DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Dorothy Schramm newspaper clippings, 1949-1955 (folder 1 of 2) | 1950-02-25 Burlington Hawkeye Gazette Article: "Smorgasbord"

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Dorothy Schramm newspaper clippings, 1949-1955 (folder 1 of 2)

1950-02-25 Burlington Hawkeye Gazette Article: "Smorgasbord"

[[Handwritten]]
Feb 25 50
[[Header in bold]]
Smorgasbord By Lloyd Maffitt
[[Article text]]
Today's column was written especially for us by the committee for Burlington self-survey.
[[Bold]]What are human[[end bold]] relations? That is a term which can cover many situations and meanings in such groups as the family, the school, the world community. It may mean relations between people separated by religeous beliefs, racial differences or national boundaries, or between adults and 'teenagers.
The American measure for all human relations is their effect upon the individuals involved. We use this measure because faith in the individual is the only possible foundation for democracy and because sacredness of the individual is the core of Christian concept. This criterion is being extended throughout the world. Members of the United Nations, including all religous and political beliefs, endorsed the principle last year when they adopted the declaration of human rights. There is, of course, a wide gap between the ideal and the practice in many nations and comunities, but we can only say that where effort is being made to narrow the gap the ideal is operating. 
Americans, we believe, are not blowing their own horn too loudly when they hold that the United States has done one of the outstanding jobs in incorporating into daily practice this ideal of the inviolate individual. perhaps it is because we got an early start. For hundreds of years Americans have put a premium on individual initiative which pioneering intensified. The notion that every individual should have equal opportunity to help himself and to enjoy the fruits of his self-help is as native as our tall corn, as rugged as the log cabins still standing, as honored as our ancestors.
***
[[Bold]]So we employ [[end bold]] this individualistic measuring stick today when we want to judge a current problem in human relations. Often the occasion for judgment is a change in existing conditions such as the latest shift in Russia's iron curtain, "How many individuals have lost their freedom this time?" asks the American. Sometimes the occasion is an emergency, a 'teen-ager turned delinquent, let us say. We wonder what human relations in the home, the neighborhood or at school caused the individual to run amok.
Many times the occasion for using the American measuring stick is neither a change nor an emergency, but merely a desire to see how we are living up to our own standards in our normal day-to-day practices. Such an occasion is presented by the community self-survey on human relations.
The objective to this survey is to discover the actual practices in Burlington towards our small Negro minority in such fields as employment, housing and recreating. Every Burlingtonian may then apply his own version of the American measuring stick and decide for himself, on the basis of objective facts, whether individual Negroes in our community have the same opportunity and freedom as other individuals on a basis of group classification or group thinking.
***
[[Bold]]Have we fallen[[end bold]] into mental habits in which we take for granted that certain jobs, for instance, are not open to colored individuals regardless of qualifications? 
Do we, in other words, sometimes discard our traditional point-of-view of individual appraisal in favor of group or mass psychology? To the extent that this is true -- if it is true at all -- most Burlingtonians will feel that our human relations fall short of the American manure.
***
[[Bold]]Results of[[end bold]] the self-survey, however, are expected to show Burlington to be well above average in this respect. Such a home grown report of community achievement should provide just the kind of encouragement that will stimulate us to improve our already fine record so that we prove our already fine record so that we may reach to the top of our own American measure.

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[[Handwritten]] Feb 25 50 [[Header in bold]] Smorgasbord By Lloyd Maffitt [[Article text]] Today's column was written especially for us by the committee for Burlington self-survey. [[Bold]]What are human[[end bold]] relations? That is a term which can cover many situations and meanings in such groups as the family, the school, the world community. It may mean relations between people separated by religeous beliefs, racial differences or national boundaries, or between adults and 'teenagers. The American measure for all human relations is their effect upon the individuals involved. We use this measure because faith in the individual is the only possible foundation for democracy and because sacredness of the individual is the core of Christian concept. This criterion is being extended throughout the world. Members of the United Nations, including all religous and political beliefs, endorsed the principle last year when they adopted the declaration of human rights. There is, of course, a wide gap between the ideal and the practice in many nations and comunities, but we can only say that where effort is being made to narrow the gap the ideal is operating. Americans, we believe, are not blowing their own horn too loudly when they hold that the United States has done one of the outstanding jobs in incorporating into daily practice this ideal of the inviolate individual. perhaps it is because we got an early start. For hundreds of years Americans have put a premium on individual initiative which pioneering intensified. The notion that every individual should have equal opportunity to help himself and to enjoy the fruits of his self-help is as native as our tall corn, as rugged as the log cabins still standing, as honored as our ancestors. *** [[Bold]]So we employ [[end bold]] this individualistic measuring stick today when we want to judge a current problem in human relations. Often the occasion for judgment is a change in existing conditions such as the latest shift in Russia's iron curtain, "How many individuals have lost their freedom this time?" asks the American. Sometimes the occasion is an emergency, a 'teen-ager turned delinquent, let us say. We wonder what human relations in the home, the neighborhood or at school caused the individual to run amok. Many times the occasion for using the American measuring stick is neither a change nor an emergency, but merely a desire to see how we are living up to our own standards in our normal day-to-day practices. Such an occasion is presented by the community self-survey on human relations. The objective to this survey is to discover the actual practices in Burlington towards our small Negro minority in such fields as employment, housing and recreating. Every Burlingtonian may then apply his own version of the American measuring stick and decide for himself, on the basis of objective facts, whether individual Negroes in our community have the same opportunity and freedom as other individuals on a basis of group classification or group thinking. *** [[Bold]]Have we fallen[[end bold]] into mental habits in which we take for granted that certain jobs, for instance, are not open to colored individuals regardless of qualifications? Do we, in other words, sometimes discard our traditional point-of-view of individual appraisal in favor of group or mass psychology? To the extent that this is true -- if it is true at all -- most Burlingtonians will feel that our human relations fall short of the American manure. *** [[Bold]]Results of[[end bold]] the self-survey, however, are expected to show Burlington to be well above average in this respect. Such a home grown report of community achievement should provide just the kind of encouragement that will stimulate us to improve our already fine record so that we prove our already fine record so that we may reach to the top of our own American measure.