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C H A P T E R I V Catholic Choice: Jim Crowism or Jesus Christ, 1949–1952 N ADDITION TO PRESIDENT TRUMAN’S and the Democratic Party’s call for civil rights reform in the post–World War II period, the major civil rights developments during Truman’s term in office occurred at the judicial level. The Supreme Court decisions in Shelley v. Kraemer (1948) and Hurd v. Hodge (1948) on discrimination in housing practices, Henderson v. United States (1950) on discrimination in interstate travel, and Sweatt v. Painter (1950) and McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (1950) on racial segregation at the graduate school level all indicated a court ever so slowly dismantling Jim Crow society. In 1952 the court heard the first arguments of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka et al.1 As the United States came to terms with its racial policies, the country also had to deal with challenges abroad. The United States entered into a cold war against Communism and the Soviet Union with its involvement in the Berlin Airlift and the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and its reaction to the Soviet development of the atomic bomb and expansion of Communism in Asia. The Alger Hiss spy case, the Rosenbergs’ trial, and Senator Joseph McCarthy’s charge of Communist influence in the federal government caused many Americans to question the nation’s domestic security. It was a period of unease.2 For the universal Roman Catholic Church, the post–World War II period was a time of trial and tribulation. In Eastern Europe and mainland China, the church endured oppression at the hands of Communist regimes, with Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty of Hungary, convicted of treason in 1948 and serving a life sentence, among the most celebrated of persecuted Catholics. The church’s strong stand against Communism along with American Catholics’ desire to be accepted by the Protestant majority created a fervent anti-Communist, almost superpatriotic, culture among Roman Catholics of the United States. For most, Christian beliefs and democratic virtues were superior to atheistic Communism. Aware that the 72 I Anderson final pages 8/10/05 9:15 AM Page 72 practice of Christianity and democracy was wanting, American Roman Catholics were forced to address racial policies and practices. Catholic interracial activities of this period highlighted the incongruities between belief and practice and forced church leaders to address the issue.3 INTERRACIAL ACTIVISM As the nation dealt with issues of war and peace, members of the Southeastern Regional Interracial Commission (SERINCO) and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) continued their efforts to effect change within the church. Both groups held monthly meetings, published newsletters, hosted guest speakers, organized annual interracial gatherings, and put on social affairs. Compared to the campaigns against segregation a decade or so later undertaken by the major southern civil rights organizations such as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, the activities of SERINCO and the CHR pale in comparison. And yet these New Orleans Catholics fought for civil rights years before these other organizations even existed. Holding meetings, working together to publish a newsletter, planning an annual day of prayer, or gathering for a social affair, all on an integrated basis, undermined the racial customs and standards of the day. Innocuous as some of these activities may appear a half-century later, they were unprecedented at the time and challenged the religious and social landscape of Catholic New Orleans. Participation in SERINCO and CHR activities prepared individuals for the eventual transition from a segregated to an integrated society. Unfortunately, these organizations were short-lived and did not fully implement their objectives. Had these organizations survived into the 1960s, however, Catholics interracialism would have provided the leadership and example necessary to produce a new social order. Nevertheless, during the organizations’ existence, SERINCO and CHR members heard guest speakers address the inconsistency between the ideals of Christianity and the practice of segregation by Catholic institutions. Christian principles and ideals called for unity rather than division, inclusion rather than exclusion. One could not be a Christian and discriminate against others. For some Catholics there was a choice: follow Jesus Christ or Jim Crow. In his 1949 SERINCO address concerning Catholic social teachings and American society, Louis Twomey, S.J., regent of Loyola’s law school, focused on the Christian ideal of love. He saw this as a way that church teachings could effect change in American society, especially when applied...

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