4,523 words
In 1967 Harold Cruse, the self-taught son of a railway porter, published The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual: A Historical Analysis of the Failure of Black Leadership, which caused a national stir. A Harlem activist specializing in the performing arts, Cruse criticized black intellectuals, “integrationism,” and Jewish influence over the black movement from the 1920s on.

































































Black History Month Special
Jews, Blacks, & Race
Jewish entertainer Al Jolson in blackface
9,872 words
This essay provides an overview of the history of the black-Jewish relationships in the twentieth century. The record shows quite clearly that Jewish organizations as well as a great number of individual Jews contributed enormously to the success of the movement to increase the power of blacks and alter the racial hierarchy of the United States. I also discuss the more difficult question of how to understand Jewish motives in the black-Jewish alliance. Read more …