The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current, August 06, 1964, Image 1
—- NORTHERN NEGRO RIOTS Leadership Was Out Of Touch With The BY ELLEN WAIN WRIGHT The same week that the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King came, by Invitation, to see the mayor of New York on a "peace mission," the New York Times, in a small but selective poll, had found that Harlem Negroes considered him the most ef fective leader they had. The poll was printed, but not taken, after several hot and steamy nights of street rioting that "made Christians" of all the middle-class communities, white and black, and caused a certain amount of despair among respon sible Negro leadership. Miss Wainwright is a free-lance write rand edi tor in New York City. A member of Catholic and non-sectarian inter-racial groups, she shares the widespread concern for the moderate Negro lead ership. mm cops. the despair of the Negro leadership in these terms: there is not only an absence of dialogue between the Negro poor and the affluent white society, there is precious little—and not very reliable at that—contact between the Negro leaders and the dispossessed, unaffiliated, drifting, and unem ployed Negro mass who float about at the very bot tom of the social and economic scale. What caused the despair was the growing and depressing realization that the leadership was out of touch with the very people who had taken to the streets with bottles and cries of, "Let's kill the SOMETIME during this week there was also a meeting ; among Negro writers, artists and in tellectuals. Mr. James Baldwin was not there. He was, in fact, in Europe from where he had lately issued an extraordinary statement that Negroes in the North had been hoarding weapons for years — "...for only one purpose: that's the day of un avoidable bloody conflict." But those who were at the meeting described THE REASON for this lack of contact—an ex tremely dangerous and frightening break between mass emotions and responsible and orderly direc- tion--is largely due, it was held, to the white es tablishment’s cavalier treatment of the Negro leaders’ legitimate demands, such as a civilian review board to investigate charges of police brutality. This had diminished the influence of the moderate Negro leaders in their communities. This remark was made by Mr, Clarence B. Jones, who is Dr. King’s legal counsel in New York. But the most startling remark of the evening was also made by Mr. Jones, and backed by some of the others. He forecast eventual cooperation between Dr. King and Malcolm X, the Black Nationalist Leader, who is himself racist and ex treme, Malcolm, said Mr, Jones, "could engen der the same feeling in the Lumpenproletariat as Dr. King does in other classes of Negroes." If Dr, King and other moderate leaders come eventually to the conclusion that their way does not produce results, if their leadership is threat ened by their inability to show their people con crete progress, the whole nonviolent movement may go down the drain. The nonviolent movement, as it has been constantly pointed out, depends on the white man to accomplish the main job of racial justice. OF COURSE, Mr. Jones does not necessarily speak for Dr. King, and Dr. King has, on nume rous occasions, proved the depth and the patience of his Christian vocation. Still, it is something to think about. Keep that in mind and then think of it in connec tion with the day when Negroes will realize how much more effective it might be to riot in the neighborhoods of their enemies instead of their own ghettoes. If the Negroes can't be saved, then neither can the whites. It has also been widely claimed by the rioters and others that they were making use of the excuse of "extremism in the defense of liber ty," so recently extolled. YOUR PRIZE-WINNING NEWSPAPER of Atlanta HVTY Y FTIW YK U YjYjYcj Y YIy ii NG GEORGIA’S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES VOL. 2 NO. 31 ATLANTA, GEORGIA THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 1964 $5.00 PER YEAR CARDINAL EXPLAINS ^ RELEASE NEXT WEEK \ ‘Little Council’ Would Be Symbol Of Collegiality ST, LOUIS (NC) — Bernard Cardinal Alfrink said here his proposal for a central commit tee of bishops to consult with the Pope would be a "constant sign* of the collegiality of bis hops with the Pontiff, tervlewed during his stay as a guest of Joseph Cardinal Rit ter of St, Louis. He later spoke to 1,000 persons at St. Louis University. He stopped here and in Washington, D.C., during a brief U. S. visit. ment after celebrating one of the parish Masses at St. Louis cathedral, the archbishop of Utrecht in the Netherlands re viewed several topics of his concern. The Dutch Cardinal was in- SITTING in his guest apart- Archbishop’s Notebook The graying, distinguished 64-year-old prelate said his proposal for a central commit tee of bishops was meant to be a "little council" with the Pope. Pope Reveals Encyclical’s 3 Basic Themes Death has taken a fellow Georgian, a woman of charm,an artist with an authentic grasp of the South. Miss Flannery O'Connor died Monday, August 3, at her home in Milledgeville. THE PROPOSAL was discus sed during debates on the col legiality of bishops and Cardinal Alfrink admitted authorship of the idea, "I was the first who uttered this idea," he said in clear English, "but many oth ers have spoken for it now." Miss O’Connor, in her short stories and novels, served the cause of the supernatural by a working knowledge of the secular that an older generation would call "uncanny." Although she lived in one of our smaller towns, and indeed, on a farm at its outskirts, she had a sense of modernity that was immediate. After one of her talks on the novel to a Georgetown University audience, Richard H, Rupp defined Miss O’Connor's view of the Catholic artist and craftsman at his lathe: The central committee should not be called a "senate" or "parliament," he said, be cause such words carry the im pression of a democratic body. CASTELGANDOLFO (Nc, - The title of Pope Paul’s first Encyclical is "Ecclesiam Suam" (His Church), and could be subtitled "The Paths of the Church." will be exhortatory rather than doctinal in nature, since he doesn’t want to anticipate the declarations of the Council. The Pontiff revealed at gen eral audience here that the document, dated August 6, Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ, will be released next week. It will deal with three prin cipal aspects of Church, he said, its conscience, its re newal and its dialogue with world. ’The Catholic novelist must have an unfailing ear for dialogue and an unblinking view of the physical scene. He must see the world clearly, and see it redeemed. He must render both fact and mystery." Those who have read The Violent Bear It Away t and her short stories, found a world that was often violent and apparently repul sive. To doctor it, to render it ’pretty’, to have the tale "come out right" would have been a falsification. Miss O’Connor, who wrote in a telling manner of sin and grace, was incapable of such falsification. She had humor and perspective and a fine sense of mystery. But she scorned the novelist’s tricks of shock for the sake of shock, as she scorned sweetness for the sake of sweetness. ‘THIS IS not a question of democracy," he explained, "but would be an organ to act as ad visors and consultors with the Pope," Such a body should be truly representative of all the bishops, probably with a maxi mum membership of 100. "It needs to be representative, with the whole Church represented," he stressed. A major benefit if such a body were formed, said the visitor, would be as "a constant sign of the collegiality of all the bis hops with the Pope as succes sors of the apostles." ANTI-NAZIS HONORED A Catholic priest and two Catholic laymen who led re sistance to Hitler within Germany during World War II are among eight anti- nazis honored on a new series of eight German post age stamps. They are: Father Alfred Delp, S.J., (top) editor executed for his writings, Feb. 2, 1945; Count Claus von Stauffenberg, (center) a leader in the as sassination attempt on Hit ler, killed July 20, 1944 and Sophie Scholl, student leader at University of Munich, executed Feb. 22, 1943 for resistance efforts. The Pope said the Encyclical Editor To Speak To Newmanites WASHINGTON (NC) — Philip Sharper, editor of Sheed and Ward publications, will give the keynote address on the emerg ing layman at the annual Na tional Newman Congress to be held in Milwaukee, Wis„ start ing Aug. 31. Pope Paul explained the sec tion on the conscience of Church will deal with its spiritual path or what nourishes Church. The chapter on renewal will deal with the Church's moral path or the ascetic, practical and can onical steps of Church, he re vealed. ARCHBISHOP PAUL J. HALLINAN receives a Scroll of Honor from the National Medical Association at its 69th national con vention held in Washington, D.C. Dr. W. Montague Cobb of Washington, D. C., incoming president of the association, made the presentation. MEDICAL GROUP The chapter on dialogue will deal with the Church’s Apostolic path, he said, without dealing thoroughly with urgent modern problems. He said it will ex amine peace, relations between Christianity and economic life, the Church's dialogue with the profane and Godless world, and its dialogue with the Separated Christian Churches, with all the clergy and faithful. MILLEDGEVILLE REQUIEM Daniel Callahan, editor of Commonweal magazine, and Michael Novak, also associated with Commonweal, will be other speakers at the six-day meet ing. Presents Scroll To Archbishop She was deeply concerned with the truth of her people and their actions. She treated them with the tools of homeliness and humor. But she followed them relentlessly until they faced the Kingdom. It was not "the dark city, where the children of God lay sleeping." It was God immediately present to his people, and it was the bur den of many of Flannery's characters to make that presence known. She did it through the grotesque, "the freaks, and the ignorant, the crazed and the Innocent," as Dr, Rupp put it. And when she visited the Home for Incurable Cancer patients, before writing the preface to Mary Ann, she was asked by one of the Sisters "why I wrote about such grotesque characters, why the grotescjue was mv vocation". Another guest supplied the answer by reminding the Sisters, * It’s your vocation too," Collegiality of all the bishops "will be stated" by the Second Vatican Council, Cardinal Al frink said confidently, ’The text we have is very good," he said, speaking of the schema submitted to the council Fath ers. Flannery O’Connor Dead HE POINTED out the differ ence between * theological" and "social" collegiality.‘Theolo gical collegiality means all the bishops, with not one excepted," he said. Probably it is the vocation of us all. But Flannery O’Connor used a medium, unlike preaching and nursing, that is authentically Cath olic. We have forgotten the artist in the application of the works of mercy, probably because the artist writes (or draws or sings) be cause the creative urge is greater in him than in the rest of us. Our South and our Church are poorer because of the death of this fine young writer. But we are confident that the Judgment decrees include the artist as well as the mother, the nurse, the worker in social needs: "Whatever you did forthe least of these, you did for Me." This is the principle which he expects to see ratified by coun cil decision. His central com mittee proposal would be an ex ample of the "social collegia lity, which shows all the bis hops are brothers, all have needs for the labors of their brothers, all are connected by a collegiality of love, of inte rest, of help and of assistance." One of America’s foremost novelists and short story writ ers, Flannery O'Connor, 39, died Monday in Milledgeville, where she lived with her mother on their farm, Andalusia. Miss O’Connor had been ill since childhood with a bone ailment, but followed an active career of writing, painting and corre spondence with friends in this country and in Europe. She had entered Baldwin County Hospi tal on the Wednesday before her death. Msgr. JosephG. Cassidy, P.A., V G., pastor of the Cathe dral of Christ the King, Atlan ta, offered the Requiem Mass Tuesday in Sacred Heart church, Milledgeville. national fraternity for women in journalism. May God grant her eternal light and life, the reflection of which vas her great contribution to our world. (Oaf 4 IT IS this same "social col legiality" which is shared by the priests and the bishop within the dioceses, he said. Such an idea of the presbytery of the ordained, said the cardinal, "should be present in all dio ceses. It is in fact present in ARCHBISHOP OF ATLANTA CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 Miss O’Connor was the author of two novels, "Wise Blood,’’ which appeared in 1952 and has since been re-issued, and "The Violent Bear It Away," which was published in I960, A col lection of short stories, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find,’’ appeared in 1955 and an addi tional collection, ’’Everything that Rises Must Converge" will be published next year. At the time of her death she was work- MARY FLANNERY O'CONNOR ing on additional short stories. Mary Flannery O’Connorwas bom in Savannah March 25, 1925, the daughter of Regina Cline O’Connor and the late Edward Francis O’Connor. She attended Peabody High School, Milledgeville, received an A.B. degree from Georgia State Col lege for Women (now Women’s College of Georgia, alsoinMil- ledgeville) and went on to do graduate studies, earning a Master’s Degree from the State University of Iowa. She also studied at St. Mary’s College of Notre Dame University. WASHINGTON (NC) —Arch bishop Paul J. Hallinan of At lanta received a Scroll of Honor from the National Medical As sociation at its 69th annual con vention here. The organization of pre dominantly Negro physicians cited the Georgia prelate for desegregating Catholic hospi tals in the Archdiocese of At lanta. "The National Medical As sociation applauds your firm leadership in the application of Christian principles to hospital practices in the Catholic hospi tals of Atlanta," the citation declared. birthplace of the National Medi cal Association. We are proud to present you our Scroll of Honor." The presentation was made by Dr. W. Montague Cobb of Washington, D. C. t incoming president of the NMA. SHE RECEIVED a Ford Foun dation fellowship in creative writing in 1955 and held a grant from the National Institute of Arts and Letters. She won nu merous literary prizes, includ ing the Kenyon Fellowship in fiction, the O. Henry Award and the Brenda Award of the Atlanta Chapter of Theta Sigma Phi, MISS O’CONNOR’S devout Catholicism had a strong in fluence on her writing in the view of most critics. Her books and stories were concerned with people of the South, many of them of the type often referred to as "poor white trash." She was particularly concerned with characters who felt themselves to be "prophets," compelled to preach, yfet in conflict with themselves. "IN THE two short years since you have presided over the Archdiocese of Atlanta you patiently impressed upon your communicants that a Catholic hospital, because it is Catholic, must reflect the full teaching of the Church, not only in works of mercy and charity, but in the demonstration of social jus tice," the NMA citation contin ued. OTHERS honored by the as sociation included Asst. Sec. of State G. Mennen Williams, Oscar Ross Ewing, former ad ministrator of the Federal Security Administration; James Farmer, national director of the Congress of Racial Equality: Sen. Jacob Javits of New York, Andrew Thomas Hatcher, former associate press sec retary at the White House; Dr. James Madison Nabrit, Jr., president of Howard University; Ren. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., of New York and Roy Wilkins. Theologian Dies "On March 19, 1963, by your order, the Catholic hospitals of Atlanta were desegregated. In 1964 you fell seriously ill but stated that you were proud to be a patient in the only integrated hospital of the city. "We rejoice in your re covery and hail your spirit as a symbol of the new Atlanta. May KANSAS CITY, Mo. (NC)— Father Gerald Kelly, S.J,, 61, moral theologian and writer, died in a hospital here (Aug, 2), He was stricken with a heart attack July 2 while teaching at Rockhurst College here. Father Kelly was the author of several books and a number of articles dealing with the moral aspects of medical, surgical and hospi tal practices. His first book, "Modern Youth and Chastity," published in 1941, was trans lated into several languages