A Time to Speak

Georgia's standpat segregationists got a shock with their Sunday paper this week. Glaring from the pages of the Atlanta Journal and Constitution (circ. 512,559) was a statement signed by almost every leading Protestant minister in Atlanta--80 in all--which came out foursquare for the Christian view of race relations, individual liberty and the law of the land.

The 1,300-word statement was sparked by Alabama-born Dr. Herman L. Turner, pastor of Atlanta's Covenant Presbyterian Church, and written by an informal group of 30-odd ministers who agreed with him that "the time had arrived when we had to say something." Other Southern church groups have spoken out against segregation more or less directly, but the Georgia statement is far the firmest and the most widely based. Specifically, the Georgia ministers flatly condemned the oft-repeated threat by Governor Marvin Griffin et al. to abolish the public school system in order to circumvent the Supreme Court's anti-segregation decision.

Says the statement:

"We do not pretend to know all the answers. We are of one mind, however, in believing that Christian people have an especial responsibility for the solution of our racial problems and that if, as Christians, we sincerely seek to understand and apply the teachings of Our Lord and Master we shall assuredly find the answer . . . We do believe that all Americans, whether black or white, have a right to the full privileges of first-class citizenship. To suggest that a recognition of the rights of Negroes to the full privileges of American citizenship, and to such necessary contacts as might follow, would inevitably result in intermarriage, is to cast as serious and unjustified an aspersion upon the white race as upon the Negro race."

The statement emphasizes six principles for thought and conduct:

1) "Freedom of speech must at all costs be preserved. 'Truth is mighty and will prevail.' No minister, editor, teacher, state employee, businessman or other citizen should be penalized for expressing himself freely, so long as he does so with due regard to the rights of others."

2) "As Americans and as Christians we have an obligation to obey the law."

3) "The public school system must not be destroyed."

4) "Hatred and scorn for those of another race, or for those who hold a position different from our own, can never be justified."

5) "Communication between responsible leaders of the races must be maintained. One of the tragedies of our present situation is found in the fact that there is so little real discussion of the issues except within the separate racial groups."

6) "Our difficulties cannot be solved in our own strength or in human wisdom. It is appropriate, therefore, that we approach our task in a spirit of humility, of penitence, and of prayer."

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