Heywood Broun Urges Survey in U.S. of Racial and Religious Prejudices

A survey of racial and religious prejudices in the United States is suggested by Heywood Broun in his column ” It Seems to Heywood Broun,” in the current issue of ” The Nation.” Some of his Jewish friends with whom he discussed the matter expressed their opposition to the plan on the ground that it would stir up prejudice, he said.

” The survey which I have in mind should concern itself with other things than politics,” Mr. Broun writes, commnting further on the recent elections.” Prejudice is not restricted to religion. There is , for instance, an anti-Negro feeling which rests on race alone. In the case of prejudice against Jews I suppose the bigotry is partly racial and partly religious. There is also the somewhat recent drive against the citizen of foreign birth and sometimes against his children. The melting-pot has come to be a place in which he is supposed to surrender bones and buttons and hop out looking like William Allen White.

“Many said it was a pity that the religious issue should have been dragged into the campaign. I can’t see that. Since it exists there is no reason why we should not know of it. Indeed we want more light upon the matter rather than less. For the most part the people who complained against the religious issue being brought to the forewere those who wished to knife a Catholic and have their action construed as patriotism or a defense of prohibition. But there are many exceptions to this rule. For a long time I have been urging that some American newspaper take up the question of concrete discriminations in this country against the Jew. In conversation with several Jewish friends I have found much opposition to any such inquiry. They say that it would stir up prejudice.

“But bad enough should never be left alone. In common honesty the public has a right to know the facts. When enough information is available we shall be able to add the necessary footnotes to the Declaration of Independence. When a child is taught in school that all men are created free and equal he should be allowed to look at the foot of the page and learn the neccessary exceptions which are noted.

“It has been suggested to me that any such inquiry ought to include a survey of the Negro’s status. Unfortunately this would have little appeal to any journalist. If a white community discriminates against a Negro that can hardly be said to be news. In this respect we have at least gone a short step past hypocrisy. Many States make no bones at all about their determination to keep the Negro in political, social, and economic bondage. The Negro himself must shoulder part of the responsibility. Too often he has been willing to accept injustice tamely. Moreover, he has certainly made indifferent use of his vote. It was possible for Herbert Hoover to go lily white’ in the last campaign and still sacrifice no tangible number of votes in States and cities where the Negro holds the balance of power. The colored men of America ought to get over the habit of voting Republican willy-nilly.

“It is perfectly true that Governor Smith made no particular gesture of friendliness toward the Negro in the last campaign. In fact it was not possible to get any sort of statement from him when there seemed a possibility of gathering into his support a large percentage of this Republican vote. I still think it would have been a useful gesture upon the part of the Negroes to reluke the party in power. And even if they could not bring themselves to vote for Smith and Robinson there was the chance to back Norman Thomas.

“Jewish prejudice is quite a different matter,” Mr. Broun continues. ” It is my guess that no major party would care to nominate a Jew for President because of the hill-billy vote which is so large in all the rural States. But the problem is much wider than this and it is dangerous because insidious. For instance, no man knows just how many schools and colleges are working on a quota basis or barring Jews entirely from enrollment. A. Lawrence Lowell was somewhat unfairly dealt with when he publicly announced that Harvard was considering the matter of making some restriction as to the number of Jews to be admitted. The criticism directed against Mr. Lowell was unfair because the very thing whic he publicly announced as being under discussion was already done by stealth in scores of educational institutions.

“And surely it is no secret in New York that there are hospitals in which the young Jewish doctor must be at least twice as able as his Gentile competitor in order to get an appointment. We know that there are apartment houses which require ‘social’ references and any number of summer hotels proudly proclaim the fact that He brews are not wanted. Again the slogan ‘Christians only’ is overly familiar in the advertisements of some of our largest concerns in the ‘ help wanted’ columns. Mr. Hoover was fond of saying during the campaign that this was the land of equal opportunity. No one took him up on this, for a fair question might have been framed for him to answer. It would run: ‘ Equal for whom?’