Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-02-18


far as it concerns us, with The
Stars publication last March
Of a letter from r. A. Hester,
then the chairman Of the
Montgomery County Chapter.
Maryland Petition Commit
tee. Inc.
In the course Of his letter.
commenting on q news
story, Mr.. Hester wrote that
cover 40 years ago. an
English, Communist, Israel
C0hen. wrote:
n sWe must realize that our
pafsy's most powerful weap-
On Is racial tension. By
pounding into the conscious
ness Of the dark races that
for centuries they have been
oppressed hy the whites. we
can mold them to the pro-
gram Of the Communist
Party. In America we will
aim for subtle victory. While
infiaming the Negro minority
against the whites, we will
endeavOr to instill in the
whites . guilt complex for
their exploitation of the Ne
groes. We will aid the Negroes
to rise in prominence In every
walk Of life, In the profess
siOns and in the world Of
sports and entertainment.
With this prestige. the Me-
grOes will be able TO inter-
marry with the whites and
begin . process which will
deliver America to our cause
from "A Racial Program
for the Twentieth Century"
1872"
The letter and quotation
remained unchallenged until
the following June, when
The Star received q letter (for
publication from Herman
Edelsherg, director Of the
Washington Anti Defamation
League Of B'nai Birth.
In his letter Mr.. Edelsberg
said that Representative
Abernethy Of Mississippi.
during debate on the civil
rights bill, had placed the
quotation In the COMPRESSION
al Record TUNE y. Mr..
Abernethy had explained
that Israel Cohen. a leading
Communist in England, in
his "A Racial Program for the
goth Century wrote, in 1912"
the passage referred to
above. Mr.. Edelsberg said
his own research convinced
him that the alleged
quotation was a fabrication.
that no such publica-
ton as "A Racial Program
for the Twentieth Century"
was known either to the Lii
hrary of Congress or the
National Union Catalogue,
which summarizes holdings Of
800 principal libraries in the
United States. Furthermore,
he said, he had been unable
TO- find any information that
might serve to identity an
aEnglish Communist, Israel
Cohen
Zlle star printed Mr.. Ed
/. elsherg's letter with an Edi-
tors Mote, explaining that
) NIr { Hester. when asked by
The Star tUgiYe the source of
the alleged quotation. said he
had read 1t In some news
paper" but could not remem-
Der which one. The Star
apologized for having printed
the letter from Mr.. Hester
without first establishing au-
thenticity of the alleged quo
tation and stated that q sub
sequent check Of Immediately
available sources revealed no
such publication as "A Racial
Program for the Twentieth
Century"
Publication of Mr.. Edels-
herg's letter seemed to close
the incident until the latter
part of July, when The Star
received o letter from a
reader, not for publication.
taking issue with Mr.. Edels-
berg. She said that an Is
rael Cohen lived in London.
was listed in the British
Who's Who. that he had writ
ten extensively. was the au-
thor Of numerous publica-
tons, and that the same quo
tation appearing In Mr.. Hes
ter's letter to The Star in
March had previously APP
peared as an advertisement
in the December. 1866, issue
of THE Virginian," published
at Newport News, va.
A letter was Immediately
dispatched to the editor of
THE Virginian" requesting
information as to the source
Of the alleged Cohen quota
ton.
The editor. william Steph-
enson, replied BY reciting his
own efforts to. establish its
source. Personally" he
wrote, II have been forced to
conclude that the quotation
Ia phony."
II had FIRST appeared. Mr..
StaDhRnG0n Wr0fe In n