ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Sixty years ago today, 16 Jewish rabbis were arrested in St. Augustine for demonstrating against racial segregation while walking alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
“We were arrested on Thursday, June 18, 1964. There were 15 of us and we were arrested while praying together in a restaurant.”
St. Augustine Mayor Nancy Sykes Klein read a famous statement written on behalf of 16 rabbis who protested against racism, violence and segregation.
“We are grateful for this unique experience and for sharing the lives, suffering and hardships of this brave community,” Sykes Klein said.
The letter is titled “Why We Went,” and it provides a historical account of why Jewish leaders decided to take action against injustice.
In 1964, rabbis staged a diversion in front of the Monson Motor Lodge in St. Augustine, giving young black activists the opportunity to dive into the motel’s “whites only” pool.
So a man poured acid into the pool to pull the young activists out of the water.
Many rabbis of the time said that the memory of the Holocaust inspired them to act with Martin Luther King: “We cannot miss the opportunity to achieve moral ends with moral means — a rare modern privilege that was the glory of the nonviolent struggle for civil rights.”
“When I heard the letter, it brought tears to my eyes because I knew I had allies. I’m African-American and I knew there were other allies out there,” said the Rev. Laverne March.
A crowd gathered in St. Augustine on Tuesday to hear the powerful words penned from a St. Augustine jail cell, and some imagined what it would have been like to respond to that call to action.
Rev. Merrill Shapiro says it’s a message that remains relevant today: “The struggle to create a just world is not a historical element, it’s very much about the present. We need different faith communities, different racial communities to come together and work together to create a just world,” he said.
“So many of our rights are being taken away right now and this isn’t just a booster, this is a reminder that if we don’t go out and vote and take action, we’re in danger of having the rights that we fought for 60 years ago taken away,” March said.
The arrest of these 16 religious leaders was the largest mass arrest of rabbis in U.S. history. In 1964, the day after their arrest, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act after 83 days of marathon debate.
A sign commemorating the rabbi’s 1964 arrest (Copyright 2024 by WJXT News4JAX – All Rights Reserved)
Copyright 2024 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.
