The monitor., 1928-02-24

The Rev. John Haynes Holmes, the
eloquent and internationally known
Unitarian minister and author of
New York City, in speaking before
an appreciative audience Monday
night at the Jewish Community Cen
ter, critically and scientifically an
alyZed and vigorously attacked racial,
class, religious and worldwide pref
udice, graphically depicting it's dan
ger to civilization.
DIR. Holmes subject was eRace
Prejudice-Its Cause and It's Cure" !"
He stated that race prejudice, sus-
picion, antipathy and hatred are
rampant in the world as never before.
This is the outgrowth of the world
war. 1t is the teaching of history
that war generates hatred which it
takes more than generation to out
grow. Killing men does not beget
love. A recent visit to Europe dis
closed bitter and unreasonable anti
Semiticism in every country with the
sole exception of soviet Russia. Pref
udice abroad and at home is serious
at the present time. Never so serious
as now. 1t sets race against race,
class against class, religion against
religion. The revival of an organiza-
ton founded upon hatred is sympto-
matte of this spirit and temper. And
yet despite the prevalence of hatred
and prejudice, which he greatly de-
plored, DR.. Holmes said he desired to
bring a message of optimism and
hope.
Prejudice is not an instinct of the
human heart; it is not an attribute
of the human soul, but alien to it; it
is not from within, but from without,
it is a poison stream that flows from
the world into our hearts and poisons
them; it is the artificial product of
the social environment in which we
live, influenced by economic pres
sure"
"If prejudice were natural, innate,
and instructive, the task of it's eradi-
cation would be hopeless, indeed, but
inasmuch as it is wholly artificial and
unnatural, there is ground for hope
that by changing conditions the NAL
ady can and will be cured.
"That prejudice is fundamentally
an artificial product of our social en-
vironment and that it is not native
instinct of the human heart, which
upon the contrary is that of loving
one another, is proven" said the
speaker, "by three main facts or
propositions.
"No child is born with prejudice.
He sees no differences in human be-
ings. Not until he is educated by his
teachers, the home, the school, the
church, the synagogue, does he know
any difference"
The speaker recalled scene in
New York one Sunday morning in
May, where beautiful little white
girl, and beautiful little black girl,
hand in hand went singing on their
way to Sunday school as illustrative
of the absence of prejudice in chill
dren. While enjoying that picture,
the speaker said, there came over him
as an overshadowing, chilling cloud
the thought that it would not be long
before some one would SOW the seed
of prejudice in the hearts of those
children.
Prejudice differs from place to
place. 1t varies according to charac-
ter or historic accidents of society.
II it were native to the soul there
would not be this variation or differ
ence. For example, France has vir-
tually no prejudice against the Ne
gro. A journey in our own land
shows decided differences. In Ala
bama prejudice is directed against the
Negro, in Arizona, the Mexican, while
in California the yellow man, Japa-
nese and Chinese are the victims, and
in Boston, the genuine simon pure
yankee" Roman Catholics and par
ticularly the Irish Roman Catholics.
prejudice exists in the same fam
lily, against members of the same
tribe, or race. German Jews show
prejudice to Russian Jews. This was
a startling revelation to the speaker
a few years ago, who up to that time
believed that Jews were Jews, stand