Vernon Johns (1892 – 1965) was a minister who was active in the struggle for civil rights. He laid the foundation on which Martin Luther King Jr. and others would build.
Dr. Johns was a competitive classmate at Oberlin of Robert Maynard Hutchins.
Who was Robert Hutchins?
Robert Maynard Hutchins (also Maynard Hutchins) (January 17, 1899 – May 17, 1977), was an educational philosopher, dean of Yale Law School (1927–1929), and president (1929–1945) and chancellor (1945–1951) of the University of Chicago. He was the husband of novelist Maude Hutchins. Although his father and grandfather were both Presbyterian ministers, Hutchins became one of the most influential members of the school of secular perennialism.
Vernon Johns, from "The Technique of Community":
"As I say,... place on one side of the line the ease that may be won by appropriating for ourselves anything we are fortunate enough to get hold of, place on that side of the line the physical security which may come from joining the strong and exploiting the weak, place on that side or perpetuate that security in the world by holding the weak and defenseless in a position of inferiority so that he cannot ask for his share of either honor or emolument. Place all of them on one side.
Then, place on the other side of the line this sentiment: I want every child of man to be eligible for the good things of life which I want for myself. I want every thing and every value that I prize to be accessible to every manchild beneath these traveling stars.
Place the first list of goods on one side of the line and this one sentiment of justice and equality on the other and, for every man standing in the presence of this choice, God says with Emerson: “take either you will, but you can’t have both... [Yes] You’ve got to make a choice between one and the other. [All right]."