Laguardia, City Council Call for Observance of Brotherhood Week

Reginald T. Kennedy, New York regional director of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, made public today a statement from Mayor LaGuardia and a resolution unanimously adopted by the City Council calling upon New Yorkers of all faiths to observe Brotherhood Week, to be held Feb. 22 to 28 under the auspices of the Conference. Theme of the observance is “National Unity.”

“New York City is more than ample proof that in this country men of many races and religions can live together in friendship and harmony,” the Mayor said. “New York’s heterogeneous population is made up of people of almost every race, nationality and creed. But, with all this complexity, we are united as citizens in devotion to our country and to democratic ideals. Unity among the people of the United States is not something forced upon them by governmental authority. It is the unity of free men, a unity of spirit which respects differences of opinion or religious conviction and voluntarily unites for the maintenance of all that, as Americans, we hold dear and sacred.

“There are other lands that are entirely homogeneous, which in itself may be a great attribute if directed toward a beneficent purpose. But, when such lands are driven by dictators who exploit what they call blood relationship’ and Arace,’ then we have witnessed how blindly the people can be misled and to what destructive ends they can be used.

“we in the United States recognize the right to differ in many of our convictions, as we differ in national origin. We ask that we forget our differences only when we face our common responsibilities as American citizens. In that realm, we vie with one another only in our devotion to our country and the contribution we can make to its welfare. The need of this cooperative unity is set forth in the observance of Brotherhood Week, and it should strike a responsive note in the hearts of all our citizens.”