by force of a powerful army only; or it can meet the threat of Communist aggression by battling it with ideas, as well as with a determined effort to raise the standard of living of people the world over through technical and financial assistance to underdeveloped and impoverished countries. Only if people the world over will be convinced of the positive values of the democratic way of life and of the sincere desire of the democratic powers to advance their welfare, will they join in the rejection of Communist totalitarianism.

Should America choose the road of military superiority alone, it may well defeat itself. The danger of Communist subversion must be met internally as well as in foreign affairs. Unless we conduct this battle with a continued development of a positive democratic program, fear, tension, and suspicion will continue to mount.

The forces of reaction are exploiting the fear of the Communist menace to suppress every liberal thought and every progressive idea irrespective of its inherent value. Liberals have themselves been infected with the fear of expressing their views and have paralyzed themselves, silently standing by, hoping that they will not be affected.

The fight against McCarthyism must become the personal responsibility of every American if he desires to retain his American heritage. Under the guise of fighting Communism, McCarthyism may well destroy the basic tradition of democratic America and negate the spirit and the letter of American constitutional rights. The assumption of guilt by association; the smearing of a man's name before his guilt has been proven; the use of television, radio, and newspapers to satisfy the publicity hunger of the investigators without regard to truth— all contribute to an increasing hysteria which is dangerous to the continuity of our country as we know it. This is what we are fighting abroad. We must fight it at home as well.

LABOR

As chaverim of Habonim our orientation is two-fold: as Zionists we are concerned with the welfare and progress of our fellow Jews; as Labor Zionists we are concerned also with the welfare and progress of our fellow men. We assert and affirm our belief in the right of every individual to life, liberty, and economic well-being.

As Habonim we are not content merely with paying lip-service to these ideals. We call upon every chaver actively to support the work of unions and cooperatives which strive for the benefit of mankind and to interpret the activities of these groups to the community at large. We call upon our chaverim to observe picket lines and to influence others to do likewise.

We greet the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, in which both the AFL-CIO and the Histadrut play an active role. Habonim commends the work of the AFL-CIO Ethical Practices Committee. We must lend our support to those forces working honestly and democratically for the economic and social progress of our society and give the lie to those who would discredit all unions on the pretext of corruption or malpractice.

CIVIL RIGHTS

Nearly four years ago the Supreme Court outlawed segregation in the public schools and in other areas of American life. The court's decision was welcomed by the members of Habonim, but its results have greatly disappointed us. The manner in which the decision has been carried out by the South has generally been a series of measures ranging from indefinite delay to violence, all of which have as their aim the separation of Negroes and whites as much as possible. The exceptions to this pattern, though praiseworthy, have been much too infrequent.

The North, for all its back-patting, has been as guilty as the South of failing to demonstrate its sincere belief in those ideals of brotherhood, equality, and freedom of opportunity which America says it considers the finest heritage a nation could have.

That white Northerners have paid only lip service to these ideals is shown by their movement, en masse, from neighborhoods in which Negroes have settled to all-white areas, their often making life as unpleasant as possible for a Negro family which moves into a white neighborhood, their establishment of gentlemen's agreements designed to keep neighborhoods racially pure, their arrangement of their lives so that social intercourse with Negroes is impossible, their repetition of the untrue clichés which belittle Negroes, and their passing on of these attitudes to their children.

We Northern Jews have shown as much selfishness and cowardice in this area as our gentile neighbors. Our weakness in failing to face the dangers in this area of civil rights has paralleled our being unable to meet the dangers facing us as Jews, in another area of civil rights.

The danger lies in the field of religious freedom. In recent years there has been a growing pressure in America to inject Christian religious practices in many areas of American life, especially public education. This pressure has had such results as Christmas trimmings and celebrations in many public places, even in stores and businesses owned by Jews, and the singing of Christmas carols, the injection of "nondenominational" prayers, and the teaching of religion in the school program.

The constitution guarantees religious liberty and the separation of church and state. The above-mentioned practices represent infringements of these guarantees. Their influence is not offset by such practices as celebrating Chanukah and Pesach in the schools as well as Christmas and Easter or by teaching the ethics which are common to both Christianity and Judaism. These methods serve only to cover both faiths with a false blanket of similarity and, by ignoring their differences, to tailor them to fit a pattern of conformity.

We, as members of Habonim, as Jews, and as citizens raised in the spirit of freedom, must fight these practices of segregation and religious restriction and the attitudes which they represent, both individually and by joining those who are fighting for freedom and the defense of civil liberties in schools, on the political scene, in the Jewish community, in our own neighborhoods, and in every area of our lives.

From the MINUTES OF THE 195! AND 1957 CONVENTIONS