MANDATE FOR WHITE CHRISTIANS

The editor of The Christian Century addresses this small volume to white Christians who have ""defaulted"" their Christian faith by standing aloof from the racial struggle, and also to those whose defaulting arises from the use of methods which contradict their faith. The author calls his approach ""diagnostic rather than historical,"" and applies it to identify the causes for the failure of white Christians to meet the issues of racial relations, even in colonial times. The conflict of conscience resulting has plagued both the segregationists, and their forerunners among slave holders, and those Christians who have tried to escape from the racial conflict. Throughout, the writing is well-informed by citation of both historical and current literature and documents. The analysis is often penetrating, as in the instance of Wallace's support in his bid for presidential nomination. Dr. Haseldon recognizes the importance of conflict as both inescapable and essential for the working out of social issues as deeply rooted as race; but he questions the justification for indiscriminate generating of conflict as advocated by some integrationists or Saul Alinsky. His inclination here is with Martin Luther King's use of nonviolence. This is a well-written, perceptive contribution to the growing literature on the subject of race, and could have a wide public.