The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-08-19
WHO PERSECUTES BOSTON? Part II
By WALLACE SIECNER
By WALLACE STECNER


10 set American against American.
race against race. religion against
religion Suspicion breeds counter
suspicion, charge breeds counter
charge. Father Curran. charged with
anti-Semitism. charges his accusers
with Catholicism. A clever
propaganda can manipulate those
two antagonistic elements like the
two glasses used in mixing Bromo-
Settler. and get with each manip-
ulation a greater effervescence OF
hate-which Is precisely what Hitler
and Goebbels. and their American
admirers, want.
] have found no evidence what
ever that the Catholic church had
anything 70 do with the Dorchester
trouble. II any blame attaches to
the Church In Boston IL would be
for . lack Of cooperation with other
churches and other men Of good
will.
Protestant clergymen who. after
he revelation OF the beatings last
fall. organized an inter-faith COM
mittee in the Dorchester-Ro xbury-
Mattapan district for the purpose OF
furthering good will among all
racial and religious groups found
some Catholic lsymen willing to Co
operate but most of the clergy inert
and even aloof While Protestant
groups were clamoring that the
racial issue be cleared up and that
equal police protection be AFFORDED
10 xl,n
three of the Catholic clergy raiseS
their voices.
This lack Of cooperation may hav
a number of explanations. In
Catholic clergy may be honestl
convinced, a. they told the Mats
pan committee, that there ID no res
problem. Some churchmen ma
mistrust their Protestant and Jew
ish neishbors, and feel that Cstho
lies are under unwarranted attacl
for the outbreaks. Yet because o
| this aloofness there have been peo
pie who jumped TO the conclusion
that because the Boston Roman
Catholics are not active in suppress
therefore condone it.
War Has Aggravated
Group Tensions
One highly important difference
should be noted between the anti
Catholic riots Of the nineteenth
century and the anti-Semitic vio-
lence OF l943-l9<<. Where the i'd
vent Of the Civil War e6ectually
put the prejudiees parties cut Of
business for Q time. the present war
has aggravated every group sntag-
onism In America. The reason for
that difference lies not In any psy-
Geological or sociological differences
between anti-Catholic and anti
Jewish prejudice. The reason h
simply that the Confederscy had no
Goebbels. In the German propa-
gaDda machine lies the reason why
the beating Of one Jewish boy. the
distribution Of one Anti-Semitic
broadside. must be viewed. especial
ly in Boston. with very great con-
Germ.
The bill Of particulars filed by
Attorney General Biddle against
the thirty people now standing trial
FOR sedition indicates how close a
link there is between race hatred in
America and the Goebbels Office
An interesting development. still
unsolved as this is written. is The
distribution during Holy Week and
az odd times since OF two scurrilous
pamphlets dealing with the ways in
which the Jews have ruined" the
areas of Chelsea. Roxbury. and Dor
chester The slogan. BE American.
Buy American" on each pamphlet,
!s signed with the initials CT.
Those initials should stand for
Christian Front" and possibly do.
Whether they were put on the