Evening star., 1949-12-03

l l
nom de plume. Please be briet.
manufacture as they increase In size? Es-
pecially is this so Of radio tubes and wir-
ing systems.
Now the cry is up for color television. The
cycle repeats itself. Who is so gullible as
to deny It was the premeditated intention
Of the teleyision industry to deluge the pub
lie with black and -white sets and after q
few years announce the advent Of color
video? . ~.
The American public is always and
eternally gullible to its last dollar.
Now pardon me while I pay SIS for 4
Christmas tree worth $3.50. r. M.
d. C. Teacher Again Afffrms
That Segregation Is Defensible
To the Editor Of The Star:
When wrote my original letter, hardly
expected certain people to agree with it. The
only reason for my having written 1t was
partially to counterbalance the large num-
Der Of biased letters recently written by the
racial agitators I also wrote the letter from
the practical standpoint Of actual teaching
In the classroom-not starry-eyed, idealistic
theory. however commendable that might be.
1t was evident that the three persons who
answered my letter did not read carefully
what wrote or, If they did, did not under
stand it,
Their replies were so shot through with
fallacies that it would be impossible to
answer them all They showed the same
kind Of biased. all-or-nothing reasoning that
the agitators always use-the same un-
Willingness to compromise, to admit the
other fellow has point.
Probably the point Of the whole discussion
Of "civil rights" is what we mean by democ-
racy. People are wont to handy about BEAU.
tiful. high sounding. idealistic phrases with
out defining their meaning. I don't know
what they mean by democracy" but to me
it means simply the recognition Of the in
dividual human worth. fail to see where
segregation on account of race has anything
to do with democracy as 1t here Is defined.
Children have been segregated in school on
many bases. including differences in intel
ligence. But each one still Is respected as
an individual and no one feels such prac-
tice is undemocratic.
Identity Not Invariably Equality.
One way to describe democracy is to say
what 1t is not. reiterate that to have
equality Of opportunity we need not have
equality. Two students Of different capa-
cities and backgrounds who are given iden-
tical educations are being treated unequally
because one Of them, at least, Is not being
given the chance to develop in accordance
with his own abilities. One Of my critics
says, "As al people know. the evils Of educa-
ton stem from segregation" or words to
that effect. beg his pardon. but all people
do not know. Would my critic be able to
give 4 specific answer to this question: As
suming that all schools Of division 1913
and all equipment. courses OF study. and
activities could and would be made on the
same par with the white divisions, just how
would students In the former divisions
suffer2
One erroneous belief expressed was that
segregation implies some superior -inferior
relationship between the races. I submit
that It does not. Segregation exists not be-
cause one OF the races is supposed to be In
ferior. which is ridiculous. but for entirely
different reasons. If there is any idea OF
inferiority implicit in segregation, it exists
only in the minds OF those to whom 1t
applies. sa -
I'd hate to think were aiding commu-
nism In any way. To my way OF thinking,
the ones who are abetting communism are
those who desire to bring about sudden and
radical changes; who wish to do 50 without
proper consultation among all concerned
remember that there are many hundreds
of white parents and children involved. too);
and who constantly foment dissatisfaction
with the slow but real progress Of achieving
aims gradually.
Finds Racial Cooperation Commendable.
believe that it is a real achievement that
the two races are able to live together as
well In our Nation as they do. One need
only look at few other nations where races
not nearly 30 different in background and
outlook are constantly at odds. The fact
that WashinRton Is q kind Of showcase OF
democracy need cause us no worry. Democ-
racy never is perfect but If changes are
gradual and we'll considered. it can be made
more nearly so.
Ia my previous letter asserted that the
sudden change from segregated to nom
segregated system would wreck our schools.
repeat that assertion because / think
know what the stresses and strains OF class
room teaching are. Furthermore. in spite
Of the other d. c. Teacher, believe speak
for the majority. In any case, would It not
be the part Of democracy" to take poll
among teachers II it ever came time to serl-
ously consider q change? I believe that IN
such an event, d. G. Teacher would discover
that there are many, many more OF my Ak.
We have no axe to grind or no vested inter-
ests to protect other than to preserve our
school system, providing the best education
nossible for the greatest number OF students.
I do not say that we always will have
dual system or that 1t always will be good
thing Maybe at some future date the two
races will see eye to eye, will work together
in harmony. and will learn to appreciate
each others viewpoint. Then and only then
would abolition Of segregation be practicable.
In the meantime the colored students should
be taken care Of In the best possible manner
in the matter Of books. equipment and
courses. FIRST D. G. TEACHER.
DA..~x. Nyn~lno& ~ Vudians
While Libraries Are Set Up Abroad
10 the EDITOR Of Ths star:
have Just been reading statistics on the
condition Of our American Indians. from
which I cite the following:
There are over 100000 Indians IN the