Experts See Need for More Inter-group Relations Agencies

Further growth and spread of both public and private agencies, to work for racial and religious equality and to build better relationships among groups, was called for in a report issued here today on behalf of 64 intergroup relations leaders and social scientists. The report was issued by the National Community Relations Advisory Council, comprised of leading Jewish national and local groups in this country.

According to the report, there are 624 agencies in this country “created to fight prejudice and advance mutual acceptance with respect for difference.” The signers of the report call for “clarification of the relative responsibilities of the public and private agencies included in this number, so as to make possible the greatest progress with available resources.”

Touching upon the differences that should exist between the functions of the public agencies and those conducted under private auspices, the report declares that the primary role of the public agency “is to interpret public policy clearly and unequivocally, and to administer that policy with firmness and impartiality.”

On the other hand, the private agency, according to the report, is “the prod, the critic, the pressure source, responsible for assuring that the agencies of government neither neglect their duty nor abuse their authority.”

The report holds that public agencies should avoid trying to act as mediators in regard to controversial issues as between religious and other groups, confining themselves to the task of defending the rights of all to press their individual points of view. Among such controversial issues listed in the report are the issue of religious teaching in public schools, compulsory Sunday observance laws, divorce laws, and laws pertaining to child adoption.

Both types of agencies–public and private–are urged in the report to help develop “rules of fair play” in public debate of controversial issues.