Urge Elimination of Racial Prejudice in Presidential Campaign

Jewish and Christian national leaders in the United States today joined in urging the national Republican and Democratic parties to adopt a “Fair Elections Practices Code” to eliminate racial and religious prejudices from the 1952 presidential campaign and setting up machinery to police any violations.

The code calls for organizing non-partisan, non-sectarian committees in every community in the United States “to keep a watchful eye on campaign activities” and to call to the attention of political leaders any instances of appeals based on religious or racial prejudice. “Nothing is more harmful to a self-governing people,” says the code, “than confusion of issues by base appeals to racial and religious bigotry.” The code was transmitted to political party officials in telegrams signed jointly by the six religious leaders.

The leaders are: The Rt. Rev. Henry Knox Sherrill, president of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.; the Most Rev. Edwin V. O’Hara, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City; Rabbi Simon G. Kramer, president of the Synagogue Council of America; Jacob Blaustein, president of the American Jewish Committee; Dr. George N. Shuster, president of Hunter College of New York City and prominent Catholic layman; Dr. Arthur S. Fleming, vice-president of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.