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Let Us Kneel-in Together!
From the Christian Century
August 24, I960
Kneei-Ins are new in name only. When
small groups 1 of Negro college students
accompanied by white friends appeared at
white churches in Atlanta on recent Sun¬
days, they were doing what had been done
many times before in southern and border
states. Sporadically through the years
Negroes have gone un-invited to white
churches and have been received with
varying degrees of hospitality or rejec¬
tion. .The motives of Negroes in going
to white churches and the motives of
whites in receiving or rejecting them have
usually been vague and have often been
mixed. At times they have been on both
sides, unworthy, It is not impossible and
it is not improper to analyze those mo¬
tives.
The stigma of racial segregation will
not be removed until it disappears from
white Christian churches, where it be¬
gan. It wilbjjiot be removed merely by
juxtaposing whites and Negroes in the
same church building. Such a relation¬
ship may be enough to satisfy the elemen¬
tal demands of justice at lunch counters
and. public beaches and in buses and lib¬
raries; it is not, enough to meet Christ’s
claim that his disciples are one. To speak
of that claim is to speak of a relationship
in which affinity is far more important
than proximity. Bread served at a lunch
counter is one thing; bread shared in
church is another.
To say of Negroes that the motives
which prompt them to attend white
churches are often confused and some¬
times ambivalent is not to question their
Ui.wl*L tu-.ulU.aid and. hold membership in
any Christian church am? to participate
in the life of that church. It is rather
to say that they do have this right, that
they should not be excluded on tlie basis
of race and that the fact of race should
not make them suspect when they seek
communion with white Christians. If
white Christians are suspicious, resentful
and defiant when Negroes appear at their
churches, if even in the house of God
they fail to “practice hospitality,” the
guilt is theirs. But Negro Christians
have, nevertheless, a Christian duty; and
that duty requires that to the best of their
ability they give their white brothers no
occasion for offense.
Negroes cannot perform this Christian
duty, however, by staying away from
white church#?. Indeed, by staying away
they confirm cliches upon which ex-
clusivist Christians rely; they deprive such
Christians of the opportunity to measure
their own faitk.and the proud protesta¬
tions of their of their Christ. qjpurch A constant against the rather demands than
sporadic attendance of Negroes at white
churches would do more to compel all
Christians of out* land to re-examine the
ground and purpose of their faith and
to revive their calcified churches than
any other single social factor.
It is not the presence of Negroes that
causes white Christians to sin against
their brothers. The evil is deeply buried;
the appearance of the Negro at the church
door merely hoists the signal which calls
forth that evil, it is an evil which must
be exposed, but it cannot be exposed by
consideration of the hypothetical question,
“What would we do if a Negro applied
for membership?” It is when this actu¬
ally occurs, when the Negro knocks on the
door of the whire church, that spirits stir
within. Some of these spirits wear the
mask of custom, but beneath the mask
lurk the features of an ancient hatred.
And others of these aroused spirits, strug¬
gling to be born, partake of the spirit of
Christ. The white Christian church will
never be what it ought to be until it is
put to this trial, a trial in which Christ
and racial custom engage in mortal strug¬
gle for the souls of men.
The Negro Christian, then, must ap¬
proach the white church not for his own
sake but as an instrument in the hand of
God. He cannot serve as such an instru¬
ment if he attends a white church out of
mere curiosity or to test for himself whe¬
ther these Christians mean what they
preach and sing. The church is sullied
if it is used by men to expose and humili¬
ate other men. The Negro Christian
should not go in vanity to prove that he is
just as good afc other folk and perhaps
better. Such profanation of the church
has enough devotees among whites. He
should not go for the purpose of harass-
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ing and disturbing the worship of other
men. This is a misdemeanor which the
law of the land properly does not tolerate.
He should not go defiantly determined to
invade and overthrow the last preserve
of white supremacy. It must be over¬
thrown, but not by establishment of some
other kingdom of pride.
The Negro should go to the white
church because he has heard the summon¬
ing of God and go to hear what God will
say to him. He should go because as a
part of Christ’s body he cannot endure
separation from any part of that body.
He should go because he wills under God’s
leading to be reconciled to his brother
and knows no better place to begin than
in the church. He should go because he
knows that far beyond sitting at lunch
counters together, men must break bread
together. He should go not once but re¬
gularly, for inconstancy will be clear proof
that his going is not sincere. He should
go willing to sacrifice at the earliest pos¬
sible date the unique role which his own
separated church has played in his life in
exchange for a church in which the body
of Christ is not divided on racial lines.
He should go in such a spirit, and in such
a. spirit keep on going despite rebuffs and
humiliations. Once more the offended
must suffer for the redemption of the of¬
fender.
But what about the motives of the
white man? In four Atlanta churches on
August 9 Negro visitors were accepted
and were seated indiscriminately. Would
the white Christians do it again and
again? And with equal grace if the epi¬
sode lengthens to an epoch in t heir church
life and a few Negro visitors become
many? At two of the churches Negro
students were offered but declined to ac¬
cept seats in the balcony and in the base¬
ment. Reports do not make clear whether
in the two churches there were unoccupied
seats among the white communicants. In
any event it. is unlikely that the Negro
students, making their first bid for ac¬
ceptance in white churches, would settle
for the only seating arrangement under
which their enslaved grandparents were
permitted to worship with white people.
The chairman of ushers in one of the
two churches is reported to have said,
“They were just a bunch of agitators.”
(Christians have, of course, been called
that from the earliest days of the church.)
So long as visitors to a Christian Church
conduct themselves with quietness and
dignity it is not the privilege of any re¬
presentative of the church to analyze
the motives of communicants or to refuse
them admission. The church belongs to
Christ, not to the ushers, deacons or trus¬
tees. Christ knows the hearts of men
who come to his church; he will judge
and will recompense them according to
that judgment. Whatever the motives
of the Negro visitors who come to white
churches, the usher has only one duty and
one proper course of action: to welcome
the visitors and to see that they are com¬
fortably seated. If the Negro is engaged
in unchristian agitation, cordial white
Christians may be the instrument through
which God’s grace may work a convert¬
ing power upon his life. If his enterprise
is Christian, the absence of slight or re¬
buff will be pleasing to God whose child
has been accepted.
Moreover, it is not enough for white
Christians to give a cordial welcome to
Negroes in the hope that such a display
will disarm the inquisitive or defiant or
sincere Negro and thus relieve them of
the need to face issues raised by the possi¬
bility of his returning again and again.
The welcome must be genuine; it must be
the greeting of Christian for Christian,
of member for potential member. A hy¬
pocritical. calculating cordiality can dese¬
crate God’s temple just as much as a deli¬
berate rebuff. In a word, the same mo¬
tives should move both the Negro visitor
and the white host: a confession of sin.
a need for forgiveness, a commitment of
the whole life to God’s full will. The sit-
ins and the wade-ins succeed, but the will
of Christ for the races will not be accom¬
plished until Negro Christians and white
Christians break bread together on their
knees. For a long time to come the pre¬
sence of Negroes and whites in the same
church w ill not be normal, but the abnor¬
mality can be turned to the glory of God
and to the good of all his children.
THE SAVANNAH TRIBUNE, SAVANNAH, GEORGIA
A RECORD NUMBER OF
GRAND MASTERS attended the
recent annual conference of
Grand Masters, Prince Hall
Masons, held in the Masonic Tem¬
ple in Boston, Mass. The ANP
Photographer O. C. W. Taylor
shows some of the highlights ol
the conclave. At top, left, (left to
right), Grand Master Barnes,
Washington, D.C.; P. G. Porter,
Boycott of Memphis “Commercial
Appeal” Brings Change of
Policy Toward Negro Readers
MEMPHIS, (ANP) — The
Memphis Commercial Appeal, one
of the biggest newspapers in the
middle South, suffered a quiet
boycott some time ago.
Recent appraisals of the boy¬
cott’s affect show that while some
improvements have been made, the
paper which is pro-segregationist
ha* not changed radically.
A group of leading Negro citi¬
zens called on Frank R. Ahlgren,
the editor and requested him to
stop the practice of ignoring the
title Mrs. or Miss before the names
of Negro women. They resented
also the uniform practice of the
Commercial Appeal in opposing
most movements in which Negroes
were interested or which would
especially benefit Negroes.
The paper pointed out alegedly
that it has a large circulation in
Mississippi and white Mississi-
pians would object to the title
Mrs. being applied to Negro’ wom¬
en.
The delegation retorted that the
Commercial Appeal’s circulation
Editorial Opinion from The Nation’s Press
Associated Negro Press) ■ A v
Here is a sampling of editorial opinion
from some of the nation's leading papers
on matters of current interest;
NIXON IN DIXIE
SUN-TIMES, Chicago
“If Nixon wins votes in the South on
his civil rights stand it will not be be¬
cause he or the Republican party is less
dedicated to moral and constitutional prin¬
ciples. He is appealing to that element
of the South that realizes realistically that
the time indeed has come for change,
whether the Southern Democrats realize
it or not, and that Nixon’s attitude will
get more accomplished than the demago¬
guery of the divided Democrats.”
& CONSTITUTION, - „ * *wBssa» ■ i*
Atlanta
"Vice President Nixon talked in North
Carolina as he talked in Chicago with
reference to lunch counter sit-ins, and for
this he gets good marks for courage.”
CIVIL RIGHTS
POST, Denver
“No little political coup on civil rights
can wipe out this year-long evidence that
civil rights is not a partisan political mat¬
ter, or persuade the voters that whichever
party controls the Executive Branch, the
Kansas; Hill of Pennsylvania, Wii-
son of Ohio and Miller of the State
of Washington, look at the set of
Masonic Aprons, used by 1 'linet
Hull and his brothers in the first
Negro Masonic Lodge in the U.S.; j
Top right, Grand Master Amos T.
Hall, Oklahoma, Conference presi¬
dent (at right) talks with Dean i
John U. Monro of Harvard Uni-1
versity, a conference speaker; Hot- i
among Negroes was fhr
than the Mississippi coverage but
left peacefully and began cancell¬
ing subscriptions with no fuss or
fanfare. The paper asked that no
public announcement be made, of
the visit.
The paper began ta use the title
Mrs. before the names of colored
women who are married but ignore
the title Miss when writing of un¬
married women.
The boycott was most effective
not because of the financial loss
in subscriptions but because the
large stores of Memphis which
catered to Negroes who poured in¬
to the stores began to protest to
the paper. Negro response to big
advertised sales fell off sharply
and the stores investigating found
out that it was the resentment of
many Negro readers.
Not reading the paper, they did
not even know the sales were go¬
ing on. This is an area where
similar action might be persuasive
if brough to the attention of news-
civil rights problem is going to be wiped
out overnight.”
EVENING DISPATCH, Columbus, Ohio
“Principle and platform went out the
window in favor of political expediency.
At all costs, it seem,s, the opponents of
civil rights legislation must be appeased
lest the Democrat ticket lose support in
the South in November.”
LUMUMBA
TENNESSE AN. Nashville
“Premier Lumumba of the Congo seems
to have received some Russian-made mon¬
key wrenches with instructions for throw¬
ing. And for the time being, he has
managed to lob one into the United Na¬
tions machinery of peace.”
LABOR BIAS
TIMES, New York
The Labor Department’s first Lancfrum-
Griffin Act ruling involving racial dis¬
crimination has set an excellent precedent.
The law doesn't give the department
power to desegregate unions. It does,
however, give it authority to uphold the
right of an international to enforce the
nondiscrimination principles in its con¬
stitution. This it has done in a recently
decided case.
Voter Registration at Top
Of NAACP State Programs
NEW YORK — Fall planning
meetings ot 20 NAACP state cun-
leiences ot branches were announ¬
ced this week by Gloster B. Cur¬
rent, director of branches.
A wjue variety of topics includ¬
ing registration and voting cam¬
paigns, aitun demonstrations, tair
employment practices and educa¬
tion will be discussed in proies-
sionally-ied workshops.
Congressional voting records
nave Deen distributed by Clarence
Mitchell, director of the Washing¬
ton bureau, and a number of state
Conferences and branches will
sponsor civil rights rallies at
whicn eanuiuates ol both political
parties will be invited to speak.
1 he schedule of the fall state
confeiences is as follows: Ohio
Letter Carriers Union
Orders Locals
CINCINNATI — (ANP) —The
National Association of Letter
Carriers has instructed its offi¬
cers to start up machinery for
gradual integration of separate
Negro and white locals in the
South.
The action came last week at
a marathon session of the group’s
biennial convention at which dele¬
gates voted on 320 resolutions.
The 125,000-member association
first set up separate branches in
Southern and border states in 1941.
Before the 1954 convention at
State Dept. Confirms
Facts on African Airlift
tom, left, shows monument over
grave of Prince Hall in Copp’s
Hill burial grounds, Boston, and
at bottom, right, Grand Master
Isaacs, (pointing) shows the ori¬
ginal Prince Hall Charter grant¬
ed to the African Lodge in 1784,
by the Grand Lodge of England,
to Grand Master John G. Lewis
of Louisiana.
(ANP PHOTOSi
Replying to questions from
Senator J. W. Fulbright, the State
Department admitted Monday that
it changed its mind on the Afri¬
can Airlift of 250 students to the
U. S. following the intervention
of Vice President Nixon’s cam-
paign aide, James Shepley.
Senator Fulbright aiso establish¬
ed the fact that Shepley acted
after he had learned the Kennedy
Foundation was prepared to un¬
derwrite the costs of bringing the
students to America.
The State Department had re¬
peatedly turned down the proposal
to undertake the airlift but when
Nixon’s aide put on the pressure,
Senator Fulbright told the Senate,
“The objections which the Depart¬
ment had held for a year quick¬
ly evaporated, and $100,000 was
found to implement the project —
though ‘no specific determination’
was made as to where the money,
which had been in short supply a
I paper publishers.
The Memphis Commercial Ap-
i peal is owned by the Scripps-
i Howard chain which is notably
I fair in most sections of the coun-
| try, but the policy of the. Com¬
mercial Appeal has been desofibed
by readers as poisonous. -
Incidentally the evening paper
the Press-Scimitar which also- be¬
longs to Scripps-Howard and. is
published in the same building, .is
notably fair to Negroes, publish¬
ing more news about Negro acti¬
vities and adopting a far more
just attitude toward them in civic
und political matters.
Recently the News Scimitar sup¬
ported Kefauver for senator as
did t h e larger proportion of
Xi grties. The Commercial-Appeal
went down the line for tip Taylor
:in arch segregationist. Kefauver
won in a walk.
Memphis Negroes are hoping
this victory and the small gains
may he straws in the wind for the
1 future. • ;
Charleston NAACP Demands
Police Probe in Mystery
Death of Old
CHARLESTON, S. C.
A deepening mystery surround¬
ing the death of a 1,3-year old
boy at Edisto Beach, an off¬
shore island near here, has
caused the Charleston NAACP
to demand a complete police
investigation.
The boy’s body, identified
that of Fred Robinson,
iound washed ashore on Aug.
5. He had hired out as a help¬
er on a shrimp trawler two
days earlier, his eyes were re¬
ported gouged out, his skull
crushed.
An official probe was urged
by J. Arthur Brown, NAACP
branch president, in a wire to
Marion Schwartz, director of
Charleston county police on
August 24.
The county police head im¬
mediately acknowledged the
Crisis Reports 68,296
Students in 60 Negro
Colleges
NEW YORK (ANP)—The
forthcoming 49th annual edu¬
cation issue of the NAACP of¬
ficial organ, THE CRISIS, indi¬
cates there are 68,296 students
in 60 predominantly Negro col¬
leges. ,
Last year 56 schools reported
an enrollment of 61,680. The
survey does not include enroll¬
ment figures of Negroes at¬
tending integrated institutions
since there generally are no of¬
Sept. 1-3—National Technical
Association, Inc., meeting, Detroit,
Mich.
SATI IHIA¥, SEPTEMBER 3, 1#M
in Youngstown, Sept. 16-18; South
Carolina in Florence, Sept. 22-2o;
icunessee, in ivasiivuie, 2>ept. za-
cel. z; Iowa in Waterloo, Oct. t»-«;
Yngima in Kichmonu, ,Uct. a;
West Virginia in BiUefielu, (Jet.
i-a; Louisiana, Oct. 14-4(1.
Aiso Wisconsin in Racine, Oct.
15-10; Florida in Orianao, (jet. Zu-
z3; Illinois in Bloomington, (jet.
Zl-23; Coiorauo in i'ucblo, Oct. 2Z-
zo; Georgia in Savamian, Oct. z/-
3(j; New fork in Kulgston, Oct.
zs-bt); Pennsylvania lit New Cas¬
tle, Uct. Z8-du; Missouri in at.
corns, Oct. za.
And Mississippi in Jaeksori, Nov.
4-0; Arkansas in Little llock, Nov.
o-O; and iexas in Wichita 1- alls,
Nov. lu-13; Oklahoma in Okla¬
homa City, Nov. Z5-Z7.
' Cleveland banned further split
I locals, 17 were set up.
The resouition instructed Asso¬
ciation President William C. Do¬
herty and other officers to aid in
setting up machinery to integrate
separate locals “where there are
dual charters and where there is
integration in process and where
attempts by local community lead¬
ers to integrate are being mani¬
fested.”
The resolution also noted that
the newly formed National Postal
Clerks Union had integrated locals
at Washington and Atlanta.
month before, was coming from."
Senator Fulbright stated: “It is
to be noted that before Mr. Shep-
j ley’s intervention, the Vice Presi¬
dent had already expressed, bos
! interest in the project, but that it
| had been turned down nothwith-
■ • • r r f l
standing. The matter rested^
until Mr. Shepley got infopmaUpt^
which he passed on to Mr..Mact4Uf
her (State Department),• t(\at Seiv
ator Kennedy was prepared to ar¬
range for assistance to the pro-
pect.”
In his speech Senator Fulbright
turned on Senator Hugh Sefttt,
(R-Pa.) who had criticized Sena*
tor Kennedy for aiding: the sstto
dents. Senator Fulbright said:
“This, 1 submit, is rather s-xitsrry
performance and it is compounded
when the junior Senator • from
Pennsylvania attempts to..turn'd
on the junior Senator from. Maes-
achusetts for political purposes.?
NAACP request and has prom¬
ised reinvestigation, according
to Mr. Brown. A police spokes¬
man later stated that when the
boy’s body was found it appear¬
ed that death was “accidental.”
But a later investigation in¬
dicated that Fred suffered pos¬
sible violence, although there
was no clear motive found.
First hint at foul play in
Fred’s death was published not
here, but in New York City by
Columnist Carl Lawrence of
the Citizen Call.
Lawrence told NAACP Nation¬
al office that he had received
J a “tip” from a New Yorker just
before returning from Edisto
Beach that circumstances sur¬
rounding the boy’s death were
suspicious and should be inves¬
tigated. ■
ficial records kept of students
by races.
Negro colleges this year
awarded 7.540 bachelor’s de¬
grees; 466 master’s degrees; and
11 certificates and diplomas.
Colleges reporting the largest
enrollments are Howard, 6,507;
Southern, 4, 839; Florida A. &
M., 3.079; Texas Southern,
3.032; Virginia State, 2,885; and
Grambling, 2,724.
Sept. 3-^i-Naticnal Urban Lea¬
gue mcetinng in New York City.
Sept. 5—Labor Day.