Jackson advocate. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1939-current, 1951-02-10

counts ours Is perhaps the great
est era of transition and change in
the history of mankind it seems
hopeless task to try to distinguish
the significant from the ephemeral.
Of course everything has mean
ing; the problem is how to isolate
those things which mean most and
then understand what they do
mean.
The dynamic conception of the
nature of Man held here in the
United States today is the key to
the understanding of much that
goes on here and elsewhere in the
world.
Obviously system of segrega-
ton land of human slavery such
as. was great-grandma's lot in life),
for example, cannot rest upon
dynamic faith in the fatherhood of
God and the brotherhood of man,
a fact with which it is difficult for
US Americans to square our claim
to be one of "the Christian nations
Of the world Anyway you look at
it. great grandma's convictions
were a miracle Of faith.
What are some of the clues as to
the dominant conception of the ma
ture of Man actually held in the
United States today? They are all
about us in the unexpressed
premises implicit in what we do
and what we say. Two striking ones
nave appeared in the news of the
Korean war which are as good ex-
amples as any.
A few weeks ago the columnist
Marquis Childs, writing from New
Delhi, India, made this penetrat-
ing observation: "The remark Gen
eral Macarthur made, and widely
printed here, saying the sight of
dead North Koreans was good for
his old eyes caused a highly I'M
favorable reaction.
"This also is related to the sus-
picion that the West considers
Asiatics dependable and that the
desire of Europe and perhaps AM
erica is to fight the war against
communism in Asia where weapons
of mass destruction, such as the
atomic bomb, can be used"
1t is clear from this first-hand
account of Indian opinion that
from where they are sitting the
Indians assume, doubtless on the
basis of the white superiority pos
tulate of American domestic and
foreign policies, in particular, that
Americans associate inferiority
with pigmented skin, identifying
all individuals with subjectively
held stereotype, assuming, basical-
ly, that such people are not human
beings in the same sense that /
white" people are.
The implication in General Mae
Arthur's remark which the Indians I
were quick to seize upon is more
clearly expressed in the second 1
news item from "a Forward Fight 1
ing Strip in Korea, August 23 .
(AP)"; about the exploits of a
young major in the Air Force,
fighting schoolteacher" who is
helping to build the nucleus of a
South Korean air force, described /
as "a maestro who flies the United /
Nations flag over his headquarters
and holds masters degree from /
Ohio State in diplomatic history"
'The dark thifty-two year old /
(major) =. is the man who has
mixed fighting education and de- |
mocracy in the middle of this tough .
war;"
"Once Chez shot up hundreds of \
North Koreans crossing a river. He
related:
" 1t was a CORY mess. With the
North Koreans you have a feeling
of killing people who are not human
beings at all ,"
The glib mention of democracy"
and education - in diplomatic
history, of all things! = in juxta-
position with conception of the
human race which obviously ex-
cludes millions of creatures appar-
emily human by every standard ex-
cept the unexpressed postulates< of
European (Anglo- Saxon) tribalism
which lie behind this news item is
one of the most amazing examples
| have seen of the basic and con-
ditioning character of the concep-
ton one holds as to what consti-
tutes human being.
Among other things, this obvious
blindness to so many vital things
should dispel any feeling Negro
Americans may have held that to
be admitted everywhere to white
colleges and universities is to be
placed in position to learn the
truth" or to get the 'best" educa-
ton! 1t will be an opportunity to
study at closer hand the very hid
den premises which | am here
pointing out, and an opportunity to
do something constructive toward
saving our fellow citizens from
themselves: they obviously need us
more than we need them!
The glazing contradictions in this
news item clearly point up the fact
that the basic postulates regarding
the nature of Man condition the