JCRC: Jewish Community Relations Council

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The 1950s: History of the JCRC

May 1950 - The six local constituencies of NCRAC gather to discuss, and ultimately oppose, the Mundt-Ferguson-Nixon "anti-Communism" bills before Congress. The group says these bills are a threat to democratic principles and civil rights, and organizes an opposition advocacy force. Eugene Block, part-time Director of the Survey Committee and part-time editor of the Jewish Community Bulletin, writes that this is a "significant step toward unity in local community action" and "a forward step in local community life."
August 1950 - The Survey Committee provides scholarships for San Francisco teachers to participate in a Workshop in Human Relations, sponsored by San Francisco State College, in cooperation with the Anti-Defamation League and National Conference of Christians and Jews. The Workshop trains "teachers in the most effective techniques for teaching boys and girls how to live and work together in amity, regardless of religion, racial, or ethnic differences" so that "teachers may overcome prejudice and immunize against it."
August 1950 - The Survey Committee continues its campaign of combating prejudice and anti-Semitism, and educating the Jewish community about the importance of Jewish public relations through diplomatic resolution, as opposed to vigilante or individual punitive reaction, to anti-Semitic incidents. A Jewish Community Bulletin article reports successful resolution created by the Survey Committee when it diplomatically approached a store proprietor whose employee made anti-Semitic comments to a gentile customer.
January 1951 - Eugene Block hires Earl Raab to serve as Associate Director of the Survey Committee, the first full-time staff person who becomes its first full-time Executive Director. Soon after, Earl develops JCRC committees in Marin, the South and North Peninsulas. At that time, there was a separate JCRC active in the East Bay.
March 1951 - With unanimous support of its members, the Jewish Survey & B'nai B'rith Community Committee changes its name to the San Francisco Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC). The change is made to demonstrate the importance of an inclusive communal umbrella organization that reflects the will of the community, rather than of just a few of the constituent organizations.
March 1952 - JCRC hosts a seminar series on anti-Semitism, attended by 40 major Jewish organizations, and held at the Jewish Community Center. Speakers "trace the current trends of anti-Semitism from national to regional and to local levels. Latest techniques of proven value in combating bigotry" are presented. JCRC offers participant organizations materials, consultation, and assistance in finding speakers on the subject of anti-Semitism.
1952 - Under Earl Raab's leadership, JCRC works in cooperation with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and other community organizations to advance civil rights, and educates the Jewish community about the importance of this collaborative work, stating, "When one minority's rights are breached, all minority rights are in danger." JCRC assures that "it has always been careful to avoid joining with Communist-front organizations, whose interest in human rights has always been primarily one of exploitation rather than betterment" and cautions that "It is always important, for individuals as well as groups, to distinguish between fraudulent organizations and those - like the NAACP - which are truly democratic in intent, and genuinely interested in civil rights."
1952 - Earl Raab is the major force behind the creation of the Bay Area Human Rights Clearinghouse, which later becomes the Bay Area Human Relations Clearinghouse. The leadership and idea for the Clearinghouse come out of the Council for Civic Unity. The Clearinghouse meets weekly at JCRC, and Earl Raab serves as Chairman starting in this year and ending a decade later. African American leaders from the NAACP and churches, including Willie Brown, the Japanese American Citizens League, Catholic and Protestant clergy, Latino community leaders, and civil rights leaders participate.
1955 - Under Earl's leadership, JCRC begins to conduct Jewish community attitudinal studies, surveying political attitudes, and perspectives on anti-Semitism, Jewish institutions, Israel and its security, and commitment to Jewish ritual practices. These surveys continue through the nineties, gleaning important information about Jewish community interests.
July 1957 - JCRC plays a major role in documenting the need for fair employment legislation and a San Francisco City-monitoring agency, and presents the case to city lawmakers. After rancorous debate throughout the City of San Francisco, the Board of Supervisors passes a measure providing for the development of a Fair Employment Practices Commission. Jesse Colman, a San Francisco Supervisor related to very prominent San Francisco Jewish families, plays a significant role in getting this ordinance passed. JCRC educates the Jewish community about the parameters of the legislation and consequences for violations of fair employment practices, and encourages Jewish community members with legitimate and documented cases of discrimination to bring their complaints to the newly formed Commission for investigation.
1958 - Earl becomes President of the San Francisco Mental Health Association. In 1959 he begins an eight-year term as President of the State Association for Mental Heath, under the California Governorship of Edmund Brown.
April 1959 - Earl Raab's first byline column runs in the Jewish Community Bulletin. In "Facing the Facts," Earl objects to popular interest in offering "common core" instruction on religion in the public schools, which focuses on the common elements of major world religions. He explains that JCRC is resistant to these lessons because "if they are only superficial in nature, they demean religion. If they are more than that, they violate the requirements for separation of church and state." He explains, "If we must reduce the American Ideal to kitchen terms, our purpose is not to produce one big 'melting pot' stew of people or religions; but rather to harmoniously preserve the identity of 180 million different recipes."