WEBVTT 1 00:00:03.399 --> 00:00:11.759 Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Megan Nolette and I'm Bruce s gulland Spotlight uses a 2 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:20.359 special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no matter 3 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:38.399 where in the world they live. It is the year nineteen ten. A 4 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:45.960 man walks along the floor of a factory. He wears a clean suit and 5 00:00:46.200 --> 00:00:56.880 tie. All around him men work on conveyor belts. These moving tables bring 6 00:00:57.119 --> 00:01:03.959 pieces of machinery to the men. They build the machines together. Soon the 7 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:12.000 machines begin to take shape. They are cars. The man in the suit 8 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:19.840 smiles. He has many reasons to be happy. His name is Henry Ford, 9 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:26.200 and this is his factory. His cars have made him one of the 10 00:01:26.359 --> 00:01:34.120 most successful men in the United States. People all over the world know his 11 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:42.920 name. But Henry Ford also has a secret. He is an anti Seamite, 12 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:51.239 a person who hates the Jewish people. Henry Ford will always be known 13 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:57.040 for his success. In some ways, he changed the world, but his 14 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:06.920 views also hurt many people. These views will forever change how people see him 15 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:14.759 for the worse. Today's Spotlight is on the complicated legacy of Henry Ford. 16 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:29.159 Henry Ford was born in eighteen sixty three in the United States to a family 17 00:02:29.719 --> 00:02:38.000 of farmers. His parents were not wealthy, and Ford did not complete much 18 00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:47.759 schooling. Instead, his family expected him to work on the farm, but 19 00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:54.400 Ford believed his life could be different. He soon saw that he had a 20 00:02:54.439 --> 00:03:02.879 talent for working with machines. He especially loved working on cars. He even 21 00:03:02.919 --> 00:03:09.960 began building his own. These cars were so successful that he was able to 22 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:17.000 start his own company. But soon Ford saw that there was a problem. 23 00:03:19.080 --> 00:03:25.840 During that time, cars took a very long time to build, and there 24 00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:35.199 was no single way of making them. Each car was different and every part 25 00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:43.360 was special to each car. This made cars cost a lot of money. 26 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:52.520 Ford believed that he could make cars more quickly without spending as much money. 27 00:03:53.240 --> 00:03:58.879 Instead of building cars one at a time, he would make car parts. 28 00:04:00.280 --> 00:04:05.639 Any part would work in any of his cars, and the parts would fit 29 00:04:05.719 --> 00:04:14.080 together easily. This would save his workers time and make the job easier. 30 00:04:15.079 --> 00:04:24.720 Ford also invented the assembly line. The assembly line is a method of working. 31 00:04:25.800 --> 00:04:33.600 In an assembly line, workers stand along moving tables. These slow moving 32 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:43.040 platforms bring parts to the workers. They put parts together as these come down 33 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:50.000 the line, so they do not have to spend time carrying the parts around. 34 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:58.199 Ford's methods were very successful. Soon he was able to create the Model 35 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:03.639 T. At the time, the Model Ta costs less money than any other 36 00:05:03.720 --> 00:05:12.319 car in the world, even poorer people could buy one, so Ford sold 37 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:18.439 many more than other car companies. Soon, the Ford Motor Company was the 38 00:05:18.519 --> 00:05:28.160 biggest car company in the United States, and everyone began to copy Ford's methods. 39 00:05:28.360 --> 00:05:36.000 Even today, companies use methods like those invented by Henry Ford. By 40 00:05:36.040 --> 00:05:44.600 the end of nineteen fifteen, Henry Ford was one of the wealthiest people in 41 00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:54.519 America. He was also one of the most popular. People used him as 42 00:05:54.639 --> 00:06:01.879 an example of the American dream. This is the belief that anyone in the 43 00:06:02.040 --> 00:06:14.720 United States, no matter how poor, can become a success. But Ford 44 00:06:14.920 --> 00:06:21.279 also believed many false and dangerous things. In the nineteen tens, he read 45 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:30.160 a book called the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. This false document claims 46 00:06:30.199 --> 00:06:35.600 to be a Jewish plan to secretly take over the world. It was created 47 00:06:35.720 --> 00:06:44.720 in Russia to justify Jewish persecution. But Ford did not know this writing was 48 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:50.120 not true. He believed what he read, and he began to spread his 49 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:57.680 beliefs to other people. For example, he went on a camping trip with 50 00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:05.920 several friends. During that time, he spoke a lot about his antisemitic beliefs. 51 00:07:06.279 --> 00:07:15.040 One of his friends wrote about it in his personal notes. He blames 52 00:07:15.319 --> 00:07:25.959 all evil on the Jews or the Jewish business owners. The Jews caused the 53 00:07:26.120 --> 00:07:34.839 war. The Jews caused an increase in stealing all over the country. The 54 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:46.920 Jews caused the Navy to perform poorly. Henry Ford began to blame the Jewish 55 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:55.480 people for everything in the world that he did not like. He even blamed 56 00:07:55.519 --> 00:08:05.040 them for jazz music and some popular clothing styles. He had no evidence, 57 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:13.399 but he was sure he knew something no one else did, and soon he 58 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:22.639 began to tell the world. In nineteen eighteen, he bought a newspaper company. 59 00:08:22.519 --> 00:08:31.199 It was called The Dearborn Independent. He used the newspaper to spread his 60 00:08:31.560 --> 00:08:39.559 anti Semitic beliefs. He encouraged many of his workers to buy copies. The 61 00:08:39.639 --> 00:08:48.360 places that sold his cars gave them away. He published a book called The 62 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:58.759 International Jew and some people began to listen. Hacia Diner is a teacher of 63 00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:07.480 a American Jewish history. She spoke to PBS about why this was so dangerous, 64 00:09:09.639 --> 00:09:20.399 what Henry Ford says, people stop and listen. There are people who 65 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:31.720 wanted him to run for president in the nineteen twenties. If some local food 66 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:43.360 server says something anti Semitic, well, nobody cares. Somebody may listen, 67 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:54.679 they may repeat it, but it will not spread far. But Henry Ford 68 00:09:54.360 --> 00:10:03.600 was able to gain a national audience with his words. This made him a 69 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:18.879 very dangerous person. Henry Ford's words caused bad things to happen, and they 70 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:26.720 spread farther than the United States. Adolf Hitler was the leader of Nazi Germany. 71 00:10:28.120 --> 00:10:33.440 He was also an anti Semite and he believed many of the same things 72 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:41.000 as Ford. He is also to blame for the Holocaust. The Holocaust was 73 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:48.399 the death of over six million Jewish people and five million others hated by the 74 00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:56.679 Nazis. In nineteen twenty five, Hitler wrote a book. It was called 75 00:10:56.039 --> 00:11:03.320 Mine Camp or My Struggle. In the book, he called Ford's work very 76 00:11:03.399 --> 00:11:11.639 important. The International Jew gave him and many other Nazis hate filled ideas. 77 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:20.960 Ford did not kill any Jews himself, but people used his work to make 78 00:11:20.039 --> 00:11:30.000 a case for murder. Today, people still read The International Jew. The 79 00:11:30.039 --> 00:11:37.399 book is not based on facts, but people still believe it. The book 80 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:46.559 says it is right to hate the Jews when times are difficult. The book 81 00:11:46.919 --> 00:11:54.679 gives them someone to blame. Bill McGraw is a writer at Bridge Magazine. 82 00:11:54.600 --> 00:12:03.360 In twenty nineteen, he wrote about Ford's anti semitism. The Internet age has 83 00:12:03.399 --> 00:12:11.600 given Ford's anti Semitic literature a strong new life. It has been a century 84 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:20.000 since Ford bought The Dearborn Independent, it has been over seventy two years since 85 00:12:20.080 --> 00:12:28.799 his death, but his hate is stronger than ever. It grows on websites 86 00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:37.080 where people who hate Jews talk to each other. By the end of his 87 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:45.320 life, Henry Ford denied his antisemitic beliefs. He saw pictures of the Holocaust 88 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:52.840 and he could not continue to hate the Jews. He stopped publishing The Dearborn 89 00:12:52.039 --> 00:13:00.519 Independent, and his children used much of his money to fight hate. Yet 90 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:07.720 Ford is a difficult person to talk about today. The Ford Motor Company is 91 00:13:07.799 --> 00:13:15.679 one of the largest vehicle companies in the world, and Ford created modern manufacturing. 92 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:22.279 Henry Ford helped create some of the good things in the modern world, 93 00:13:22.679 --> 00:13:30.720 but he also helped create an evil that continues to this day, and it 94 00:13:30.759 --> 00:13:39.679 may not be possible to separate the two. History is filled with people with 95 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:48.519 complicated pasts. How should we think about them? Is the good they do 96 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:58.240 worth more than the bad? You can leave a comment on our website or 97 00:13:58.279 --> 00:14:05.480 email us at Radio at Radio English dot net. You can also comment on 98 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:15.879 Facebook at Facebook dot com slash Spotlight Radio. The writer of this program was 99 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:22.919 Dan Christman. The producer was Dan Christman. The voices you heard were from 100 00:14:22.919 --> 00:14:28.720 the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted for this program 101 00:14:28.759 --> 00:14:35.000 and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program again and read it 102 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:43.840 on the internet at www dot Radio English dot net. This program is called 103 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:54.720 Henry Ford A Difficult History. You can also get our programs delivered directly to 104 00:14:54.759 --> 00:15:03.840 your Android or Apple device through our free official Spotlight English app. We hope 105 00:15:03.879 --> 00:15:16.919 you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.