(For Immediate Release - July 11, 1961)
Upon my return from attending the National Governors' Conference, I was informed that on June 26, His Excellency, Adam Malik Soo, Ambassador to the United States and to the United Nations from Chad, was enroute from New York to Washington to present credentials to the President of the United States when he was refused service at a restaurant located on Route 40, near Edgewood in Harford County.
The seriousness of such an unfortunate incident cannot be over-emphasized. Discrimination is reprehensible wherever and to whomever it occurs, but in this instance there are factors which should make it obvious to all that his is not a private matter but one that involves the security interests of our nation.
Mr. Soo is the official representative of the new sovereign African nation of Chad. What happened to Ambassador Soo was an insult not only to him as a person but to the people of his country.
There can be no one today who does not realize that our nation is involved in a world-wide struggle with the Soviet Union. A struggle to determine whether the United States, its allies, and the uncommitted nations will remain free or be subjected to domination by Soviet imperialism. The sovereign State of Chad is one of the new independent States of Africa whose friendship and support is vitally important to the secuirty of the United States.
Spokeman for President Kennedy and the State Department had indicated that this is the fifth Ambassador from an African nation who has received similar humiliation in Maryland within the last six months and that such incidents destroy the goodwill and effectiveness of our foreign aid program.
Such a mistake must not occur again. I call on every Marylander to think this matter through and place his nation's interest above his personal preferences. I know I speak for all Marylanders when I publicly express the deepest apologies to His Excellency, Adam Malik Soo, the Ambassador to the United States from Chad.
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This is a copy of a document on file in the Bard Library. Applied Social Sciences Computer Research Lab Comments to Joan A. Andersen, SBS Webmaster: joanaa@umd5.umd.edu Baltimore City Community College Content copyright © 1996 Joan A. Andersen; Revised: 1 August, 1996 URL: http://www.erols.com/bcccsbs