The Colorado statesman., 1924-04-12
METHODIST RACIAL PROBLEM
(Lincoln News service.)

(LlncOln News Service
New Orleans, April Z, 1924.-"The
very heart of the matter of unification
of the Methodist Episcopal Church and
the Methodist Episcopal Church,
South, is the question of attitudes on
the race problem" according to the
Southwestern Christian Advocate the
official organ of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church. In discussing the ques-
tion the following is presented as the
view of representatives of the Meth
odist Episcopal Church, assembled in
its delegated General Conference, and
it is claimed that the expression re
fleets the dominant Christian opinion
and attitude of that church:
Much of the talk today about race
consciousness is an unconscious recrud-
escence of the spirit that Jesus came
to destroy, and leads straight to new
hoStilities. 1t flows from the feeling
of SUPERIORITY. We have repudi-
ated election as applied to individuals
and largely restrained it as applied to
cry out in Christs name that in Christ
there is neither Jew nor Greek, bar
| barian, Sycthian, bond nor free; that
no men and no races are at the mercy
of their environment or heredity. All
false sense of superiority and newt
able advantage must be educated out.
Intensified race consciousness tends all
the time away from brotherhood; all
the time toward strife and hostilityA
But the church, facing the yellow
races, the black races, the white races,
must now speak her master word and
follow her creative operative method,
the method of the teacher rather than
the method of the fighter or the re-
former. The church holds the Ideas,
the ideals and the principles of Jesus.
She must remake the mind of the
world for humanity.
Let us repent, therefore, of race
pride, RACE PREJUDICE, and race
bitterness repent in America, repent
in Asia, repent in Africa, repent in
Europe. The Kingdom of Heaven is
at hand. This is our gospel. We will
not lose heart in it. Blood is. thicker
than water and the human family is of
one blood. We will labor everywhere
to make unity of spirit IN the races
of the whole world"
Differing from the above, but re-
garded as the typical attitude of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Is
the following opinion of an Alabama
Conference: Through a mistaken and
mischevous immigration policy, we
have brought ourselves a very vexing
racial problem. Some of these races
have sought our shores, some have
been induced to come, and one brought
here in slavery. We owe duty to all
these races, but perhaps more to the
Negro, who came involuntarily. We
CANNOT live together in social or po-
litical equality; no distinctive races in
history have accomplished this. There
must be one dominant race to rule the
nation.
Herein lies our problem that we
must solve in justice to all the INFER
IOR races in our midst. How this can
be done, the wise and patient must dis
cover The solution cannot be hast
ened Deportation on large scale is
hardly practicable; miscegenation al
ways results in hybrids inferior to
either of the original races, and conse-
quent degradation Of both.
"The question is too delicate ana too
intricate to be entrusted to any except
the wisest and most judlcious. Hence,
we seriously doubt the wisdom of our
missionary board in putting this ques-
tion in the course of study for promis-
cuous discussion"