RESERVED TABLES

When thirty Negro students from Howard University in Washington were refused entrance Saturday to the Congressional dining rooms, the country was treated to a farce on democracy: If these dining rooms were reserved exclusively for Congressmen, and not open to the general public, the refusal might have been warranted. It was based solely on a ruling by the congressional committee in charge, excluding negroes from the dining rooms. Not only is this ruling manifestly unfair to Representative Oscar DePriest, colored Congressman from Illinois, it again tramples in the dust the American principle of equal rights for all.

This incident brings into bold relief the whole race problem in the country. When representatives of the American people in Congress assembled sanction inequality, it is difficult to condemn the injustice of lynch law and trials similar to that of the Scottsbore boys. If Congress refuses rights to one minority group on account of color, it may refuse rights to other minority groups on account of creed nationality amount of wealth, or any other principle.

The ideal that all are created equal is untenable. But all are entitled to equal rights, with attainments limited only by their own inherent qualities. It is highly unfair to judge individuals on a facial or group basis of any kind; individuals should be judged as individuals on their own merits. Those Negro students presented a significant tableau as they stood before a picture of Lincoln signing the emancipation proclamation, just after Congress had denied them the rights of American citizens.