Authors Break Wall of Silence On Einstein's Views on Racism

Candace Braun

Manhattan authors Fred Jerome and Rodger Taylor visited the Princeton Public Library on Sunday to speak on Albert Einstein's involvement in African American issues and his connection to Princeton's Witherspoon community.

The library was the authors' first stop on the tour for Einstein on Race and Racism, a book published by Rutgers University Press that includes input from several Princeton residents, including Fannie Floyd, Penny Edwards-Carter, Eric Craig, and Alice Satterfield.

The publication makes a timely connection with the issues among the African American communities that suffered in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, where it took "a killer hurricane to make the media see that racism and classism are still part of America," said Mr. Jerome.

The book describes Einstein's efforts to help forward the rights of minorities, an effort that was often ignored and rarely touched on by newspapers and other publications at the time.

"We've discovered that even Einstein, one of the most widely known people in the world ... couldn't break through the media's silence about race," said Mr. Jerome, noting that he believed the media avoided the subject because it crossed into "controversial territory."

One example the authors provided the large library audience concerned the fact that although Einstein was a known friend of Paul Robeson for more than 20 years, it was hard to find the two men mentioned in the same paragraph in any publication. This is rather incredible, said the authors, since the two men were co-chairmen of an anti-lynching march on Washington in 1940.

In one speech that Einstein gave in 1946 at Lincoln University, the oldest historically black college in the nation, he said: "Segregation is a disease not of colored people, but a disease of white people. And I do not intend to remain quiet about it."

However, despite Einstein's intentions to make his opinions known, "that speech is even missing from the archives across the street at Princeton University," said Mr. Jerome.

Mr. Taylor told the audience that while the popular opinion at the time was that Einstein was too consumed by his own scientific studies to worry about the "every day problems of people here," he had participated in 13 campaigns against racism while living in the U.S.

"A lot of people would say something [against racism], but to actually cross lines, to talk to the black communities ... was what made him dangerous," said Mr. Taylor.

A Local Connection

Einstein was also known to have connections and friendships with residents of the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood in Princeton. The book shows several photos of residents, many of which were courtesy of Henry Pannell.

Among those pictured is former Township Mayor Jim Floyd, who said at Sunday's talk: "I quite frankly feel there should be 10 other books just like this one."

Shirley Satterfield, who is also pictured and quoted in the book, was featured in a documentary film in Europe on Einstein and racism, which was made with assistance from Messrs. Jerome and Taylor.

"He didn't shoo you away and say 'I'm a big time professor' …. He was a wonderful person," she said.

The film, which talks about Einstein's efforts to forward the civil rights movement, is not available to view in the U.S., according to the authors.

"As far as we can tell, there are no plans to show this film in our country," said Mr. Jerome, noting the difficulty he had in just obtaining a small clip in English to show during the library program.

"We need to talk about racism and how it's affecting and destroying people's lives," said Mr. Taylor, noting that one quote by Einstein called racism "America's worst disease."

On continuing their book tour, Mr. Taylor said: "We're going to go anywhere and everywhere we can … because we refuse to accept this wall of silence."

Mr. Jerome is a journalist and science writer who has written for Newsweek and The New York Times. He has taught at Columbia Journalism School and New York University, and is the author of The Einstein File: J. Edgar Hoover's Secret War Against the World's Most Famous Scientist.

Mr. Taylor is a supervising branch librarian with the New York Public Library, who has written stories on African-American New York and the African Burial Ground. He has an upcoming book, Arts-Based Civic Dialogue in Action.