Lary Bloom
Writer, Editor, Teacher
The Bloom Blog
Photo by Nancy Dionne
Thursday, January 26, 2006
The Ford Foundations
My father would have twisted his thin lips, in that Spencer Tracy way of his, at the news that the Ford Motor Company is closing 14 plants and laying off 30,000 workers.A.W. Bloom was a union man -- had seen too many violations of decency standards in his years as a municipal employee. He would see Ford's decision this week as another of these. Executives, at their exalted levels of pay, made decisions to make cars that didn't offer what the Japanese offered -- reliability coupled with good gas mileage. The workers, as always, suffered the consequences.
But there is more to this. The other side of my father (he was always wrestling with sides) would say that the Ford family finally got what it deserved. Though not a religious man, my father defended his fellow Jews.
In the 1950s when people of our class had to buy cars, the decision was between Ford and Chevy. Period. No Ford product would ever be found in our driveway. My father knew of Henry Ford's blatant anti-semitism and of his hand in spreading the lie of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," purported to be a genuine document that demonstrated on its face the worldwide plot by the Jews.
In recent years, the Ford Foundation found many ways to address social issues, and donated impressive amounts to worthy causes. But the company, in many eyes, never rid itself of its original sin.
A.W. Bloom never bought a Japanese car. Few men who served in the Pacific during World War II did. But he never objected when I bought a little Mazda in 1978. He could forgive the Japanese. He could not do the same for Henry Ford or the Ford family.
Posted by:Lary Bloom at 6:20 PM
Web
Design by Arvid
Tomayko-Peters
Lary Bloom • Telephone: 860.526.2067 • Fax: 860.526.8088 • Email: