Martin Luther King’s Lawyer Takes on Anti-Semitism
Clarence B. Jones, the lawyer for Martin Luther King Jr., writes in an opinion column for the Wall Street Journal that the slain civil rights leader “abhorred anti-Semitism in all its forms.”
Jones said King was dismayed that so many blacks had been swayed by grumbling about “Jew landlords” or “Jew interlopers.” Jones’ article, adapted from a book he co-wrote called What Would Martin Say, takes aim at a recent “anti-Semitic tirade” by the Rev. Eric Lee.
At a recent awards event for a national African-American fraternity, Lee complained that Jewish music producers are “economically enslaving” black performers. Lee is the president and CEO of the Los Angeles branch of the Southern Christian Leadership Foundation, which was founded by King.
“Martin would have been repelled by Mr. Lee’s remarks,” Jones wrote.
Jones recently talked with USA Today about his book. He said he wrote it partly because of anger. “I sat back too long and saw people … appropriate him for their own use,” he told the newspaper.
