SIR,-Mr. Colin Maclnnes's reference to a segregated Anglican service in
Northern Rhodesia recalls for me an incident I witnessed in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, some eighteen months ago.
As part of a campaign to break down the colour bar three Africans—two men and a woman— presented themselves shortly before eleven o'clock one Sunday morning at the Dutch Reformed Church on Jameson Avenue, where the congregation is pre- dominantly Afrikaner. They were repulsed at the gate by two angry elders of the church who were clearly amazed at this black effrontery. The Africans were neatly and properly dressed, and they behaved impeccably. One carried a Bible. Their spokesman explained that they had come to worship. Was this not the House of God?
In minatory tones the elder replied: 'Man, this is not the House of God. These premises belong to the Dutch Reformed Church,'
Previous page
