Newspapers / Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.) / March 27, 1930, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
VOL. LI1. f CHARLOTTE, X. C, THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1930. - - - NQ. 13. --L—------- ■ I -=—-- . • ' -. - - ___ NEGLECTED TASK Of ORGANIZED CHRISTIANITY -— By Miss A. Maufe Ro.vden (In The Federal Council Bulletin) -When I look at the mass of the people who are alienated 'from the churches, it seems to me that the reason is not in our theology half so much as in our refusal to find that battleground where Christ, if ffe were here, • would be fighting. There are many people to whom what we ‘*call intellectual difficulties never • occur at all; there are masses ‘" of people who take no interest '.in organized Christianity, for quite another reason. V'l do not say that if Christian people did what Christ did they •' Would be popular; I am quite ^certain they would not, but ;rth6ir unpopularity would be a v*^t&l thing, a Challenging thing. They would have great adher ents and great enemies. There . . would be no apathetic aliena j jtion. And that is at present .7 what we have to face. b I met some rescue workers in /China whose business it was to ; try to rescue girls who had been ■sold into prostitution. It was a .work of mercy indeed, and a Christian work. But the idea of questioning a social order which encourages prostitution Was no part of it. I do not say they refused to face it; it sim ply did not interest them. “We take no interest in social re form,” they said to me, “we wish only to rescue these girls from their evil life.” I asked how they came to need rescue from an evil life and was told , that they are practically always sold into it by their parents. It is not that their, parents ihore crflet“or less devoted fo their children than others, but poverty in China is sometimes so terrible that they must choose between their daughters dying of starvation or being sold into a brothel; and so they sell .them. It is in famine times and 'from the famine that this selling chiefly takes place. It is in famine times and from the famine areas that there come boat-loads of girls to be sold at two shillings a head. It is a social condition which compels parents to see their children starve or else to sell them. I think that the scientist who is endeavoring to alleviate the poverty of China is attending to a weigRtier matter oi tne law than those Christians who can pick up the broken human beings whose presence in a brothel is due to extreme pov erty on the one hand and a fun damentally wrong idea about sex on the other. This indifference to the causes of such tragic effects, brought home in such a heart rending way in this particular case, is terribly characteristic of organized Christianity all over the world. Our real and often self-sacrificing kindness to the broken individual is wasted by our cowardly shrink ing from the question—how ' comes that individual to be broken? That is the real weak ness of organized Christianity. Who has the courage to chal lenge the whole system under which we live? Yet this is in volve! in our claim to be Chris tians. Our system, the system under which we in the West live, the system which we are now extending to the East, is an industrial system. The worst feature of the industrial system is the way in which it crushes out individuality. The best thing about it is, of course, that It produces wealth, and I am not speaking sarcastically when I say that that is the best thing, for poverty in itself is a terribly hard thing on the individual. But the method by which we are escaping or seeking to es cape from poverty has its own great dangers. We offer it to China, to Japan, and to India, as a cure for their poverty. And , r organized Christianity ought to be patching with intensity of interest, and challenging with perfect courage, the evil things that are involved in that cure.-* Ts there any means by which ! we enn make the world rich— j even countries so poor as India rind 'China—without the terri ble danger of crushing out the | :ndividual life ? “Is not the body more .than meat, and the soul ; ^han jaiment?” Ought this not; be in our thought if we are j i/nrusuaus No one was more sensitive to beau$y than Christ. And we, al most with indifference, substi tute for the worlc of the indi vidual craftsman—which nine times out of ten is beautiful; which Almost always has some kind 'of beauty because it is the expression of an individual mind —millions and millions of ob jects which cannot have beau ty because there is no creative life in them at all. In this re spect poor China is the richest country in the world India and Japan have consented, in order to meet the tastes of Western people, to produce mountains of rubbish. Alongside of some very beautiful things you wifi find much that is ugly and showy and mean. But even now China produces little that % is sheer rubbish. And when yon see a Chinese crafstman at work on a piece of ivory to which he gives years of his life, to make it in to something beautiful, you feed that he is not onfy making something beautiful, which it is worth while to have lived for, persoh because" he'has been able to express himself in that work. It is our awful mechanical civ ilization that crushes the sense of beauty out of us us. Not only is our creative power artophied when we are put to work that is purely mechanical, but even our taste* become standardized. People who produce the same things will like the same things eventually. It is not only that what we produce is ugly: It is also that at last we are ugly things. Some people defend the sys tem on this ground: “When you have put on machines every thing that can be done by ma chine, you will greatly have lessened the burden of human toil. Men and women will then work only a few hours a day, and they can make the rest of their life in their leisure.” “But, I say, “to us it would not seem life at all if we could not put ourselves into our work. RABBI SAYS RACIAL SUPE RIORITY IS A MYTH Memphis, Term., March 25.— (By The Associated Negro Press.) That racial superiority is a myth was the opinion ex pressed by Rabbi Ferdinand Is serman. of St. Louis, Mo., in an address here Thursday evening before the Men’s Club at the Popular Ave Temple. “No race is superior to anoth er,” declared the speaker. “The difference between the (barbaric races and the civilized races is not on of quality but of time. A race is not inferior, only back ward, and the backward races of today may be the custodians cf the culture and learning of the world tomorrow. This may be brought about by a change of history and environment.” The Rabbi cited various au thorities for his statements and outlined the history of various races, shewing that at one time the Ethiopians were highly civ ilized, and other races, now looked upon as inferior, made substantial contributions to the culture and learning of the world. Discussing religion, Rabbi Is serman stated; “Modern an (Continued on page 3) ADVANCING IN FLORIDA GOOD WILL CHURCH, FT PIERCE, FLA. It has been quite a while since you have heard from our work here in Ft. Pierce. We are still j! doing well and on the firing line.) Our work is in fine order- Wei shall go to Presbytery with a one hundred per cent report if we are spared to get there. More than a score of members have: united with our church since'< last year this time, and we have' a net increase of 12 for the year- jl The Session and congregation] have extended a call to Rev. ] Thos. A. Robinson, our present supply, to be our settled pastor, and will aslc Presbytery to send a commission here to install him as pastor. / Elder I. M. Mul^ow has been named to represent the churchy at the next meeting of Presby tery, and his expenses have al y anuTien^ eral Assembly assessments. The full benevolence quota has been raised and sent to the Central Receiving Agency in New York. We are delighted to have in our city as visitors Mrs. N. A. Johnson, the wife of our former pastor, and their two children,1 Naomi Nettie and Master N. A., Jr. They are all looking the picture of health. The trio were accompanied here by their husband and father, Rev. N. A.1 Johnson, who motored down in his Nsah and spent several days with friends and relatives that he used to serve as pastor. Rev.: Johnson has returned, but the good madam and children are enjoying a vacation in “The “Sun-rise City by the Sea.” Mrs. Alexander Russell, of Winns boro, S. C., is also a pleasant visitor. The above named visitors are guests of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Wright. Mrs. Wright is the sis ter-in-law of Mrs. Johnson, and cousin of Mrs. Russell They! are all good old Presbyterians and add to the faithful wor shippres of Good Will each Sab bath. Before leaving Rev. and Mrs. Johnson were recipients of many entertainments in their honor, and though rained out at a scheduled sermon at Good Will, He preached a soul-stirring ser mon at one of the other church es in the city, which will long, be remembered, from Matt. 5: 6, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after right eousness: for they shall be filled.” Subject, “Spiritual Ap petite.” Many new thoughts were brought out of the theme by the speaker who hel dthe au-1 dience in rapt attention while God used him in a masterly way. Our church has just closed a very successful financial drive The Session devised the plan and everybody worked by it. We were asked to raise $153 and when the money ijwas counted Sunday night last, it was $158, with more to come, as the drive does not officially close until March 31. The following reported Sun day night, March 23, at the close of the regular service- The siemership was divided into 3 tivisions, headed by three el fers: Division No. 1, Elder Sam lel McCoy, $60.50; Division No. p Elder George Muldrow, i >85.50; Division No. 3, Elder fpvin M. Muldrow, $45.25- The Wtstor also reported special con rilbutions to the amount of $17, nalking a total of $158.25 thus far on the drive. According to ifevious arrangements the oth »r; two Divisions will furnish ‘Be church with an annual fel oVship dinner with Division yb 1 as honor guests. The re >ast is scheduled for Monday light, March 30, and is expect ’d to be a grand affair. The accompanying cut is the i^eness of the Good Will ch and manse, conservatives Estimated at a cost of $10,000 local daily, “The News jbune,” of this city, carried | cut a few days ago togeth ‘"i.a. brief statement of the. years of "the history of the work done here by a little iver sixty members. A slight accident happened to i party of Good Will members md church goers, Sunday night, March 23, when, the Dodge car n which they were returning lome became uncontrollable by its new and inexperienced driv ?r, and plunged over into a ’anal 8 or 10 feet below. Those in the accident were Mr. Solo non Lowery, who was driving; Mrs. Lowery, his wife; Mr. and Mrs. Wm. White, and Mrs. Hat tie Toney- The very moderate rate at which the car was mov ing answers for the minor in juries received. The entire par ty is up and going again to the delight of their many friends ELDER I. M. MULDROW, Reporter. OUTLOOK BRIGHT AT PALATKA Since the establishment of the New Era Movement, we have seen to it that the church we serve pay its full quota. In keeping with this custom our church, Mt, Vernon, is sending today to the Board of National Missions its full quota for 1929 1930. Though this has been an untisually hard year with us, still we feel the claim of the great Church should be met, es pecially when we consider what is being dene for the Negro con stituency of the Church. I am sure our beloved Dr. C. •J. Baker, who is now serving our church in Atlanta, must re joice every time he learns that a church has paid its full quota; for then he feels that his labors have not been in vain. It has al ways been the church first with us, having His word that He will care for His faithful serv ants. Not long since we had with us Dr. A. B. Keeler, who stopped by to look us over, and to inquire more definitely into our plane for building, and to note our progress. He found us on tihe job. We have a lively Sunday school and a faithful Superin tendent who is always at her post. Recently we had a pew rally, which was a grand sue ?ess. We had the help of the i •hurches of the city. '« To the regret of many we are r losing our school with this 1 nonth. Another year we hope to \ riave more time and more teach- ] ?rs. This is necessary to the 1 good of this work. Our work 1 *till moves along smoothly, I ( un glad to say. There are not .1 many of us, but we are loyal, s ind faithful. '1 Though away from the breth- s •en, some of whom it was al- l ivays a pleasure to meet and ex-; change ideas concerning the 1 prreat work which calls forth all of our powers of thought ] *nd reason, still the sun shines ivith * the same resplendent b brightness upon us here as in rid South Carolina. ..! 1 Florida is a great State, and : it seems it has beep neglected by our great Church. Think; if five organizations and two schools u£our denajitunar: tioit in the entire State that has \ Negro population of over 300,000. ! Truly the harvest is great and the laborers are few. Pray ye that the Lord of the harvest | may send mope laborers into j the vineyard. Sin and vice a'bount. The call, is loud and strong. Come and ! help us! Yours in His service, J. P. FOSTER. Palatka, Fla. DR. JACKSON JOINS FIGHT AGAINST TUBERCULOSIS 1 New York, March 25.—(By The Associated Negro Press.) Eleven Negro colleges and nor mal schools are to co-operate in in April educational campaign conducted under the auspices of the National Tuberculosis Asso-. ciation and its 1,400 local or ganizations throughout the country. Dr. Algernon B. Jack son, professor of bacteriology and public health, Howard Uni versity, plans a tour of the States of North Carolina, Vir ginia to bring the sub ject of early diagnosis of tuber culosis before the Negroes who soon will be administering med ical, educational and social af Dr. Jackson is a distinguished physician of Washington, D. C., who has made several special studies foi the American Medi cal Association, and at present is engaged in important research work involving the tubercle ba cillus. He plans to discuss before the audiences he is to meet, the essential facts about tuber culosis, and what may be done to prevent it from developing into the more serious adult type of the disease. ; Plans call for Dr. Jackson to .visit the following institutions: ! South Carolina State College, and Claflin University, Orange burg; Allen University and Ben edict University, Columbia; Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte; Agricultural «od Technical College, Greensboro; Shaw University, Raleigh; Va, Union University, Richmond; Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute, Petersburg; Hampton .Institute, Hampton; West Vir I ginia Collegiate Institute, Insti ,tute; Blqefield Institute; How ard University, and Minor Nor ■ mal College. - -j ORGANIZING THE NEGRO FARMERS 1 Tuskegee Institute, Alalbama, March 25.—Organization of Ne gro farmers of Alabama into co-operativie units jqualified fto receive aid from the Federal Farm Board under the Agricul tural Marketing Act is actively being effected following a series of conferences attended by re presentatives of the Alabama State Farm Bureau, the Alaba ma Extnesion Service, the Unit ed States Department of Agri culture and Tuskegee Institute. NeeTn farm Homnnatrotinn igents in co-operation with vhite agents have been author zed to act as organizers in the bounties in which they work, rhe units which these Agents stablish are affiliated with the bounty Farm Bureau and rhe units, which these Agents hrough the County Organiza ion with the Alabama State ^arm Bureau, the demonstra tion agent acting as contact of icer. Paid-up membership in the x bounty Organization carries vith it life insurance and sub icriptions to State and national nagazines of the bureau as well ts regular agricultural and mar ceting services. Under the agricultural mar king purposes to co-operative 3oard may make loans for mar ceting purposes to co-opreative mits only. It does not deal di *ectly with the individual. And because the Negro farmer has )een for the most part unorgan zed for operative purposes and las had little affiliation with white organizations it has be come necessary to form unite are now 'being organized* in Alabama. T. M. Campbell, Field Agent, United States Agricultural Ex tension Service, who has been active in helping to work out olans for organizing the co-op erative units, states it as the wish of Dr. Bradford Knapp, President, Alabama Technical Polytechnic Institute, Prof. L. N. Duncan, Director Alabama Extension Service and Dr. Rob ert R. Moton, Principal, Tuske Uegee Institute, that the units set up for Negro farmers have the closest co-operation and con nection with those for the white farmers, so that at no time should there be any competition v etween commodities grown by white farmers and those grown by Negro farmers. Steps toward securing recog nition for the Negro farmer un der provisions of the Agricul tural Marketing Act were first taken last Fall when Dr. Moton conferred with President Hoov er, Alexander Legge, Chairman, and other members of the Fed eral Farm Board in Washing ton. Tentative plans were worked out for the inclusion of the Ne gro in such benefits as the Board had to offer to the farm ers of the country. Addressing farmers assembled at the 39th Annual Tuskegee Negro Conference here last De cember, James C. Stone, Vice Chairman of the Federal Farm Board, declared that the Board is as interested in improving the situation of the Negro farm er as that of any other agricul tural group in the country and urged colored farmers to or ganize local co-operativte tinits as the first step toward secur ing federal aid. At a conference with Dr. Mo iton, Mr. Campbell, Prof. Dun can and Mr. E. A. O’Neal, head of the Alabama State Farm Bu reau, a general plan of organi zation was agreed upon. Later 'sectional meetings with white and colored agents were held ’throughout the State. I My son, remember you have | to work. Whether you handle a pick or shovel or a set of books, digging ditches or editing a newspaper, ringing an auction bell, or writing funny things, you must work.—Burdette.
Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 27, 1930, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75