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GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, JULY 16, 1964
Archdiocese of Atlanta
the J
GEORCI
SfRVINO GEORGIA S 71 NOIITHMW COUNTIES
Official Organ of the Archldocese of Atlanta
Published Every Week at the Decatur DeKalb News
PUBLISHER- Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan
MANAGING EDITOR Gerard E. Sherry CONSULTING EDITOR Rev. R. Donald Kiernan
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Rev. Leonard F. X. Mayhew
Member of the Catholic Press Association
2699 Peachtree N. E.
P. 0. Box 11667
Norths ide Station
Atlanta 5, Ga.
and Subscriber to N. C. W. C. News Service
Telephone 231-1281
Second Class Permit at Altanta, Ga.
U. S. A. $5.00
Canada $5.00
Foriegn $6.50
Senseless Killing
At a time when we were con
gratulating ourselves on the fine
compliance with the Civil Rights
Law by the majority of Geor
gians, a senseless killing of a
Washington, D. C* Negro educa
tor took place in Madison County.
Lt. Col. Lemuel Penn, Negro
Army Reserve officer and head
of vocational schools in the
nation’s Capital was slain as he
and two fellow officers were re
turning from Fort Benning. The
act is a blot on the good name of
Georgia and no stone should be
left unturned in the search for
the killer or killers.
Col. Penn is dead now. His
widow weeps, and his children
mourn the loss of their father.
For them it is an irretrievable
loss; for others the hope that it
will not happen again.
We endorse Gov. Carl E. San
ders’ appeal for moderates to
speak out against such acts of
extremism. No one can sit com
fortably on the fence while evil
little men stalk their fellows with
murder as their end. Admittedly,
only a minority of Georgians
have such hate in their hearts,
but even one is one too many.
We must all work to eradicate
the lawlessness which is display
ed by those who foster racial
prejudice in the community.
The slain Negro officer was
a veteran of World War II and
was one of hundreds of thous
ands of his race who have given
their lives in the cause of free
dom. No one challenged his entry
into boot camp; no one said he
was ever unworthy to die for his
country; no one objected to his
membership in the army reserve.
Yet, despite the service he gave
to his country, he was deprived
of many of the essentials of hu
man dignity, including the love
and respect of many of his white
fellow-citizens.
And why? For no other rea
son than his color. If only the
millions of uncommitted Ameri
cans would rise up from their
fears and speak out in the name of
justice, the assassins would not
last long, and peace and tranqui
lity would prevail. America can
not afford the present wave of
excesses. It’s time to stand up and
be counted on the side of law and
order. ....
Mississippi Shame
. . . and to those who say we
are exaggerating on extremists
within our midst, let them dwell
upon the recent events in the State
of Mississippi. Three Civil rights
workers are still missing three
weeks after their disappearance
was reported. No trace of them
has been found. Furthermore,
this week two Negro churches
in Natchez were burned down.
The local police admit that arson
ists were responsible.
What is most distressing is that
quite a number of unsolved mur
ders of Negro citizens are on the
books in that state. The facts
show that Negroes have had little
protection from the law, and have
lived in almost feudal bondage,
terrorized against protest
through economic and other
form3 of oppression. It’s been
going on for years, and few
whites have had the courage to
speak out against it.
The fact that the FBI has now
moved into Mississippi in force,
may now offer some hope to the
Negro community.) Certainly,
they should be allowed to regis
ter to vote, without the intimi
dation which has for so long pre
vailed. This is one of the mair
reasons why the missing civil
rights workers were in the
state-- to help Negroes attain
their voting rights. What callous
ward-heeler has the right to
thwart the constitution by put
ting impossible impediments
to the exercise of voting privi
leges? What hypocrisy for those
sworn to uphold the law to ac-
qiesce in the wholesale flout
ing of it;
Democracy is a stranger in
Mississippi. So is justice. Per
haps its citizens will now see
the folly of following the dema
gogues and the bigots down the
road to anarchy. We have faith
that the present shame of Miss
issippi can be the means for its
concerned citizenry to make
amends to history and the ideals
of our country.
Power Of Attraction
. •* •. 7 .• * v*_. M * • v
Memo to Motorists
GEORGIA PINES
Women’s Rights - And Lefts
BY REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN
I started up the motor of my car for the weekly
trip into the Big City and switched on the radio at
the same time. Over station WDUN the manager,
John Jacobs, was engaged in a bit of “horse
play*’ with Claire Palmour about how badly women
drive.
As I drove out of the city and eventually out of
the range of the Gainesville station, I flipped the
dial to WSB in Atlanta. Just then, over a network
program, the announcer was talking about women
drivers in Germany. It seems that there are so
few women drivers in Germany
that the possession of an opera
tors license is quite an asset
to a young lady in landing a boy.
IT HAS become a tradition in
this country that we take a dim
view of women drivers. Much
has been written and said about
this subject and Indeed it has be
come a favorite indoor sport to
talk about the gentle sex and their driving habits.
I read recently some statistics about women
drivers. It is a proven fact that women are much
better drivers than men and that they have few
er accidents. (Of course, there is the remote
possibility that this is due to the fact that there
are fewer female drivers than male drivers
and consequently fewer have accidents I).
I RECALL many years ago when I took my
driver's examination that the Inspector quizzed
me on the various hand signals. Finally he said,
“If you are driving behind a woman and she
gives this signal (here he demonstrated with
his hand) what does it mean?** I gave him what I
thought was the answerfrom the manual. “No**, he
said, “it only means that she has the window
open!**
There was a story abroad many years ago that
a man's automobile stalled on the Merrit Parkway
up in Connecticut. He hailed a passing motorist
and asked for help. He said that if he had a push
he was sure the motor would turn over. Then he
explained that his car had an automatic trans
mission and it would be necessary to get the car
up to 35 miles an hour speed before it would
start. The assisting motorist happened to be eC
woman.
SHE OBLIGED and the gentleman sat behind the
wheel of his car and patiently awaited the gentle
tap. Seconds passed and he looked in the rear
view mirror to see what was causing the delay.
Sure enough, the woman had taken him literally
and backed up her car far enough so that she was
doing 35 mph before the impact. Well, you can
guess at the results.
Then there is the one about a boy who came into
the house crying because his mother had run over
his bicycle. The father chided the young son with
the remark, “how many times have I told you,
son, not to leave your bicycle on the front porch.**
NOW I KNOW that I will bring down the wrath of
the good Sisters on me if I make any comments
about their driving accomplishments, it suffices to
say that one day here in Gainesville a group of nuns
stopped by and before they left I discreetly drove
my own automobile around and parked it in the
back yard.
One psychologist advanced the theory that wo
men are so accustomed to giving orders that when
they get behind the wheel of an auto that they auto
matically take it for granted that men will pay at
tention to their driving idiosyncrasies.
IT IS STILL a sign that our gentlemanly habits
have not disappeared completely everytime 1 see a
male motorist stopping to assist a damsel in dis
tress. Things like flat tires puzzle a woman (or
else they remain purposely in invincible igno
rance over rudimentary mechanical functions).
A new menance in this automotive age has ap
peared, though. In one police station there is ac
tually on record an incident inwhichawoman was
charged with reckless driving while operating an
electric cart (the kind so popular on today's golf
courses). It made interesting reading until it was
revealed that a highway ran through the center of
the golf course and the woman was driving on the
highway while looking for a ball she had knocked
out of bounds.
I GUESS THAT I should close up this week's
column with a bit of an apology to my women
Headers. Actually, they are careful drivers and if
at the same time you don’t think that their driving
habits are Interesting just follow one]
TRUTH ABOUT SUDAN
Your World And Mine
The evaluation and classifica
tion of movies has never been an
easy job, and, at times, it has
been done rather badly. How
ever, this is not to suggest that
because something is difficult,
it should be set aside. Many
self-appointed critics of rating
systems are liberal and open
about a viewpoint whenever it
agrees with their own.
Speaking to the Catholic Asso
ciation of Cinema Operators this
week, Pope Paul maintained the
right of the moral law in the pro
duction of movies. Instead of re
flecting the true values of life,
the Holy Father criticized those
films whose power of attraction
comes from ‘‘the ambiguous and
often unprincipled and exciting
portrayal of immodest scenes,..’
Artistic expression is all too of
ten mistaken for freedom from
the norms of morality.
It was Pope John who turned
the attention of the Council Fath
ers to modern communications
including the role of films. Pope
Paul told his audience that the
moral order did not harness the
strength of art rather did it re
lease “dramas of incomparable
power, enriching them with psy
chological, educational and fan
ciful themes.”
These are the types of pictures
which we need, which movie pro
ducers can give us and which
thoughtful patrons will encour
age by their support.
THE PILOT, BOSTON
BY GARY MACEOIN
Spokesman of the Sudan dictatorship are making
cynical efforts to whitewash the persecution raging
Foreign missionaries were expelled last February
because of “legally proved*’ interference in the in
ternal politics of the country. They added that the
expelled missionaries are to be replaced by Su
danese priests.
I traveled in southern Sudan less than two weeks
before the decree of expulsion. I saw' the m ilitary
build-u^ in Equatoria arranged
to terrorizethe people into ac
cepting the blow. I gathered evi
dence from people on the spot
which satisfied me that the mis
sionaries were leaning over
backward to observe the harsh
ly discriminatory laws and thus
avoid any charge of refusal to
cooperate,
AT THE very moment of expulsion I was inter
viewing victims of the persecution in refugee
camps and elsewhere in neighboring countries.
These were not foreign missionaries. They were
Sudanese who had fled the terror. They were en
during hunger patiently in the hope that somewhere
in the world people would be found who so loved
jusUce and hated evildoing that they would come to
their aid.
On the very day that Sudan’s Interior Minister
announced the expulsion of the missionaries, law
yer K. Bechgaard, chairman of Kenya Justice, was
telling me in Nairobi that the Sudan Government
had persistently and repeatedly refused to allow
him to enter the Sudan. He is the impartial in
vestigator named last year by the International
Commission of Jurists of Geneva, Switzerland, to
report on complaints of Sudan's violations of hu
man rights. His interim report based on evidence
taken from refugees is in the hands of the Commls-
CONT1NUED ON PAGg 5
‘POINT OF ORDER’
McCarthy
Revisited
BY GERARD E. SHERRY
The other day I went to see the documentary
film on the famous “McCarthy Hearings*'of near
ly a decade ago, which is being rescreened under
the title of “Point of Order.*’
I found it a fascinating movie. Its reshowing on
the wide screen picked up many of the things
missed during the
television hearings.
What is more it had
special meaning for
us at this time when
extremist forces are
trying to capture both
of our political par
ties.
I met Senator Mc
Carthy only once. He didn't impress me then, and
his supporters have never convinced me since. I
think the crux of the difficulty lies in the fact
that despite the millions of words that were spoken
by him on the subject of communist subversion in
our government, he (McCarthy) never himself dis
covered one communist. To be sure he bandied
about a lot of names — he was a skilled advocate
of the guilt by association process. His insinua
tions and challenges to the loyalty of Army and
government personnel won him some friends but
many enemies. This because, most of his insinua
tions and charges could not be backed up by facts.
Perhaps the best insight into the late Senator
McCarthy is contained in the final scene of “Point
of Order.'* Deserted, not only by the Liberal
Democrats but also the Conservative Republicans
at the Senate hearing, he keeps swinging, charg
ing a vast conspiracy to silence him. The evidence
was all in, but the late Senator preferred to ignore
it because it proved him wrong.
The Political heirs to the late Senator McCarthy
are as active as ever today. We no longer call
them McCarthyites, we have a whole lexicon of new
terms —Birchites, Minutemen, Minutewomen,
“Patriotic Americans" (Anyone who disagrees
with them is unpatriotic and Liberal), Paul Re
vere men and women, and a host of other titles
tbtally unrelated to their real purposes and ac
tions.
They are active in both parties. Surprisingly
enough, although a minority in this country, they
are vocal and have influence far beyond their
numbers. Only the other day one of our most
respected pollsters reported that although the
majority of the GOP delegates were for Goldwater
for President, the rank and file GOP members
were 2 to 1 in favor of Governor Scranton of Pen
nsylvania. How could this be? Here again the
answer is simple. The extremists favor Goldwat
er because he tolerates their presence even if he.,
personally cannot be considered in their camp.’
Scranton, on the other hand, has denounced them
frequently. The extremists have successfully in
filtrated the leadership of many State GOP groups.
Their predominance on the Republican platform
committee is a typical example.
Let me not be misunderstood. I am not trying to
be pro-Scranton, Alas, facts are facts. The
Civil Rights plank of the GOP platform is one
example. It does not call for enforcement of
the Civil Rights Law, but makes vague am
biguous references to equal rights for all. The
platform is not a Republican platform,, It is a
Goldwater platform—at least it is not an Eisen
hower, Scranton, Rockefellow or Lodge platform.
It is a strictly ultra-conservative program not
representative of the National Republican Party.
It should come as no surprise that the Liberal
and Moderate Republicans will campaign on it.
After all party unity is paramount even above
principles and issues. This isn’t just a Republican
trait, the Democrats are no better. ,
The Extremists are obviously banking on the
white backlash in various parts of the country to
get over their point of view. Actually, I think they
are just using Goldwater and that they would
dump him as soon as it is convenient. The same
is true among the Democrats. Those Extremists
who are using Governor Wallace find him a useful
vehicle to stir up racial strife. However, once he
has served his purpose he too can be sacrificed
while the Extremists attempt control.
*Qf course, the Moderates in both parties have
only themselves to blame. They are the same peo
ple who are Moderates in the neighborhoods and
in the Community. They don't want to fight the Ex
tremists because somebody might get hurt, and
they don’t want it to be them or their families.
Alas, lt is because the Moderates have sat on the
fence that there are people hurt.
The frequent murders of negroes In Mississippi
(and the disappearance of three Civil Rights Work
ers) would not have occured had the Moderates
spoken. The murder of a Negro educator passing
through Georgia on his way to Washington, D.C.,
would not have occured had the Moderates spoken
out. The bombings of churches and the killing of
children could not have happened in Birmingham,
Alabama, had the Moderates ccommitted, them
selves to Involvement in the cause of justice. It
is true that the Moderates are still alive but
what of their consciences?
REAPINGS
AT
RANDOM