Racial Policy and International Relations
| DOI | 10.1177/000271625630400117 |
| Date | 01 March 1956 |
| Author | John F. Melby |
| Published date | 01 March 1956 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
132
Racial
Policy
and
International
Relations
By
JOHN
F.
MELBY
THE
bulk
of
this
issue
of
THE
AN-
NaLS
is,
I
assume,
addressed
pri-
marily
to
Americans-as
it
should
be.
But
since
the
whole
problem
of
deseg-
regation
and
integration
is
part
of
our
dirty
linen
which
inevitably
is
from
time
to
time
on
view
for
the
world,
I
would
concern
myself
here
with
what
the
world
sees
and,
thus,
speak
not
only
to
Americans,
but
also
to
others
who
are
troubled
about
the
problem.
Some
of the
things
I
shall
say
will
be
rather
harsh;
but
I
trust
they
will
need
neither
apology
nor
explanation.
By
some
kind
of
empathy the
United
States
has
come
to
be
identified
iri
the
world
mind
with
the
equality
of
men,
not
equality
as
Mr.
Jefferson
has
been
misinterpreted
to
mean
it,
but
equality
of
opportunity
and
of
initial
advantage.
Part
of
this
reputation
has
been
de-
served,
but
part
of
it
is
belied
by
the
actual
facts.
At
the
outset
let
it
be
clear:
the
evil
part
of
the
American
record
on
racial
policies,
especially
in
the
light
of
our
professions,
is
a
major
blot
on
our
escutcheon,
and
it
does
posi-
tive
and
serious
damage
to
the
whole
cause
of
freedom
and
democracy
in
these
days
in
which
the
United
States
has
emerged
into
a
position
of
world
leadership.
One
could
even
argue
that
the
correction
of
racial
abuses
in
this
country
is
so
vital
and
integral
to
the
democratic
cause
to
which
the
Ameri-
can
people
have
dedicated
themselves
that
there
can
be
no
quibbling
over
the
remedy
if
our
whole
structure
is
not
to
be
mortally
affected.
Coercion
must
be
used
should
it
be
necessary,
since
the
argument
for
gradual
social
change
has
too
long
and
too
often
been
abused
to
be
any
longer
acceptable
if
we
would
continue
to
fill
our
role
of
leadership
in
the
free
world.
It
is
an
extraordi-
nary
fact
that
a
world
never
noted
for
its
racial
tolerance
in
theory
or
in
prac-
tice
has
come
to
look
on
the
United
States
as
a
symbol
of
equality,
and
that
the
oppressed
turn
to
America
in
the
hope
of
finding
understanding
and
an
untarnished
record.
The
burden
of
re-
sponsibility
thus
placed
upon
us
is
a
heavy
one.
DAMAGE
TO
AMERICAN
PRESTIGE
It
would
be
gratuitous
to
belabor
un-
duly
the
point
of
how
much
damage
has
been
done
to
American
prestige
by
our
enemies
throughout
the
world
by
the
simple
device
of
pointing
out
the
fail-
ures
of
our
racial
professions
and
the
gross
violations
of
the
spirit
of
the
Con-
stitution.
Our
enemies
and
our
friends
have
seldom
been
reluctant
to
bring
these
lapses
to
our
attention-as
indeed
they
should.
If
any
reader
be
in
doubt
on
the
point,
he
need
only
check
the
percentage
of
Communist
propaganda
which
concerns
American
racial
dis-
crimination
or,
in
friendlier
circum-
stances,
the
prominence
given
to
racial
atrocity
stories
in
the
Asian
press.
The
observation
applies
with
equal
force
to
Europe,
which
is
far
less
sensitive
to
the
problem
than
are
Asia
and
Africa.
Nor
is
there
need
to
assume,
as
it
might
be
comforting
to
do,
that
those
who
disseminate
tales
or
react
strongly
against
American
discrimination
neces-
sarily
do
so
from
malice
or
in
aware-
ness
that
what
they
say-or
say
they
believe-is
untrue
or
at
least
not
the
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