Einstein on Humanitarianism

Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.

As cited by by Jess Brallier and Robert Andrew Parker in "Who Was Albert Einstein?"

Always the humanitarian, Albert spent much of his time in the United States helping those less fortunate than he....In 1931, while still living in Germany, he had joined an international protest to save the lives of eight African-Americans in Scottsboro, Alabama, who had been wrongly imprisoned.

from Albert Einstein: The Jewish Man Behind the Theory by Devra Newberger Speregen

There is no higher religion than human service. To work for the common good is the greatest creed.

As cited by Milton Meltzer in Albert Einstein: A Biography

...Einstein felt that scholars, including scientists, had a duty to work for the public good.

from Albert Einstein: The Miracle Mind by Tabatha Yeatts

Einstein on Authority

I'm thinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.

Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.

At cited by by Jess Brallier and Robert Andrew Parker in Who Was Albert Einstein?

Einstein on the Struggle for Human Rights

The struggle for human rights is an eternal struggle in which a final victory can never be won. But to tire in that struggle would mean the ruin of society.

from a tape-recorded address to the Decalogue Society of Chicago, February 20, 1954, as cited in Einstein on Race and Racism by Fred Jerome and Rodger Taylor

Princeton provided a safe location for Einstein -- away from Germany -- but it was not without its racial injustices. At that time. the university limited the number of Jewish students it would accept, and there were only two Jewish faculty members. African-Americans couldn't attend at all. Einstein became aware of these discriminations and set about to battle not only anti-Semitism, but all racism.

from Albert Einstein: The Miracle Mind by Tabatha Yeatts

Einstein on Race Prejudice

Race prejudice has unfortunately become an American tradition which is uncritically handed down from one generation to the next...the only remedies are enlightenment and education. This is a slow and painstaking process in which all right-thinking people should take part.

from a 1948 interview with the Cheyney Record as cited in Einstein on Race and Racism by Fred Jerome and Rodger Taylor

Einstein took every opportunity to stand up for what he thought was right. In 1937, he stepped in when African-American opera star Marian Anderson was refused a room at Princeton's Nassau Inn. He invited her to stay at his home, which she did. From then on, she stayed with him whenever she visited Princeton.

from Albert Einstein: The Miracle Mind by Tabatha Yeatts

When singer Paul Robeson sent Einstein a telegram in September (1946) proposing the creation of "the American Crusade to End Lynching" (ACEL), Einstein supported him...he did send a letter to President Harry Truman, asking him to draft an anti-lynching law. The ACEL bill was turned down, but in the process, the FBI submitted a twelve-page report on Einstein because of his association with Robeson...

from Albert Einstein: The Miracle Mind by Tabatha Yeatts

Einstein's Message to the National Urban League

The worst disease under which the society of our nation suffers is...the treatment of the Negro. Racism is the scorn of the principle of the Fathers who founded the United States that all men are created equal...it must be pointed out time and again that the exclusion of a large part of the colored population from active civil rights by the common practices is a slap in the face of the Constitution of the nation.

We must strive (to ensure) that minorities be protected against economic and political discrimination as well as against attack by libelous writings and against the poisoning of youth in the schools.

1946 as quoted in Einstein on Race and Racism by Fred Jerome and Rodger Taylor

From The Negro Question by Albert Einstein

There is...a somber point in the social outlook of Americans. Their sense of equality and human dignity is mainly limited to men of white skins. Even among these there are prejudices, of which I as a Jew am clearly conscious; but they are not important in comparison with the attitudes of the Whites toward their fellow-citizens of darker complexion, particularly toward Negroes. The more I feel an American, the more the situation pains me. I can escape the feeling of complicity in it only by speaking out.

...Your ancestors dragged these black people from their homes by force; and in the white man's quest for wealth and an easy life they have been ruthlessly suppressed and exploited, degraded into slavery. The modern prejudice against Negroes is the result of the desire to maintain this unworthy condition.

I do not believe there is a way in which this deeply entrenched evil can be quickly healed. But until this goal is reached there is no greater satisfaction for a just and well-meaning person than the knowledge that he has devoted his best energies to the service of a good cause.

1946 in Pageant as cited in Einstein on Race and Racism by Fred Jerome and Rodger Taylor

Einstein at Lincoln University

There is a separation of colored people from white people in the United States. That separation is not a disease of colored people. It is a disease of white people. I do not intend to be quiet about it.

An excerpt from Einstein's ten-minute speech based on the report in the Baltimore Afro-American of May 11, 1946. The article written by J.W. Woods is cited in Einstein on Race and Racism by Fred Jerome and Rodger Taylor.

Although Einstein routinely turned down honorary degrees and requests to speak at universities in May (1946) he came to the traditionally black Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. There, he received an honorary degree, spoke about racism, and then gave a lecture on relativity. The media, which generally covered his every move, skipped the event.

from Albert Einstein: The Miracle Mind by Tabatha Yeatts

Pablo Casals on Einstein from Einstein on Race and Racism

Pablo Casals said he was "perpetually grateful" to Einstein "for his protest against the injustice to which my homeland was sacrificed."

A pillar of the human consceince in a time when so many civilized values seemed to be tottering --Pablo Casals

Shirley Satterfield Speaks from Einstein on Race and Racism

Einstein didn't look down on people...He'd take me for walks. I remember playing on the balcony and walking around the Institute with Einstein. I'd also go into his office with him. I'd say I was about six years old...I just remember he was very kind...He would take me by the hand, walking with his cane in his other hand, and talk to me...He looked different because he had all that hair and wore sandals in all weather.

Henry Pannell Speaks from Einstein on Race and Racism

Einstein used to talk to everybody in our community. He didn't just come and sit on my grandmother's porch, but on the Wilsons' porch and others. He'd talk with everyone.

Eric Craig Speaks from Einstein on Race and Racism

There was just no racism about him. He came from that kind of situation, with what happened in Germany. I remember thinking that he must have experienced a terrible kind of race hatred against the Jews in Germany that made him more race conscious than most white folks in Princeton. We were actually thrilled when we saw him because our parents had told us this was somebody important. He'd walk down Witherspoon Street mostly every day -- as children we would run out -- our parents told us he was famous. He'd always spend time -- that was back in 1942, '43 and '44.

Lloyd Banks Speaks: from Einstein on Race and Racism by Fred Jerome and Rodger Taylor

Einstein was unusual for a white person to a degree -- he wasn't bothered being in the black community. We would run out -- as children we always ran out and talked to him and he would stop and talk to us. We would be shouting -- "Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein" -- and he would stop and take a few minutes with us. He took the time to talk to us. He was very friendly. It seems as though it was almost every day, or at least every week.