According to 'FreeRepublic' the Ford family has worked to erase the stain of antisemitism...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/938347/posts.
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But Ford, the genius, also was dubbed "Crazy Henry" by many of his associates for developing wacky schemes -- and he also freely espoused anti-Jewish sentiments. He blamed the world's problems on the "Jewish money-lenders" and tapped into his immense financial resources to anti-Semitic pursuits.
For example, he conducted an anti-Semitic tirade for 91 consecutive weeks from 1920 to 1927 in his personal newspaper, The Dearborn Independent. He also is mentioned positively in Hitler's autobiography, Mein Kampf, and received a medal from the Nazi tyrant.
Making amendsHis descendants have worked hard to counter Henry Ford's anti-Semitism. His grandson, the late Henry Ford II, and his great-grandson, William Clay Ford Jr., who now is the company's chairman and CEO, have made "diversity" and "inclusion" watchwords at Ford Motor Company. In fact, Ford is hailed in the July issue of Diversity Inc. as the No. 1 company in America for diversity, and the only auto firm on the magazine's top 50 list.
Henry Ford II was at the forefront of the nation's civil rights movement and Affirmative Action program in the 1960s, as the company acquired minority employees, suppliers and dealers. Almost half of the more than 500 African American car dealers in the United States today sell the Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury brands.
"Henry Ford II was always very upset by his grandfather's approach to Judaism and all of his anti-Semitic actions," says A. Alfred Taubman, who was one of Henry Ford II's best friends. "That's the main reason he became a great friend of the Jewish people and gave $100,000 every year to the old United Jewish Appeal. I think the friendship that Max Fisher and I developed with him really helped turn things around in that respect at the Ford Motor Company."
Taubman, 84, retired chairman of the Taubman Realty Group in Detroit, has returned to his Oakland County office after spending almost a year in a Minnesota prison following his conviction in 2001 of price fixing in connection with his Sotheby's Galleries in New York.
"Henry was a partner in Sotheby's and in our real estate venture at the Irvine Ranch in California," Taubman says. "In turn, I was involved with him in the development of Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit, and we all made investments in Israel. We've dedicated three parks to him in Israel."
Henry Ford II died at 70 in 1987, a month after Taubman and his wife had planned to meet him and his third wife in Europe to celebrate the birthday. Fisher, 94, one of World Jewry's most admired leaders, is recuperating from a broken hip at his home and was unavailable for comment.