Methodists and the Negro

Elderly (119 years) but lively Zion's Herald, No. 2 Methodist weekly, waxed hot last week over racial discrimination in the Methodist Church. "Our sin against the Negro lies as a log across the path of Methodist progress," editorialized the Herald. "In these days of war, with discrimination against the Negro becoming a nationwide scandal, we are tongue-tied. . . . What is the church going to do about real brotherhood?"

The outburst was occasioned by the refusal of Wilbraham Academy, oldest Methodist school in America, to admit the fully qualified son of one of its own Negro alumni.* The alumnus is Robert Shaw Wilkinson Jr., a Manhattan surgeon. He and his brother both graduated from Wilbraham with highest honors--the first pair of brothers to achieve this distinction in the history of the school.

Said Dr. Wilkinson: "If you could have seen the tragic expression which came over the face of my splendid young son last evening when he was apprised of Wilbraham's decision, you would fully realize the serious implications and results of the pseudodemocracy existing in America today."

* In the South, Methodists operate nine colleges, two junior colleges and three professional schools for Negroes.

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