the charge of discrimination came only from some of the “lower grade.”
Schiff retorted that liquidation of the exchange was preferable to yielding
to such pressures; but since the directors held firm, he resigned from the
board.
When Schiff recounted the story to a friend and co-founder of the
agency, Robert De Forest of the Charity Organization Society, the latter
maintained that the wishes of the employers had to be met, and he pointed
to similar discrimination faced by other ethnic groups. The banker an-
swered sharply. Jews were not a separate nationality, and to be a Jewish cit-
izen in the United States “means to be an American of the Jewish faith,” a
faith to be ranked in accord with the standards applied to any other relig-
ious denomination. The wrangling continued for the better part of
1915–16. Insisting that it was a matter of principle and for himself one of
self-respect, Schiff wanted a categorical refusal by the exchange to service
employers who called specifically for non-Jews. The agency, on the other
hand, insisted that its very existence depended on deference to the clients’
specifications. Eventually, De Forest was worn down, and as the intermedi-
ary between Schiff and the exchange he engineered a compromise. A form
letter would tell prospective employers of the agency’s nondiscriminatory
policy, and the organization’s staff would be similarly instructed. If the ex-
change decided on a Jewish applicant for a position but the employer con-
tinued to ask for a non-Jew, the agency would urge him to interview the
Jew before making his decision. Schiff could do no more, but his objections
put the exchange on notice that his disaffection might well be communi-
cated to other supporters. Although there was little change in the daily pol-
icy of the exchange, Schiff’s reputation as the fighter against discrimination
in employment was solidly entrenched within the Jewish community.^88
The banker’s choice of non-Jewish charities included Blacks as well as
Whites. His correspondence with Black leaders reveals a commitment to
Black education, notably to Booker T. Washington’s Tuskegee Institute.
Washington’s moderate agenda and his primary emphasis on training for
his fellow Blacks were calculated not to alienate the White majority. So im-
pressed was Schiff with Washington that he made the educator his personal
almoner for schools in the South. The banker also spoke up against racial
discrimination and for “justice to the negro.” He predicted that so long as
Blacks were treated unfairly, “the problem will come back to plague us and
make us feel ashamed of ourselves.” One of his two requests of Woodrow
Wilson during the latter’s first term as president called for the removal of
the color line in government offices.^89
The widespread exclusionary practices against Jews on the part of business
or social establishments at the turn of the century troubled Schiff less than
Leadership and Philanthropy 71