First page of petition for desgregation, submitted to CMU Board of Curators, ca. 1950-51

Title

First page of petition for desgregation, submitted to CMU Board of Curators, ca. 1950-51

Subject

Central Methodist University (Fayette, Mo.) ; Desegregation in higher education
United States

Description

First of 13 pages, addressed to Central Methodist University Board of Curators, demanding the racial integration of the University. First page of the petition consists of the demands of the signatories, citing both the Doctrines and Disciplines of the Methodist Church (1948) and the Constitution of the United States.

Creator

Students of Central College

Date

1950-1951
1950
1951

Rights

Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License

Format

Student petitions

Language

English

Type

Manuscripts and Manuscript Illuminations

Identifier

ARC 020505 Integration Petition to Curators ca1951-2 p1.jpg

Coverage

Central Methodist University

Text


TO THE BOARD OF CURATORS OF CENTRAL COLLEGE:
The Constitution of the United States of America, the Fourteenth Amendment, section one:
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the states wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States..."

Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist Church, 1948, paragraph 2026:

"The principle of racial discrimination is in clear violation of the Christian belief in the fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man, and the kingdom of God, the proclamation of which in word and life is our gospel. We therefore have no choice but to denote it as unchristian and to renounce it as evil. This we do without equivocation.
...
"That provision be made whereby; all programs emanating from the Council of Bishops and the general agencies of the church shall be planned and promoted throughout the entire church with full participation of all racial groups.
...
"That the institutions of our church-colleges, universities, theological schools, hospitals, and homes be asked to restudy any policy which proceeds on the basis of racial discrimination. That we individually and, whereever possible, collectively stand for equality of political franchise and of economic and educational opportunities for all races."

Somewhere in the United States a colored child is born in a shanty; somewhere else in the United States'a white child is born in a shanty. Somewhere in the United States a colored child is born into a well—to-do home; and somewhere else in the United States a white child is born into a well—to—do home. In all cases these children immediately become, under the Constitution of the United States, citizens of the nation, entitled to the equal rights and privileges accorded to all citizens of the United States of America.

In some cases however, we find that certain citizens have become merely entitled to and not accorded these rights and privileges. If we sincerely believe in the democratic ideals of this nation, as we have many and many a time professed, it is then high time we acted to make equality of opportunities an actuality.

Central College should then take heed of the Constitution of the United States of America under which it operates. And being an educational institution supported to a great extent by the Methodist Church, it should also bind itself in part to the resolutions which this church has adopted. In both cases, however, these documents seen to have been overlooked.

Central College is to be highly recommended for the increasing progress of its administration in allowing foreign students to study within its confines. We recognize and sincerely appreciate the presence of young people who belong to some other race, color, or creed. A great forward step has been taken. But inasmuch as this step has been taken we hope that the course will not stop here. We therefore plead that all racial barriers be dropped so that a full experience of living and learning may be realized at Central College. Only when this is done will we truly be living by the code of equal freedom which we claim as our government and our way of life.

We are able to find no provision against such action in the law of Central College, and no stable reason why certain citizens should be barred admittance to this school in favor of other citizens, when both are entitled to equal opportunity.

Accordingly we, the undersigned, hereby petition the Board of Curators and the President of Central College to open the doors of this institution to all people on equal basis, regardless of their race or color.

Original Format

Paper

Comments

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