editorial
The Present Hypocrisy
Thirteen years ago the highest judicial body of our country
decreed that schools should be integrated “with all deliberate
speed.” The Congress, the supreme legislative body has passed
two civil rights measures and in other matters has insisted that
race or color should not be the basis for determining the use of
facilities or the exercise of normal social procedures. No major
Presidential candidate in the past twenty-five years has solicited
votes on the basis of a segregated society, either explicitly or im
plicitly. The Executive, Legislative and Judicial bodies of our
government and the majority of the electorate have constantly
and overwhelmingly pronounced in favor of racial justice. The
color of a man’s skin should not be the determinant of his char
acter or rights.
The Catholic Bishops of America in their annual pastoral
letters over the past twenty years have solemnly condemned racial
segregation as immoral. The beloved Pope John, whose voice
and presence was welcomed in every heart, likewise reiterated
that eternal note of the voice of Christ: “All men are brothers”;
“Whatsoever you do to one of these the least of my brethren you
do to me.”
Every major, religious denomination has declared the evil
of segregation as being contrary to the Spirit of the Divine
Creator.
The schools of America are as segregated today as they ever
were. Our Churches — of every denomination — have at best, a
token integration; and that often achieved by authority’s threat
of sanction. It is the Church members who sign restrictive real
estate covenants, who form the country clubs and swimming pools
to make sure that “undesirables” are excluded. And a dark skin
means that one is undesirable.
There are counties in North Carolina where it is an act of
courage for a Negro child to exercise the right of choice in school
registration. In one county those Negroes who elected to send
their children to previously all white schools found that credit
was denied them for necessary farm supplies; this and other
pressures forced them to remove their children. In September
there were over one hundred Negroes registered in the best
schools in the county; by December there were only twelve. AND
THERE WAS NO PUBLIC OUTCRY.
The freedom that comes to most citizens without any doubt
or question was denied certain citizens because of the color of
their skin.
As a Nation and as members of Ecclesiastical Organizations
we have proclaimed something that we do not live. And that
element of society which is most apt and responsive to reform
— the young, the college student — have not been any more de
risive in showing a preference for integrity and interior commit
ment. They conduct their wild shows of independence and revolu
tionary fervor only until that moment when the sheepskin and
lovely wife permit them the security of their segregated suburbs
and country clubs.
The inner voice, that prompts our allegiance to moral values,
that part of us that determines what we are in God’s eyes, that
shapes our lives and the structure of society, contradicts the pro
nouncements of the government we elect and the Faith we pro
fess. If communication is the acknowledged sharing of ideas and
values, if knowledge is the conformity of the mind to the reality
outside it, then both Church and State in America have not com
municated, have given no true knowledge of what racial justice
means.
This utter failure is perhaps part of the explanation — al
though not an excuse — for the carnage of Watts, the hostility
of Harlem the lawlessness of Brooklyn. The responsibility of gov
ernment is a structured and impersonal affair; the failures of law
can be corrected by other laws. For the Church the failure is
more serious. It calls into question the effectiveness of the wit
ness of the Body of Christ in our time. Our schools, our crowded
Churches are evidenly no gauge of success. The Bishops in coun
cil have prefaced all reform on the basis that the first reform
is a change of heart. Changes of that type are hard to verbalize
but they can be visible.
In Orange County five white families have elected to send
their children to previously all Negro schools. There is evidence
that the heart thirsts for change; but it is precious little. Who
will bring forth five more thirsting for justice so that perhaps
ten just men will save us all?
...nil........■••■■■■■■■...'H
NORTH CAROLINA CATHOLIC
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Editor ..
Associate Editors:
Rev. Roderick O’Connor
Rev. Joseph Howze
.. Rev. Robert Lawson
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Volume XX, No. M
July 10, 1966
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w OF THE 1*ND-I9S3'
Guidelines on Race
Any human society, if it is to be well-ordered
and productive, must lay down as a foundation, this
principle, namely, that every human being is a per
son, that is, his nature is endowed with intelligence
and free will. By virtue of this he has rights and
duties of his own, flowing directly and simultane
ously from his very nature which are therefore, uni
versal, inviolable and inalienable. . . .
The Natural Law also gives man the right to
share in the benefits of culture, and therefore the
right to a basic education and professional training
in keeping with the stage of educational development
in the country to which he belongs. . . .
Thus in very many human beings the inferiori
ty complex which endured for hundreds of years is
disappearing, while in others there is a fading of the
superiority complex which had its roots in social
economic privileges, sex or political standing.
The conviction that all men are equal by reason
of their natural dignity has been generally accepted.
Hence racial discrimination can no longer be justi
fied in doctrine or in theory.
Pope John XXIII — Pacem in Terris
* * *
Since all men possess a rational soul and are
created in God’s likeness, since they have the same
nature and origin, have been redeemed by Christ,
and enjoy the same divine calling and destiny, the
basic equality of all must receive increasingly great
er recognition.
. , . with respect to the fundamental rights of
the person, every type of discrimination, whether
social or cultural, whether based on sex, race, color,
social condition, language or religion is to be over
come and eradicated as contrary to God’s intent.
The Church Today — II Vatican Council
C * $
The past decade has seen a new awareness that
religious Faith is barren unless it leads to action—
especially on such moral issues as civil rights, the
war on poverty, and peace.
Let us be frank about our shortcomings. Let us
in all honesty say that some local Churches still
closes their doors to many of their brethren, and
many more do not speak and act on issues of
conscience which arise in their communities.
Vice-President Hubert H. Humphrey
* * *
Christ sought by precept and example to teach
the truth that with God there was to be no dividing
wall between Israel and the other nations. . . .
Nor was there to be among Christ’s followers
any preference of caste or nationality or race or
color, for all men are of the blood and in the words
of Christ The elect of God are a universal brother
hood, a new humanity, all one in Christ
Christ came to this earth with a message of
mercy and forgiveness. He laid a foundation for a
religion by which Jew and Gentile, black and white,
free and bond, are linked together in one common
brotherhood.
No distinction on account of nationality, race
or caste, is recognized by God. All men are of one
family by creation, and all are one through redemp
tion.
Seventh Day Adventist World Conference
* * *
The Church or any institution serving humanity,
insisting on being neutral and not Involved in the
anxiety and sorrows of the people, that Church or
institution will be ignored by the masses of people
and will be forgotten.
Archbishop Robert Lacey — San Antonio
* * *
It is assumed that Negro worshippers will be
accepted in Churches at anytime, a practice required
by the law of the Methodist Church. . . .
Some of our Churches ought now carefully,
wisely, creatively follow the example given by an
heroic few of our Western Carolina congregations
and decide to welcome the qualified Negro Chris
tians into their membership — not ostentatiously,
not in patterns of radical and zealous aggression, but
quietly, gradually and in a humble Christ-like way.
Methodist Bishop Earl G. Hunt
* * *
North Carolina stands on the threshold of an
era.of unprecented prosperity in which racial dis
crimination has no place. In meeting the challenges
of the era, we cannot afford the denial of equal edu
cational and employment opportunities to any North
Carolinian. We cannot tolerate the high rates of
school dropouts, unemployment, and out-migration
of skilled persons.
Governor Dan Moore
* * *
The Status of the Negro in North Carolina
1959 Statistics
• 70% of Negro families had incomes of less than
$3,000 compared to 29% of the whites. A family
with less than this income is considered poverty
stricken.
• In the period from 1949 to 1959 Negro income
increased but relative to the white income it fell
from 48% to 43%. The Negro did not fully share
in increased prosperity.
• The unemployment rate among Negroes since
1951 is twice as high as the rate among whites.
• The Negro male with one to three years of col
lege earned less than the white male with only an
elementary education, y
• The dropout rate in high school among Negroes
is 61% compared to 46% of white students.
WHAT CAN I DO?
For information, address:
Governor’s Good Neighbor Council
120 Boylan St.
< Raleigh, N.C.