The Omaha guide., 1943-02-13

BOLD MOVE
CONGREGATIONAL LEADER
ASSAYS NEW ANA PLAN

CUNUhEUAIIUNAL LEADER
ASSAYS NEW ANA PLAN
CHICAGO. Feb. u amp The
American Missionary association
announcement that il will special
ize in the field of race relations
to the extent of keeping static or
reducing its present school policy
and diverting it's vast funds iE51
the rather nebulous field of race
relations poses a most insistent
question to those interested in the
development and advancement of
the American Negro. The charac-
ter as stated by the executive com
mittee is:
That the American Missionary
division concentrate its attention
on the field OF race relations, par
ticularly in the Negro-white area;
and that, as funds become avail
able, the Association develop a
unconstitutional type Of pioneer
ing work which would send com
potent representatives into various
communities to work by such
methods as the local situation
shall suggest and make possible. "
This is another combination
worked out in connection with
vested interests, particularly the
Rosenwald Fund and Fisk univer-
sity. a great concentration OF mon
ey. experience and contacts. Tha
change of emphasis is so revolu-
tionary that it is viewed with mis-
giving in many quarters.
The ANA. was definitely not a
planned organization. It was a
direct response to a dire human
need, the Amistad incident; the
necessity for protecting these freed
slaves, educating them. sending
them back to their native coun-
try. subsequently il was found
that one could not stop with mere
" rehabilitating and ~repatriating
these Africans but that there were
many tasks remaining yet to be
done--a never ending chain of
new responsibilities. The prog
ram of the ANA. has been simply
this: wherever there is a dark
corner Or an unredressed ron
there is a place for the ANA"
This has taken in all races Of PEG
pie in every part Of the world.
mountain whites, Negroes, Porto
Ricans. Indians. Japanese, Chin
csc. Alaskans and a hundred years
ago even Koreans and Africans.
CHANGED SCHOOL POLICY
At the turn Of the century the
ANA. had more than 40 secondary
schools and colleges. There re-
main OF this vast group only Tai
ladega college. Tougaloo college,
Tillotson college and LeMoyne
Junior college. and Lincoln school.
Marion. Ala; Trinity school, Ath-
ems. Ala; Cotton Valley school.
Fort Davis. Ala; Lincoln academy
Kings Mountain, n. O.; Avery in
stitute Charleston. S. c.; Fossen-
den academy, Martin Fla. Brick
Rural Life school, Enfield. \. c,
and Dorchester academy. Dorches-
ter, Ga. When the ANA. began
cutting down on its secondary
schools and concentrating on col
leges a generation ago. a great
cry wet up from the Negro grad
yates and former students in the
south. However. it was plainly
manifest that new conditions teach
new duties; that there was a grow
ing sense Of responsibility on the
part Of southern whites for the
education OF all citizens including
Negroes; that the public school
work Of the south could not be
done perpetually BY a missionary
organization.
After passing this hurdle the a
MA began the painful and labor
ious process Of standardizing the
colleges upon which it was cen
centrating, raising endowments
and Securing the I ype Of equip
ment and teachers necessary fcr
a" classification. These process
ses Of elimination and standardjz-
alton have been about completed.
and now the ANA faces another
changing world It's experience
goes to show the difficulty Of en-.
failing property, gifts or funds for
some perpetual use. In this dc.
parture the ANA faces the hurdl
es Of l. the imputation Of nebul.
osity; 2. the reaction against race
CONTINUED page 81