Social Justice (periodical)

Not to be confused with Social Justice (journal).

Social Justice

File:Couple-with-radio-and-Social-Justice-Michigan-1939.jpg A Michigan couple listens to the radio and reads Father Coughlin's newspaper Social Justice (1939)
Type	Weekly
Owner(s)	Thomas J. Coughlin Amelia Coughlin
Publisher	National Union for Social Justice
Editor	Charles Coughlin E. Perrin Schwartz
Staff writers	Cora Quinlan
Founded	March 13, 1936
Language	English
Ceased publication	1942
Headquarters	Royal Oak, Michigan
Circulation	200,000
OCLC number	01773391

Social Justice was a topical political periodical published by Father Charles Coughlin from 1936 to 1942.

History

Social Justice being sold on the streets of New York City (July 1939)

Social Justice was controversial for printing antisemitic polemics such as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Coughlin claimed that Marxist atheism in Europe was a Jewish plot against America. The December 5, 1938, issue of Social Justice included an article by Coughlin which reportedly closely resembled a speech made by Joseph Goebbels on September 13, 1935, attacking Jews and Communists, with some sections being copied verbatim by Coughlin from an English translation of the Goebbels speech. Coughlin, however, stated, "Nothing can be gained by linking ourselves with any organization which is engaged in agitating racial animosities or propagating racial hatreds." Furthermore, in an interview with Eddie Doherty, Coughlin stated: "My purpose is to help eradicate from the world its mania for persecution, to help align all good men. Catholic and Protestant, Jew and Gentile, Christian and non-Christian, in a battle to stamp out the ferocity, the barbarism and the hate of this bloody era. I want the good Jews with me, and I'm called a Jew baiter, an anti-Semite."

After America's entry into World War II, Coughlin's broadcasts were ended by the National Association of Broadcasters. In 1942, the periodical's second class mailing permit was revoked under the Espionage Act of 1917 as part of Attorney General Francis Biddle's efforts against "vermin" publications. The paper remained available on newsstands in cities such as Boston, where it was distributed by private delivery trucks.

Further information: Charles Coughlin § Newspaper shutdown and end of political activities