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APPENDIX-CIVIL RIGHTS, 1959

STATEMENTS AND RESOLUTIONS BY LEADING RELIGIOUS GROUPS ON DESEGREGATION AND HUMAN RIGHTS

1. "Catholic Bishops Speak on Racial Discrimination and the Moral Law." Statement of principles and objectives, Catholic Interracial Council of Chicago, and signed by NCWC, November 14, 1958.

2. "Churches and Segregation," adopted by the General Assembly of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., December 5, 1957.

3. "Methodist Resolution on Intergration," by the Council of Methodist Bishops; "The Methodist Social Creed," adopted by the General Conference, 1956. 4. "A Message on Race Relationships," adopted by Board of Social and Economic Relation of Methodist Church, January 14, 1955. Prompted by recent decision of the Supreme Court.

5. "The Bible Speaks on Race," Board of Social Economic Relations of the Methodist Church, adopted September 26, 1957.

6. "Just Right and Necessary," a study of reactions to the Supreme Court decision on segregation with a statement of guiding principles, policies, and practical suggestions. The National Council, Episcopal Church, 281 Fourth Avenue, New York, N.Y.

7. The Convention and Triennial Daily, "Resolution on Race Is Voted by Bishops," October 11, 1958, volume 1, No. 6, page 2 (news story).

8. "The Lambeth Conference 1958." The encyclical letter from the bishops together with the resolutions and reports, Seabury Press, 1958, pages 1-55 and 1-56.

(The statements listed above are as follows:)

CATHOLIC BISHOPS SPEAK ON RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AND THE MORAL LAW

Statement of Principles and Objectives, Catholic Interracial Council of Chicago

DISCRIMINATION AND THE CHRISTIAN CONSCIENCE

Fifteen years ago, when this Nation was devoting its energies to a World War designed to maintain human freedom, the Catholic bishops of the United States issued a prayerful warning to their fellow citizens. We called for the extension of full freedom within the confines of our beloved country. Specifically, we noted the problems faced by Negroes in obtaining the rights that are theirs as Americans.

The statement of 1943 said in part:

"In the providence of God there are among us millions of fellow citizens of the Negro race. We owe to these fellow citizens, who have contributed so largely to the development of our country, and for whose welfare history imposes on us a special obligation of justice, to see that they have in fact the rights which are given them in our Constitution. This means not only political equality, but also fair economic and educational opportunities, a just share in public welfare projects, good housing without exploitation, and a full chance for the social advancement of their race."

In the intervening years, considerable progress was made in achieving these goals. The Negro race, brought to this country in slavery, continued its quiet but determined march toward the goal of equal rights and equal opportunity. During and after the Second World War, great and even spectacular advances were made in the obtaining of voting rights, good education, better paying jobs, and adequate housing. Through the efforts of men of good will, of every race and creed and from all parts of the Nation the barriers of prejudice and discrimination were slowly but inevitably eroded.

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Because this method of quiet conciliation produced such excellent results, we have preferred the path of action to that of exhortation. Unfortunately, however, it appears that in recent years the issues have become confused and the march toward justice and equality has been slowed, if not halted, in some areas. The transcendent moral issues involved have become obscured, and possibly forgotten.

Our Nation now stands divided by the problem of compulsory segregation of the races and the opposing demand for racial justice. No region of our land is immune from strife and division resulting from this problem. In one area the key issue may concern the schools. In another it may be conflicts over housing. Job discrimination may be the focal point in still other sectors. But all these issues have one main point in common. They reflect the determination of our Negro people, and we hope the overwhelming majority of our white citizens, to see that our colored citizens obtain their full rights as given to them by God, the Creator of all, and guaranteed by the democratic traditions of our Nation.

There are many facets to the problems raised by the quest for racial justice. There are issues of law, of history, of economics, and of sociology. There are questions of procedure and technique. There are conflicts in cultures. Volumes have been written on each of these phases. Their importance we do not deny. But the time has come, in our considered and prayerful judgment, to cut through the maze of secondary or less essential issues and to come to the heart of the problem.

The heart of the race question is moral and religious. It concerns the rights of man and our attitude toward our fellow man. If our attitude is governed by the great Christian law of love of neighbor and respect for his rights, then we can work out harmoniously the techniques for making legal, educational, economic, and social adjustments. But if our hearts are poisoned by hatred, or even indifference toward the welfare and rights of our fellow men, then our Nation faces a grave internal crisis.

No one who bears the name of Christian can deny the universal love of God for all mankind. When Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, "took on the form of man" (Philippians 2:7) and walked among men, He taught as the first two laws of life the love of God and the love of fellow man. "By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, that you have love, one for the other” (John 13: 35), He offered His life in sacrifice for all mankind. His parting mandate to His followers was to "teach all nations" Matthew 28: 19).

Our Christian faith is of its nature universal. It knows not the distinctions of race, color, or nationhood. The missionaries of the church have spread throughout the world, visiting with equal impartiality nations such as China and India, whose ancient cultures antedate the coming of the Savior, and the primitive tribes of the Americas. The love of Christ, and the love of the Christian, knows no bounds. In the words of Pope Piux XII, addressed to American Negro publishers 12 years ago, "All men are brothered in Jesus Christ; for He, though God, became also man, became a member of the human family, a brother of all" (May 27, 1946).

Even those who do not accept our Christian tradition should at least acknowledge that God has implanted in the souls of all men some knowledge of the natural moral law and a respect for its teachings. Reason alone taught philosophers through the ages respect for the sacred dignity of each human being and the fundamental rights of man. Every man has an equal right to life, to justice before the law, to marry and rear a family under human conditions, and to an equitable opportunity to use the goods of this earth for his needs and those of his family.

From these solemn truths, there follow certain conclusions vital for a proper approach to the problems that trouble us today. First, we must repeat the principle-embodied in our Declaration of Independence that all men are equal in the sight of God. By equal we mean that they are created by God and redeemed by His Divine Son, that they are bound by His law, and that God desires them as His friends in the eternity of Heaven. This fact confers upon all men human dignity and human rights.

Men are unequal in talent and achievement. They differ in culture and personal characteristics.

Some are saintly; some seem to be evil; most are men of good will, though beset with human fraility. On the basis of personal differences we may distinguish among our fellow men, remembering always the admonition: "Let him who

is without sin ** cast the first stone *** (Jn. 8, 7). But discrimination based on the accidental fact of race or color, and as such injurious to human rights regardless of personal qualities or achievements, cannot be reconciled with the truth that God has created all men with equal rights and equal dignity.

Secondly, we are bound to love our fellow man. The Christian love we bespeak is not a matter of emotional likes or dislikes. It is a firm purpose to do good to all men, to the extent that ability and opportunity permit.

Among all races and national groups, class distinctions are inevitably made on the basis of like-mindedness of a community of interests. Such distinctions are normal and constitute a universal social phenomenon. They are accidental, however, and are subject to change as conditions change. It is unreasonable and injurious to the rights of others that a factor such as race, by and of itself, should be made a cause of discrimination and a basis for unequal treatment in our mutual relations.

The question then arises: Can enforced segregation be reconciled with the Christian view of our fellow man? In our judgment it cannot, and this for two fundamental reasons:

(1) Legal segregation, or any form of compulsory segregation, in itself and by its very nature imposes a stigma of inferiority upon the segregated people. Even if the now obsolete Court doctrine of "separate but equal" had been carried out to the fullest extent, so that all public and semipublic facilities were in fact equal, there is nonetheless the judgment that an entire race, by the sole fact of race and regardless of individual qualities, is not fit to associate on equal terms with members of another race. We cannot reconcile such a judgment with the Christian view of man's nature and rights. Here again it is appropriate to cite the language of Pope Pius XII: “God did not create a human family made up of segregated, dissociated, mutually independent members. No; He would have them all united by the bond of total love of Him and consequent self-dedication to assisting each other to maintain that bond intact" (September 7, 1956).

(2) It is a matter of historical fact that segregation in our country has led to oppressive conditions and the denial of basic human rights for the Negro. This is evident in the fundamental fields of education, job opportunity, and housing. Flowing from these areas of neglect and discrimination are problems of health and the sordid train of evils so often associated with the consequent slum conditions. Surely Pope Pius XII must have had these conditions in mind when he said just 2 months ago: "It is only too well known, alas, to what excesses pride of race and racial hate can lead. The church has always been energetically opposed to attempts of genocide or practices arising from what is called the 'color bar'" (September 5, 1958).

One of the tragedies of racial oppression is that the evils we have cited are being used as excuses to continue the very conditions that so strongly fostered such evils. Today we are told that Negroes, Indians, and also some Spanishspeaking Americans differ too much in culture and achievements to be assimilated in our schools, factories, and neighborhoods. Some decades back the same charge was made against the immigrant Irish, Jewish, Italian, Polish, Hungarian, German, Russian. In both instances differences were used by some as a basis for discrimination and even for bigoted ill treatment. The immigrant, fortunately, has achieved his rightful status in the American community. Economic opportunity was wide open and educational equality was not denied to him.

Negro citizens seek these same opportunities. They wish an education that does not carry with it any stigma of inferiority. They wish economic advancement based on merit and skill. They wish their civil rights as American citizens. They wish acceptance based upon proved ability and achievement. No one who truly loves God's children will deny them this opportunity.

To work for this principle amid passions and misunderstandings will not be easy. It will take courage. But quiet and persevering courage has always been the mark of a true follower of Christ.

We urge that concrete plans in this field be based on prudence. Prudence may be called a virtue that inclines us to view problems in their proper perspective. It aids us to use the proper means to secure our aim.

The problems we inherit today are rooted in decades, even centuries, of custom and cultural patterns. Changes in deep-rooted attitudes are not made overnight. When we are confronted with complex and far-reaching evils, it is not a sign of weakness or timidity to distinguish among remedies and reforms. Some changes are more necessary than others. Some are relatively easy to achieve. Others seem impossible at this time. What may succeed in one area may fail in another.

It is a sign of wisdom, rather than weakness, to study carefully the problems we face, to prepare for advances, and to bypass the nonessential if it interferes with essential progress. We may well deplore a gradualism that is merely a cloak for inaction. But we equally deplore rash impetuosity that would sacrifice the achievements of decades in ill-timed and ill-considered ventures. In concrete matters we distinguish between prudence and inaction by asking the question: Are we sincerely and earnestly acting to solve these problems? We distinguish between prudence and rashness by seeking the prayerful and considered judgment of experienced counselors who have achieved success in meeting similar problems.

For this reason we hope and earnestly pray that responsible and soberminded Americans of all religious faiths, in all areas of our land, will seize the mantle of leadership from the agitator and the racist. It is vital that we act now and act decisively. All must act quietly, courageously, and prayerfully before it is too late.

For the welfare of our Nation we call upon all to root out from their hearts bitterness and hatred. The tasks we face are indeed difficult. But hearts inspired by Christian love will surmount these difficulties.

Clearly, then, these problems are vital and urgent. May God give this Nation the grace to meet the challenge it faces. For the sake of generations of future Americans, and indeed of all humanity, we cannot fail.

(Signed by members of the Administrative Board, National Catholic Welfare Conference, in the name of the bishops of the United States November 14, 1958 :) Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York; James Francis Cardinal McIntyre, Archbishop of Los Angeles; Francis P. Keough, Archbishop_of_Baltimore; Karl J. Alter, Archbishop of Cincinnati; Joseph E. Ritter, Archbishop of St. Louis; William O. Brady, Archbishop of St. Paul; Albert G. Meyer, Archbishop of Chicago; Patrick A. O'Boyle, Archbishop of Washington; Leo Binz, Archbishop of Dubuque; Emmet M. Walsh, Bishop of Youngstown; Joseph M. Gilmore, Bishop of Helena; Albert R. Zuroweste, Bishop of Belleville.

CATHOLIC INTERRACIAL COUNCIL OF CHICAGO-STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES AND

OBJECTIVES

"The first of these pernicious errors, widespread today, is the forgetfulness of that law of human solidarity and charity which is dictated and imposed by our common origin and by the equality of rational nature in all men, to whatever people they belong, and by the redeeming sacrifice offered by Jesus Christ on the altar of the cross to His Heavenly Father on behalf of sinful mankind."

-Pope Pius XII, Summi Pontificatus

The Catholic Interracial Council of Chicago recognizes

I. That as Catholics, members of Christ's mystical body, we must be aware of the unity of all mankind. This unity is rooted in the essential equality of all men, in the Fatherhood of God over all men, in their common descent from Adam and Eve, and in the universal redemption of all men by Christ. II. That this unity, as God intends, is intensified and deepened in the mystical body of Christ which is meant by God to embrace all men without exception, so that "those who enter the church, whatever be their origin or their speech, must know that they have equal rights as children in the house of the Lord, where the law of Christ and the peace of Christ prevail" (Pope Pius XII).

III. That, accordingly, racial discrimination is immoral, wholly inconsistent with our Christian faith, and a practical denial of the doctrine of our unity in Christ's mystical body.

IV. That scientific findings support the conception of human unity and essential human equality.

V. That, as a matter of fact, racial and ethnic minorities in the United States are so widely discriminated against, so many millions of American Negroes, Indians, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Orientals, and other minorities are denied full happiness, health, and security, that the common good is threatened, full economic development retarded, and domestic peace endangered.

VI. That we have a moral obligation to work together with our fellow citizens for interracial justice, to secure justice and equality of human rights to the members of all racial groups.

VII. That in the daily sacrifice of the mass offered by the mystical body in the name of all men, we as Catholics have a unique and powerful source at which to learn more deeply what justice and charity mean before God, and through which to obtain the assistance of God for uprooting racial prejudice, for changing the hearts and minds of men, and for striving courageously and perseveringly to eliminate from our society all forms of racial discrimination.

The Catholic Interracial Council of Chicago, therefore, proposes to do the following: I. To spread the spirit of interracial justice and charity by the personal example and prayers of its members until it is interwoven into the daily lives of men and institutions.

II. To conduct an increasingly intensive educational program directed to quicken the minds and consciences of fellow Christians, and all the citizens of our metropolitan area; to make them sensitive to the practical and moral facts of interracial justice.

III. To develop an effective action program to combat discrimination against any group of people, by working for

(a) Economic equality by securing full employment opportunities for all.

(b) Complete cultural development by securing full access for all to health, educational, and recreational facilities.

(c) Political equality by insuring suffrage for all.

(d) Intergration in housing and neighborhoods, as the necessary condition to secure adequate housing for minority groups, and healthy community life for all the people of our metropolitan area.

IV. To cooperate with other organizations working in the cause of interracial justice, including those national movements to which we can contribute meaningfully.

STATEMENT ON THE CHURCHES AND SEGREGATION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSMBLY OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE CHURCHES OF CHRIST IN THE U.S.A., DECEMBER 5, 1957

Racial segregation is contradictory to the teaching of Jesus. Christians in increasing numbers are convinced of this. The majority of the communions in the National Council of Churches have spoken out against racially exclusive policies and practices within the churches. There is increasing movement in the direction of developing racial inclusiveness at all levels of the churches' life and work.

Furthermore, most of the member communions have made it clear that they must oppose any law or community practice which segregates or discriminates on the basis of race, color or national origin. Such laws and practices are contrary to the Christian principle, that all men are beings of worth in the sight of God. They deny the God-given rights, the enjoyment of which are guaranteed to all persons by our free and democratic society. In this connection many national, regional and local church bodies have supported the U.S. Supreme Court's decision regarding the elimination of segregation from public schools. They have spoken with equal clarity against segregation in public transportation, housing and other aspects of community life. Many of the member communions of the National Council of Churches have carried forward within the churches active programs of social education and action aimed at the elimination of segregation in all spheres of life. Despite these activities, the churches must do far more to live up to the responsibilities of Christian brotherhood.

It is encouraging that a large number of church groups and others have been speaking out against the fact that economic, political and community pressures are being applied to thwart desegregation of the public schools. Those pressures deny economic, social and political rights, above all the right to vote, threatening the very foundation of our Nation. They deny such personal rights as freedom of religion and conscience, freedom of speech, freedom of peaceable association and assembly and freedom from arbitrary arrest, police brutality, mob violence and intimidation.

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