Phoenix tribune., 1921-04-02
Strong ARGUMENT
in FAV OR OF
mixed SCHOOLS
To the Editor of the salina (Kan)

Journal
Dear Sir:-I truly believe that
the citizens who are advocating the
separation of white and colored
school children are trying to make
US take step backward whether they
themselves are conscious of such an
aim or not 1t certainly is not a demo
cratic movement and indicates an
undercurrent of intolerance, of which
we have had entirely too many ex-
hibitions during the war when stress
and propaganda alike made our feel
ings somewhat abnormal. This wish to
segregate can not be caused by any
feeling or real repugnance to be in the
same room whit colored people he
cause even the most urgent of segre-
gators-the utherners-tolerate and
even prefer colored people to take all
care of their children and perform all
manner of intimate duties in the home
and for personal service-so by that
they wholly eliminate the argument of
physical proximity.
Now, as to white superiority. We
all admit that, l think, as generally
recognized fact. But because my boy
is superior to the black boy is no
reason for separation. My boy is sup
perior to many of his white class mates
but who wants to put him in separate
school for that reason? He may also
be the inferior of many classmates
but would it do either him or them any
good to separate them? No want my
child to go to school with his superiors
mental, physical and moral-in or
der that he may receive the stimulus
to better himself, but l also want him
/ to be with those below his ability or
| standard, and for his own good, to
teach him tolerance and patience and
! consideration so that he will not be-
come that most abominable of crea-
| tures-a snob. My own child has at
tended schools where there were Ne
groes-also MeXicans and Indians.
am sure it has not done him bit of
harm and am confident that it has
bettered him. He will have to live his
! life where there are different races
particularly our colored people. And
the better he knows them the better
| for him and the more just he can be
to them. Nearly all of the injustice and
lawlessness OF those race riots" is
due to prejudice bred by ignorance.
| Separation only intensifies this. have
lived long enough in Oklahoma, Texas
Florida and Georgia to know person
ally that it does not help to solve the
race question to separate them. l
| believe it makes the problem harder
to solve, for how can you separate
people who are mutually dependent
on each other? We do not want to
"southernize" our treatment of Ne
groes for we do not want our Negroes
| like the Negroes of the South. We have
good Industrious respectable Negro
in Kansas; let's keep him so. And if
your boy and my boy go through school
with him they will not be nearly so
ready to help lynch him when they are
older
We are having big run now of
intolerance-all over the world
and in our country even anti-Semiti-
cism has shown it's ugly mug. 1t is
mostly due to overwrought nerves from
the war So we must guard ourselves
against any foolish action while un-
der this pressure, and segregation in
Kansas is certainly very foolish and
absolutely unnecessary. Mr.. Roach
quoted man as saying it would do
the white child no good and would
harm the colored child. l go a step
farther for l truly believe it would
harm our white children by narrowing
them. And we can't afford to become
narrow if the United States is to re-
gain its prestige for democracy.
E. w.R.