Resolution Adopted by the CCAR
Affirmative Action
Adopted by the CCAR at the 89th Annual Convention of
the Central Conference of American Rabbis
Toronto, Canada, June 26-29, 1978
The Jewish tradition has always been sensitive to the plight of the stranger. A long
and unfortunate history of injustice and prejudice has made qualified Blacks, Chicanos,
women and other oppressed peoples strangers to society’s mainstream.
Affirmative action focused on overcoming the historic injustices of the past, and
is a valid approach. All people will benefit when the barriers to true equality are
removed.
Be it therefore resolved that we, the members of the Central Conference of American
Rabbis, believe that affirmative action, utilizing goals and timetables, is an effective
means of correcting historical injustice in our society.
In the light of the Supreme Court decision in the Bakke case, we call on the Jewish
community to close ranks with the various dispossessed groups in American life, and
to support and promote the use of such instruments of remediation in all the institutions of American life.