The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1959-05-29
Our Huge
Little Nation

Herewith | add Archbishop Owen Mccain of Cape
Town, South Africa, to my list of visitors from other
countries who have somehow been able to see or to
sense the real America.
The real America cannot be glimpsed in the sky
scrapers of New York, in the Golden Gate Bridge Of
California, in the steel plants of Pittsburgh, or in the
endless streams of autos criss-crossing the nation.
Americas stupendous material power is the con-
sequence OF the God-given riches of the earth, of the
huge energy and lnduStrlouSneSS of the people, and Of
the climate of freedom which has encouraged initia-
tive and application to the job.
1t is the result also of one nation indiyisible, of
the absence of national borders and trade barriers, of
a profound comradeship that makes Americans mar
vellously cooperative, and of the education of our
youth.
UNDERLYING all these factors in Americas
good humor-America's quiet and undemonstratiye
happlneSs-which grows out of our national respect
Tor human rights, and our national habit of opening
doors for enterprise and inventiveness. III.
Americans are not sullen because Americans are
not suppressed, and are not looked down upon. This
is not perfectly and universally so, but it is generally
so, and even for the least of us there is hope and OPP
portunity.
But there is an even deeper American Ameri-
ca that no one can discover by counting our wealth,
or touring our cities, or inspecting our gigantic in
dustr1es, or even by observing our people as they pass.
THE CENTRAL SECRET of Americas greatness
Is the humility OF Americans. And American humil-
lty cannot be discovered except by a humble person
who will go among Americans at their work, at play,
and at home. =,
There are jokes about this, and they express a
truth. BE polite to the elevator operator; he may be
your next boss" is one of them.
The fact that is indispensable for understanding
America is this: it is nearly impossible for an Ameri-
can to feel superior to anybody. -
In youth, perhaps. some of us may begin our
W0rkaday lives looking down on some others of us:
But America has a perfect genius for revealing a man
OF that kind of attitude.
IN O ORDER, even the most conceited of
us learns that nothing really impresses Americans.
not for long, except accomplishment; that the %janitor
may be a more intelligent person than the chairman
of the board; and that nothing is as unpopular in
America as pride. @
W. are so free that wisdom and ability are at
liberty to express themselves and to earn the respect
they deserve, no matter in what lowly place they may
be hidden. And we do really accept in the blood and
the bones of us the fact that all men are created
equal and are entitled to equal treatment-simply be,
cause they are human beings. ~ae
We are courteous to the boss; but VIZ are not
cringlng. We will not have it so, and neither will he:
He knows that we are his equals; and we know that
he is ours. We step back to let him 90 first through
a doorway-but he steps even further back for us,
He is an American.
THERE ARE POCKETS of unhappy violation OF
this America humility and equality-sad 1egacies that
have come to burden us from the past. We have not
yet achieved, for instance, the full opportunity we
wish for our Negro people.
1t is possible for an American Negro to feel sui
len. But the vital fact is that we do not boast of this
fact; we hate it. We are caught in a situation that we
detest, and from which we are struggling to free our
selves.
Archbishop Mccain, in a visit to America, per
ceived our dilemma and our good will. Upon his re.
turn to South Africa, where suppression of Negroes,
Indians and other "colored' people is government
policy, he addressed the Cape Town Institute of Cii-
zenship.
He told his people that America is trying to solve
its race problems through unity, not through separate
ness, whereas South Africa is doing the opposite. +
quote him:
THE u.s.. is by no means perfect, nor is every.
thing there right; but the nation does show US certain
lessons that we can we'll learn. Its Constitution and
the character Of its people generally seek Justice and
charity" -
Archbishop Mccain is right. Well do l know the
fearful complexities of the radical problems both of
our South and our North-and for that matter of our
West. But | know America, too; and America will find
the solutions #-