American teachers were urged last night to fight against racial, religious and national bigotry by Dr. George S. Counts, Professor of Education at Columbia University, in an address delivered at the 36th annual convention of the American Federation of Teachers which is taking place here.
“Discrimination,” he said, “must vanish if Americans are to be true to their traditions and effectively lead the free world. In the measure that we are governed by the doctrine of racial, national or religious superiority our democracy will be corrupted at the core. We shall know in our hearts that we are false to our professions.”
The convention voted to ban racial segregation in its 400 local unions throughout the nation. The delegates balloted 219 to 80 for the amendment to the constitution, and there was but one dissenting voice. The resolution noted that the federation was a leader among educational institutions and labor organizations in the fight against segregation.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
