Evening star., 1947-01-10
Letters to The Star
Member Of Racial Survey Group
Gives Her View of Report


Gives Her View of Report
To the Editor of The Star:
AS a member Of the Racial Survey
Committee of the Council Of Social
Agencies, would like to correct several
inaccuracies which recently have read
about our activities.
It has been stated that our committee
(and other survey committees) was not a
representative group of citizens, since we
were chosen at random and allowed to
choose our field Of interest. It is obvious
that each member Of the committee,
when asked to serve on one of the sur
veys, specified the ones in which he
might be useful. I, for instance, checked
religion, recreation, and racial, since my
only usefulness to such a committee is
in my knowledge Of the subject How
useless it would have been to put group
Of housewives on the labor or-management
survey or group of youth leaders on
facilities for the aged! However, after
we designated our fields of interest, these
replies carefully were sifted by the Coun-
ell Of Social Agencies, so that each COM
mittee would be representative of the
community at large.
The Racial Survey Committee was
thoroughly representative, having on 1t
Southerners, Northerners and some of
several generations here in Washington.
We were drawn from different religious,
cultural, financial and political groups.
Most OF us had not known each other
before, and we came with open minds to
study conditions and make recommen-
dations. We worked for almost a year
and gave very careful thought to the
final statement which was issued. It
seems unlikely that the Federation of
Citizens Associations Committee, which
hastily was appointed and which made a
hasty study could have been equally OBJ
jective and thorough.
The Racial Survey Committee had
variations of opinion about details in the
report. There was complete unanimity
over the basic principles, however. Our
preamble states that: "We have recon-
mended drastic changes in the pattern of
community life. We are not unmindful
that opinion in the dominant race of
the community is complacent about ex-
isting conditions. We take the view,
however, that where essential principles
are at stake idealism and realism are
indistinguishable."
AS member Of the committee, I per-
sonally subscribe to these principles
which are founded in our Christian re-
hgion and emphasized in our democratic
tradition. am grateful that several
citizens associations and other groups
representing citizens Of this city, such as
the Voteless League OF Women Voters,
the Committee on Religious Life In the
Nations Capital, the Catholic Interracial
Council, the American Jewish Congress,
the Church League for Industrial De-
mocracy. the Washington Housing Asso-
citation. the Womens International
League, the United ONCE and Profess
sional Workers Of America, the Interde-
nominational Ministers Alliance, the
National Lawyers Guild and many indi-
vidual citizens have written to the
Council Of Social Agencies, commencing
the thoroughness Of the survey commit
tee and approving the general objectives
of the report. Let us hope that these
groups are q better cross section Of the
people Of Washington than is the FEEDER.
alton Of Citizens Associations.
MRS. g. LESLIE GLENN.