Bloomberg continues long tradition of Jewish Philanthropy in Black Education

Bloomberg Philanthropies Announces Largest-Ever Gift to the Nation’s Four Historically Black Medical Schools

Michael Bloomberg; First year medical student Dorian Wood dons his white coat during the Morehouse School of Medicine Annual White Coat Ceremony in this Atlanta Journal Constitution file photo. MSM is one of four Black medical schools in the U.S.

Jewish philanthropist Michael Bloomberg has just donated $600 million to the medical schools of America’s four Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs): Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science, Howard University College of Medicine, Meharry Medical College, and Morehouse School of Medicine. This gift builds on Bloomberg Philanthropies’ $100 million gift in 2020.

In discussing health, income, and education disparities for Black Americans and his motivation to address them, Michael Bloomberg stated:

One of my earliest memories of childhood was sitting at the kitchen table and watching my father write a check for $50 to the NAACP. We didn’t have very much money and we weren’t Black, so I asked my father why he was making the gift. He said something that will stay with me all my life. “Because discrimination against anyone is a threat to all of us.” I’ve carried that lesson with me throughout my life, and this is one more way that I’m trying to honor what my parents taught me and to pass that lesson on to my grandchildren.

While Bloomberg cited his parents, his desire to help produce more Black doctors is part of a much longer Jewish tradition of friendship with the Black community. Many believe this tradition officially began in the early 1900s with educator Booker T. Washington and Julius Rosenwald of Sears Roebuck fame. From Africa-Israel Weekly, December 2022:

Julius Rosenwald became very wealthy and dedicated much of that wealth to philanthropic endeavors, especially on behalf of Black Americans. As [Dumisani Washington] writes in [his] book, Zionism & the Black Church, Rosenwald’s rabbi, Emil G. Hirsch was one of the Jewish founders of the NAACP and encouraged Rosenwald’s efforts on behalf of the Black community. In the Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 3, No. 4, Rosenwald is quoted saying:

Whether it is because I belong to a people who have known centuries of persecution, or whether it is because I am naturally inclined to sympathize with the oppressed, I have always felt keenly for the colored race.

SEE VIDEO: Booker T. Washington and Julius Rosenwald: Rosenwald Schools & Beyond

Michael Bloomberg has not only given large financial gifts to strengthen Black collegiate education, he has also given hundreds of millions of dollars to advance public charter schools, providing quality school choice alternatives for families of all ethnicities.

The Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel (IBSI) applauds Michael Bloomberg for his ongoing efforts to address the education needs within the Black American community. At a time in which antisemitism is rising in the United States and the broader Western world, Bloomberg is yet another reminder that our Jewish brothers and sisters have been stalwart, steadfast friends for which all of America should be grateful.