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PAGE 4 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1964
OVER DONE?
the
Archdiocese of Atlanta
GEORGIA BULLETIN
SEftVlNO GEORGIA'S 71 tyORTHMM COUNTIES
Official Organ oi Jhe Archidocese 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
2699 Peachtree N. E.
P. O. Box 11667
Northside Station
Atlanta 5. Ga.
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Rev. Leonard F. X. Mayhew
Member of the Cathqlic Press Association
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
Strange Silence
There has been a strange
editorial silence over the week
end riots by teenagers at Hamp
ton Beach, Va., and in Seaside,
Oregon. In both places, college
students and others went on the
rampage, destroying property,
attacking policemen and jeering
at National Guardsmen called out
to disperse them. Neither inci
dent was minor; nor was it the
first time that such teenage
disorders had occurred--it
seems to be an annual event and
covers many of our resort areas.
Consider the different treat
ment accorded the recent riots
in Philadelphia, New York's Har
lem, Rochester, and Paterson
and Elizabeth, New Jersey.
These riots were caused by Negro
hoodlums who do not represent
the aspirations of the majority
of their race, yet there was
national denunciation of Negroes
for not being more patient in re
lation to their civil rights. There
was talk of whites taking repri
sals at the polls. Politicians san-
ctimoneously suggested that
these Negro disorders should
be ruthlessly put down, and law
and order restored.
We are against disorders by
whatever group within the com
munity. We believe in respect
for the policeman in performance
of his duty to safeguard our
citizenry against attacks on
life and property. But we object
to making a racial issue out of
what has become a major break
down in public morality, es
pecially among the young of all
races. We object to the politi
cal line that only Negroes are
criminals; that only Negroes cre
ate disorders; that only Negroes
have a lack of respect for law
and order.
The events in Seaside and
Hampton Beach give the lie to
this obvious piece of political
propaganda. The students invol
ved were white. They attacked
the police and National Guards
men. They damaged property.
They injured innocent Ibystan-
ders and received injuries--
some serious. Their parents
seemingly excused the rampage
as part of a natural end-of vaca
tion letting off steam. '‘It’s hap
pened before and therefore should
be treated lightly," was the
reported attitude of some par
ents.
We think that such Vacation-
land disorders should be stamp
ed out ini as:dilligent a manner
as that exercised against alleged
racial riots and the like. We
think, too, that the parents of
disorderly students should be
held as much responsible as
their children. The breakdown
in public morality knows no
color bar. Everyone is affected
by it. Hence, we cannot
in good conscience condemn
riots in Harlem and condone
them in Hampton Beach. Indeed,
the rioters in the latter place
have less excuse.
Just Accounting
As American citizens we enjoy
many rights. These are a most
precious heritage, which we are
loath to forfeit. One of the most
important is to be able to de
mand a just accounting from
those who govern us. We have
the fundamental right to expect
that justice be administered
impartially and that our rights
and safety be protected.
This summer, several hei
nous crimes have taken place.
Medgar Evers and three young
civil rights workers were kill
ed in Mississippi. Here, in our
own state, Lemuel Penn was kill
ed by a shotgun blast as he was
returning from his military ser
vice, In none of these cases have
the culprits been identified le
gally. Justice has yet to been
done.
As citizens, we are deeply con-
ALTAR BOY NAMED "SPECK"
cerned that the infringement of
others’ rights to life and sa
fety threatens the rights of all
of us. Likewise, we are con
cerned for the moral health of
our state and our nation. We
cannot stand idly by when these
are improverished. We feel an
obligation to ask questions.
Lemuel Penn was shot to death
by someone. When will that per
son be apprehended and properly
chastized? What explanation can
our law enforcement agencies
give for the fact that men are
driving our roads at night with
loaded shotguns? We would like
to know why the news media of
some of our communities
feel free to establish a ‘black
out’ of certain kinds of news.
What recourse do these commun
ities have when such lack of
preparation leaves them helpless
in the face of tragedy and dis
grace?
The law-abiding citizens of our
state and nation do not only have
the right to ask these questions.
They have a duty to ask them.
They have a duty to be concern
ed that justice is done, that the
rights of all are protected, that
the public services of their com
munities be conducted with a
conscientious concern for the
common good.
We can contribute to the edu
cational fund for Colonel Penn’s
children; we can express our
sympathy to his widow. But, even
more urgently, we must ask
pointed questions and insist on
honest answers in the hope that
such tragedies may be avoid
ed in the future.
" .. in various parts of the world episodes
of war explode in fearful sparks..
Pope Paul VI.
Warning Voice
GEORGIA PINES
Watershed Runoff
BY REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN
Among the things which rural people take a
justifiable pride in are the accomplishments of
their watershed programs. Being a city boy I
had no earthly idea what a watershed was
until the other night. Of course, I know what
water is and I know too what a shed looks
like. Just as one knows that wood is kept in a
woodshed, I naturally presumed that a water
shed would be a barn-like construction built
over a body of water.
The other morning while I was having some
coffee at the local coffee shop someone suggested
that It would be nice to attend the annual water
shed meeting down at Talmo. The challenge of
finding out all about water
sheds made it an invitation I
could not turn down. Talmo is
about ten miles south of
Gainesville, on the road to At
hens and is located in Jackson
County.
I WAS amazed when our car
approached the town and parked
automobiles could be seen for
blocks around. My host men
tioned that the Governor attended the meet
ing last year and this year ninth district Con
gressman, Phil Landrum, would be in attendance.
The affair took on new prominence to me since
its importance would be able to draw civic
leaders of such status.
ABOUT 300 people from all over Jackson
County were at the meeting. A huge barbecue
had been prepared and chairs were placed all
over the grove. Everyone was the guest of Mr.
Hubert McEver, Talmo’s leading citizen.
A packer by trade, Mr. McEver has had a
vital interest in soil conservation and the water
shed programs for many many years. If any
man in Jackson County were to be singled
out for plaudits in this regard, I am sure that
the honor would go to Mr. McEver.
ONCE A year Mr. Mac, as he is affection
ately known in this farming community, invites
all of the citizens of this watershed area to his
home for a barbecue. This is Mr. Mac’s pride
and joy, and as a host he is supreme.
This year, however, Mr. Mac had to make a
trip to St. Joseph's in Atlanta and he had to
play from the sidelines. That is, he tried to.
When he walked out on the speakers platform
and attempted to take a “back seat” the high
regard and loyal esteem which the towns
folk - have for him was visibly displayed by a
long and loud roar of applause.
A FRIENDLY neighbor, just a farm away,
is Tom Blackstock. Mr. Tom is a sort of “side
kick” to Mr. McEver and together they have
given excellent leadership tc this program.
Water is necessary for life. Its aubundance
draws industry. Farms, too, would soon become
sterile were it not for water. For many years
all over this country water went unharnassed,
soil washed away and streams were permitted
to run polluted.
IT WAS the common interest of people in con
servation which gave rise to the watershed pro
grams. Today, all over this nation, communities
are cooperating with state and federal pro
grams in conservation. The value and importance
of water is more and more being realized.
Talmo’s gathering the other night was a sort
of ’’town meeting” of peoples with a common
interest. This fellowship enables all to work
more closely and consequently insures suc
cess for this important program.
ALL OVER Georgia, our thanks goes to men
like Mr. Mac and Mr. Blackstock for their initi
ative in beginning conservation programs, and then
working side-by-side with others to continue its
success.
KASHMIR CONFLICT
Your World And Mine
BY DR. GARY MACE ION
The ever present Chinese threat calls for a
solution of India's conflict with Pakistan over
Kashmir, a conflict that goes back to the 1947
partition of British India.
The Pakistan position is simple. Partition was
effected on a religious basis, and that gives 80
per cent Moslem Kashmir to Pakistan. Two
assumptions underlie this position, namely, that
it was ever agreed that Kashmir's future should
be settled by the views of its inhabitants, and
that the Moslems would automatically optfor Pak
istan simply because they are Moslems*
These positions and assumptions either do vio
lence to the historic facts orcallfora new evalu
ation on the basis of the ex
perience provided by seventeen
years of partition. "Ours is a
multi-religious state,” one vet
eran observer said to me in
India. “It has an overwhelming
Hindu majority. But it also has
significant Moslem, Christian,
Sikh, Djain and Animist mino
rities, as well as some Budd
hists, Jews and Zoroastrians.
We have a constitutuion and administrative pro
cedures which make all equal before the law
and enable all to live in peace together. And in
fact, all do live in peace except for the unfor
tunate clashes between the Moslems and others,
clashes for which I blame the fanaticism generat
ed in Pakistan.”
HERE IS, I think, the most important element
in the equation. India has set up a state in which#
people of different religions and cultures can
live and develop together, as we do in the United
States. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, on the
contrary, has proved unable or unwilling to im
plement the freedom of religion guaranteed
by its constitution (suspended since 1958) to other
religions.The conflict is not between Hindus and*
Moslems but between Moslems and everyone
else. The politically unimportant Christian
minorities experienced this year again the anger
of the mobs in the latest of the recurring re
ligious riots.
Whatever argument might have been advanced
in 1947 for dividing the subcontinent along re
ligious lines, this subsequent experience has re
vealed its lack of merit. It is consequently
important to realize that Kashmir was never
Included in the area to be so divided.
THE INDIAN EMPIRE consisted in part of
British India, over which Britain held sovereign
rights, in part of princely states associated by
'CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
The Variety
“Blacklash”
BY GERARD E. SHERRY
The term "backlash” is being overdone in
our conversation and writings of recent date. It
also is being over (and under) estimated in rela
tion to the current political situation.
Last week the alleged “white backlash” was
discounted after a primary race in Michigan re
sulted in the choice of a Democratic candidate who
voted for the Civil
Rights Act. The
loser, a congress
man who voted
against the Act, was
supposed to have won
through the support
of the “backlash-
ers.” Alas, the
whole thing only cre
ated confusion. This 1
because of the contradictions involved.
In another Michigan election, the * ‘white back
lash” was credited with being responsible for
the passage of a Detroit “Homeowners Rights
Ordinance” which, in effect, legalizes racial
discrimination in city housing. What's more, the
fellow who sponsored the discriminatory measure
was leading all the candidates in a primary race
for a vacant seat on Detroit's City Council. The
ordinance was opposed by the Catholic Bishops
of Michigan, as well as the religious leaders of
other faiths. The bishops declared the measure
much more of a moral issue than a political one.
They added:
'% T 0 CATHOLIC, in good conscience, can sign
petitions or support laws or ordinances that deny
minorities a full and equal opportunity to secure
decent homes on a non-discriminatory basis.”
Michigan's Catholic newspapers also spoke out
against the proposed ordinance. The Michigan
Catholic of Detroit, declared editorially that
'There is little doubt that the ordinance was
spawned by racial hatred, despite sweeter titles
that have been suggested. Its targets were Negroes
who were to be banned from white neighborhoods.
It was branded long ago much more a moral issue
than a political issue by those who ought to know,
leaders of every religious denomination. And yet
it won quite handily. And with its triumph, a little
of Detroit fell down, It all means, that in Metro
politan Detroit justice and charity have been slap
ped hard. It was a blow whose white fingered
scar will long remain.”
THE "WHITE BACKLASH” obviously was very
much alive, just as it was in the Maryland and
Wisconsin primary races earlier this year. How
else could a man like Governor George Wallace of
Alabama have garnered so many votes in these
states. What is equally tragic is the number of
ethnic group Catholics who have joined the “white
backlash.” Admittedly, there are no dues-paying
members; indeed, there is no tangible organiza
tion. It is solely a frame of mind, nurtured by
fear of losing what one has gained by hard work
and industry. Not even our Catholic bishops seem
to be able to influence their flocks in these areas.
The politicians hold sway and morality goes down
the drain of indifference.
REAPINGS
AT
RANDOM
There is the racial backlash and now, according
to DonaldThorman, author of 'The Emerging Lay
man”, there is the “ecclesiastical backlash.”
This he describes as the reaction of the Hierarchy
to the irresponsible criticism of the laty. He says
that the “exuberant, incautious and openly critical
•statements of some of the laity have served to
frighten the more conservative members of the
clergy on all levels.”
I think Mr. Thorman might have added that the
so-called liberal priests and bishops also are per
turbed at irresponsible criticism from either their
own followers or from those of the other end of
the semenatic tangle. There is negative criticism
made of the laity, by some in authority, and this
also is creating some of the tensions mentioned by
Mr. Thorman.
WHAT BOTHERS ME, however, is that many
people in the Church are being urged to silence not
because what they say is negative or wrong but
merely because it might upset someone. In some
cases' error is permitted or tolerated on the
grounds that speaking up about it might rock a
boat, or hurt a feeling. There is another size to
all this: Many of the positive critics within the
Church are being penalized for the outbursts of
a few cranks who have no respect for authority.
I heard recently of a leading Catholic laymen who
was likened to the CURE pickets who walk out
side the Los Angeles Chancery Office, simply be
cause he challenged an obvious injustice in a mid-
western parish. I think that it's time to be very
careful before blanketing all current criticism as
coming only from irresponsible elements within
the Church.
This very question came up last week-end at the
National Newman Congress in Milwaukee. I gave
one of the closing talks and several delegates
broached the matter in the question period after
wards. One fellow said he felt there was a con
certed effort to silence and deride anyone who
dared to be other than subservient. He pointed to
the constant harping by some in authority against
so-called Catholic intellectuals. And he asked how
could the Catholic intellectuals be blamed if they
reacted to the negative stance to their apostolic
endeavors.
Much of the “Ecclesiastical backlash” is the
result of mis-understandings and should not be al
lowed to destroy our essential unity. While the
laity must hold their criticism to that which is
both charitable and just, so too, the clergy and
the Hierarchy have an obligation to avoid lumping
the genuinely concerned and loyal laymen with the
cranks and opportunists within our midst. For
the latter groups we hold no brief.