Evening star., 1948-12-07
Letters to The Star
Tolerance Without Compulsion

Tolerance Without Compulsion
70 the Editor Of The STAR
Your editorial of November "a referring to
the election of Levi Jackson as Yale football
captain as a step forward in improved race
relations seemed all to the good. Now in the
December Letters to the Editor columns there
is denial by E. Ernest Goldstein which Is
vicious in its implications. What he has said,
in effect, is that humans can develop racial
tolerance only by force, not by thought or in
tellgence. or by sound education. 1t is just such
statements as his that retard better racial re-
lationS.
I cannot speak for Amherst, nor can speak
other than personally for Yale, but feel that
Mr.. Goldstein Is misrepreSenting the situation
as 1t affects Yale. Levi jackson was unani-
mously picked captain There was no compul-
sion involved and there were other good men
available There Is no doubt in my mind that
Jackson's election was the result of an appre-
citation and respect not only for the ability and
sportsmanship of teammate, but also for the
courageous efforts Of one man to meet and
overcome social and racial handicaps not Of his
own making; in fact, handicaps made more
difficult by just such glib Ito use Mr.. Gold
STEMS own term) attitudes as presented In Mr..
Goldsteins letter.
The reflection on Yale before the college"
fair. would like to point out that my brothers
roommate for two years, Junior and senior, was
full Chinese. This man was well liked and
respected by most Of those who knew him.
During that period 1928-1s32, there was a black
gentleman from Ubangi, Africa, attending the
university. I saw him on a number OF occas-
Sions, both social and collegiate mixed and
stag, where he was as fully accepted as any
other individual in the group. He was well
informed. intelligent, capable and pleasant.
These are but rare examples of what might
be accomplished in race relations through in
telligence, mutual respect for ability, develop
ment of tolerance based on q more adequate
knowledge.
Any fool can use force, and frequent result
is a mess Of wreckage Oook at Europe), but it
takes more courage to think through problem
of this magnitude Let us hope that Mr.. Gold
stein will use his head before he tries to cram
anything down some one else's throat with his
fist. w. E. P.
TO the Editor OF The Star:
A letter by E. Ernest Goldstein, Decem-
ber /, taking you to task for an editorial
commenting on election of Negroes to captaincy
Of the Yale football team and to membership
in an Amherst fraternity, states: These
events are contemporaneous with the Civil
Rights Report =. If these pressures were
not in existence, it is doubtful that men OF
Amherst and Yale would have taken their
forward steps"
Mr. Goldsten just doesn't know what he
is talking about. Harvard had Negro base
ball captain at least so years ago before
even knew baseball existed) in Billy" Mat
thews, who later became district attorney OF
Boston. That happened to be Harvard, not
l. L.,% NkNcnr inNf tn
them in a similar category.
II memory is correct Mr.. Matthews had
previously been captain of either Phillips
Andover or Phillips Exeter baseball team.
This, in turn, shows that Mr. Goldstein's
cynical remark about institutions and men
many Of whom come from environments that
still practice intolerance" Is equally ill-n-
formed. Surely, no institutions are more deeply
STEPPED in the traditions and conservatism Of
New England than are Andover and Exeter, yet
they have welcomed colored boys intermit-
tently for many years and, likewise those OF
other minority groups, which may cause Mr..
Goldstein to revise his views about environ
ments that still practice intolerance"
Your editorial was manifestly correct in
its conclusions These matters must be by
evolution, not revolution. In New England,
institutions may f1nd 1t timely to admit MEM
bers of minority groups. Conversely. in the
South, schools have q right to make their
own decisions. It is no business Of those Of
us from other sections of the country to force
new modes of life upon the fine people OF
the South. They know their own problems
best, and they know how to solve them. Sup
pose Southern States tried to inflict law
upon New York State that no one could
refrain from working Saturdays for religious
reasons! It's the same thing.
While the Southern people walked into
their present mess because Of their blind
idolatry of r. D. Roosevelt, who, in return
for. their vote, forced undesired customs and
an impending FEPC act upon them, this is
their own hard luck and bespeaks their poor
Judgment, politically. All their misfortunes
trace back to the New Deal.
Mr. Goldstein uses his thesis as a spring.
board to advocate q national FEPC. There
is no national demand for that; 1t is inspired
only by New York propagandists. Business
men there already are being bounded by its
investigators, who call repeatedly to see If
they employ persons of minority groups. Such
an act would be as impossible OF enforcement
as was national prohibition and would cause
as much disregard for the law.
Are New York agitators to rule all America?
FRANKLIN SNOW.
Legislation by Treaty
To the Editor OF The Star:
1t is amazing how little attention Is being
paid to the so-called International Bill OF