A Racial Program for the Twentieth Century
A Racial Program for the Twentieth Century, also known as A Radical Program for the Twentieth Century, is an alleged writing by "Israel Cohen".
In 1957, during a debate on the Civil Rights Movement, United States House of Representatives Thomas Abernethy read an alleged quotation from it:
We must realize that our party's most powerful weapon is racial tensions. By propounding into the consciousness of the dark races that for centuries they have been oppressed by whites, we can mold them to the program of the Communist Party. In America we will aim for subtle victory. While inflaming the Negro minority against the whites, we will endeavor to instill in the whites a guilt complex for their exploitation of the Negroes. We will aid the Negroes to rise in prominence in every walk of life, in the professions and in the world of sports and entertainment. With this prestige, the Negro will be able to intermarry with the whites and begin a process which will deliver America to our cause.[1]
Abernethy had found it in a letter to the editor of The Washington Star. The Washington Star soon apologized for having printed the quotation without verifying its authenticity and, on 18 February 1958, published an article titled "Story of a Phony Quotation--A Futile Effort to Pin It Down--'A Racial Program for the 20th Century' Seems to Exist Only in Somebody's Imagination", which traced the quotation to Eustace Mullins, who claimed to have found it in a Zionist publication in the Library of Congress. There are various inconsistences regarding alleged dates, author, and claims. The alleged writing does not exist in the Library of Congress.[2][3]
See also
References
- ↑ United States Congressional Record - House June 7, 1957, p. 8559 paragraph 3
- ↑ Boller, Paul F.; George, John (1990). They Never Said It: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, and Misleading Attributions. Oxford University Press. pp. 14–16. ISBN 978-0-19-506469-8.
- ↑ Kominsky, Morris (1970). The Hoaxers: Plain Liars, Fancy Liars, and Damned Liars. Branden Press. p. 92. ISBN 978-0828312882.
