Hartford chronicle., 1946-10-05
The Living South
By Harold Preece


 Copyright, 1946, by New South
 Features)
 No column that I've written in a long time has stirred up more comment and cussing than one en- titled "Jim Crow and Jesus" which I did some weeks back.
 I haven't heard any Negro Christians objecting to what l said about Jesus being pushed out of the white church by Jim Crow. But some of the old white judas preachers, who'd rather baptize in tar than water, have stood up in their puIpits and damned me for wanting to break down the racial lines which the Apostles Peter and Paul were fighting against at the very beginning of the Christian church. Well, gentlemen, if your preaching has been worth a copper penny in the collection plate, l guess I'd have been down below long ago. For in spite of the gree dy eye which you keep on the boss white man who chips into the plate, white and colored Chris tians keep right on uniting even here in Dixie. Christians through out the nation continue to be con- victed in their hearts of unright- eousness when they start thinking about the way they've treated their colored brethren. guess that the good Lord is getting mighty tired of His children being apart when He meant for the all to be together.
 I've received a letter from the Churchman, read by liberal people in the big denominations particu- larly the Episcopalian and Pres byterian, telling me that they are reprinting the column on "Jim Crow and Jesus" And in a little paper called "The Missionary Worker" published by a small de- nomination of less than 4,O00 mem bers, I've just read one of the most moving pleas for Christian relations between Christians that has ever come my way.
 'It was a Negro, a Cyrenian by birth, who came to the aid of Jesus when He staggered beneath the weight of His cross. What an opportunity for the Disciples to prove their loyalty. Their fervent pledge of fidelity still echoed in Christ's ears. But they were mo- where to be seen. So the honor of bearing Christ's cross fell to lowly black Simon. By consequence, his name is on eternal record.
 "It was an African to whom the Lord sent Philip the Evangelist. To win him for Christ was more important than to continue a re- vival among the whites. The black man was open-hearted, hungry, and quick to receive the truth. More, he willingly and boldly declared himself Christian before his com patriots - the treasurer of Ethio- pia would not travel without at tendants."
 The editorial fails to mention that from the meeting of Philip and the Ethiopian probably result ed the colored Coptic Christian sect which claims to be the oldest branch of the Church Universal. But this testimony for Christian unity Between Christians does wind up with citations from Jere- miah, Micah, and Acts to declare that:
 "The Biblical presentation of these blacks should profoundly af- feet our thinking about the Ne gro."
 My only criticism of this edi- torial is the use of the word "blacks." Editor Harvey L. Mitch ell of the paper probably does not realize that this is one of the of fensive words, describing Negroes, which have come down from slavery.
 But let's judge the editorial by what it is trying to say rather than by it's misuse of the word. The editors are white Christians come to judgment - a judgement that Is even more sharp for hav- Ing been pronounced in the old klan stronghold of Fort Wayne. Ind, where the paper is published
 What the Missionary worker has to say about Jim Crow-minded White Christians is contained in an editorial prompted by Bilbo's lynch language while he was running for reelection as senator from Missis- slppl. I'm hoping to get some re- prints of the editorial and send them out to certain white preach CTS who draw good salaries hut who, as yet, have not shown the courage Of the handful of people Tn this little sect of poor folks Rags And Ropes