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PAGE 6 —Oct. I, 1954 —SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS Florida MIAMI, Fla. lorida schools opened in Septem ber without incident. There was a feeling among leaders and educa tors of both races that any action to ward implementation of the Su preme Court decision should await the further ruling of the Court. As October arrived, Atty. Gen. Richard W. Ervin prepared to file with the United States Supreme Court the amicus brief in behalf of the State of Florida in response to the court’s invitation for suggestions. Florida was not a party to the original cases, and is not intervening in the cases. However, the brief is a plea for gradual adjustment to seg regation, with broad powers of dis cretion vested in local school author ities to adapt the change to local conditions and needs. Ervin said that a sincere and thor ough effort has been made to pre sent reasonable and local answers to the questions posed by the Court. Based on Survey The suggestions are based, the at torney general said, on a scientific survey of the factual situation in Florida, embracing practical, psy chological, economic and sociologi cal effects of integration, as well as an exhaustive research of legal prin ciples. Practical considerations alone are enormous, the brief points out. Seg regation of schools is a constitu tional provision that has been in existence in Florida for 69 years. This is based on social customs that cannot be changed overnight with out completely disrupting estab lished procedures of planning, trans portation, teacher employment—fac tors reaching into the heart of every community organization, the brief explains. The simple mechanical process of reorganizing the basic school laws will take long legislative study, the brief says. The legislature is con fined to biennial sessions of 60 days, unless special sessions are called for specific purposes. The next regular session is in May. The welfare of 650,285 children is at stake and the annual expenditure of $138,895,123 (1954 figures) is in volved in Florida, so legal processes cannot be hasty, the brief points out. MACON, Ga. EORGIANS have not yet decided how they will attempt to cir cumvent the Supreme Court decision outlawing segregation in the public schools, but they have selected for their state chief executive officer a man who has pledged, “Come hell or high water, races will not be mixed in Georgia schools.” On Sept. 8, voters went to the polls and gave the Democratic primary nomination for governor to Marvin Griffin of Bainbridge. The general election is only a formality and there is no question but that Gov.-Nomi- nate Griffin will become Gov. Griffin January. Griffin’s campaign appeals were based on the theme that he was the only candidate who could be de pended on by the people to maintain segregation. He referred to himself as the “white man’s candidate” and freely denounced the NAACP, “Yan kee carpetbaggers” and northern in terests as among those who opposed his candidacy in the hope of integrat ing the races in Georgia classrooms. The gov.-nominate’s main line of defense against the court’s decree will be a plan to allow municipal, county and state funds to be given to indi viduals for educational purposes. This has been generally tagged as the “private school plan,” and in the gen eral election voters will decide on a proposed constitutional amendment which gives the state legislature au thority to so act if it sees fit. During the campaign, in hearings before the Georgia Education Corn- Problems are of immense complex ity, Ervin argues. One, for instance, is the allotment of scholarships to candidates for the teaching profes sion, now assigned on a racial basis. Another is the powers and duties of local school boards and of the state school superintendent. Each is vested in a body of law accumu lated through the years, and some have constitutional factors. The conversion of a 300-million- dollar school plant, with a 100-mil lion dollar building program in be ing, into an integrated system, is an enormous task, the brief adds. All these matters must be sifted by legislative committees, expert opinion must be obtained and the full legislative process carried through before the changes can be effected. Administrative Problems The legislative problems are matched in magnitude by the neces sary revision of administrative pro cedures, the brief says. The integra tion of the school bus system alone is a gigantic task. This year (1953- 54) Florida’s school systems oper ated 2,212 buses, transporting 209,- 492 pupils 30,910,944 miles. This is ten times larger than the state’s largest commercial bus system. Redistricting made necessary by integration is another problem. Dif fering scholastic standards may pre sent the greatest problem of all. Health and moral welfare must be recognized and provided for, argues the brief. All facts available show cultural differences that must be recognized and understood if a solu tion is possible, rather than a blind refusal to admit that they exist. The brief cites an exhaustive study of leadership opinion, reported here last month. This showed three- fourths of the state’s white leaders disagreed with the Supreme Corut’s decision. Only a small minority of both races advocate immediate, com plete desegregation. While a minority of both white and Negro leaders expect serious violence to occur if desegregation is attempted, there is widespread lack of confidence in the ability of peace officers to maintain law and order if serious violence starts. Nevertheless, Ervin’s brief said there is reason to believe that segre- mission, a body created to explore avenues of circumvention, Griffin advocated two plans as “hold the line” measures. The first would have set up 100- member school boards in each county to designate schools to be attended by individual pupils with the under standing that white children would be sent to white schools and Negro children to Negro schools. The second would have required new residents of Georgia to live in the state for 12 months before they could send their children to school. Griffin explained this was designed to thwart those who might move to Georgia in an at tempt to crack the segregation front. Ridicule of the plans by several newspapers and by rival gubernato rial candidates followed and Griffin gradually shifted to whole-hearted approval of the private school plan which was originally proposed by the present governor, Herman E. Tal- madge. Strong Campaign Planned Talmadge, Griffin, Atty. Gen. Eu gene Cook and other officials of the incoming or present state administra tion are expected to campaign vigor ously for the proposed amendment. Griffin is also lining up the Georgia Democratic party machinery to begin an all-out drive for support of the private school plan at the party’s state convention in Macon Sept. 30. Atty. Gen. Cook and Gov. Talmadge both took the position shortly after the May 17 decision that Georgia would not be represented. Cook, who ATTY. GEN. ERVIN Author of Florida Brief gated schools can be ended in Flor ida in an equitable manner without destroying the school system itself. But there is no reason to believe, the brief sets forth, that this can be accomplished hurriedly or through the legal coercion of school officials. This would pose the im possible dilemma of an inescapable judicial verdict opposed by immov able public opinion. Stresses Need for Time The need for time and tact and wisdom in bringing about a true realization of the goal set by the Supreme Court is recognized by white and Negro leaders of Florida, Ervin said. These leaders have given long and careful study to the situation in an honest effort to arrive at a solu tion compatible with the court’s rul ing and the ingrained customs, out look and mores of the people. One example of this, cited in the brief, is the deliberations of the Con tinuing Education Council of Flor ida, composed of representatives of virtually all civic, labor, veteran and educational organizations, set up specifically to study the problems of desegregation. Several sessions of this body have been held, and on Sept. 10, it agreed on some basic principles. A resolu tion of principle unanimously adopt ed said: That in a democratic society, public education is of paramount importance. That the state of Florida has made sig- has been attorney general of Georgia longer than any other official who has held that post, will boycott the sessions on legal and moral grounds. Legally, he believes that if he should appear in his official capacity of attorney general of Georgia as “amicus curiae” (friend of the court), he would probably subject all of Georgia’s 202 county and city school systems to compliance with the court’s instructions. Morally, he feels that the participa tion in his official capacity in assist ing the court to prepare inplementa- tion instructions would carry an ob ligation on his part to urge the people of Georgia to comply with such in structions. This, Cook declares, he refuses to do. “The people of Georgia,” he says, “don’t want to comply.” By way of proof, Cook cites the fact that eight of the nine candidates for governor included a plank pledging maintenance of segregation in the public schools in their platforms, that the Georgia constitution prohibits the spending of state funds for mixed schools and that the 1953 Appropria tions Act provides that all public funds will be withdrawn from any school system, including the univer sity system, if operated with white and colored students in the same classrooms. Of the nine candidates in the gu bernatorial race, only one, Mrs. Grace Thomas, an Atlanta woman attorney, campaigned for compliance with the Supreme Court decree outlawing segregation. She received less than one per cent of the total vote cast. This fact has been forwarded by some as one bit of evidence that 98 or 99 per cent of the white and colored people of Georgia are opposed to end ing segregation. niflcant gains in recent years in the qual ity of its educational programs and In the educational opportunities for all the youth of the state. That the state of Florida cannot afford the educational or economic loss which would occur If we permitted a disruption of this program. Therefore, we believe that we must maintain and support a strong system of public education for all the youth of the state and that the citizens of Florida in their legal contacts, through constant education and study, should work for the general education of all the people are prescribed by the laws of our state and nation. That we endorse the filing of the pro posed brief by the attorney general for the purpose of preserving the system of public education in the state of Florida when the final interpretation has been rendered by the Supreme Court. That we urge this committee to con tinue the work on the processes neces sary for ultimate compliance with the law. That we encourage the organization of similar groups at the local level, i.e. school community by school community, to work toward the same objectives. Others Quoted That this is a reflection of the feelings of Florida top leadership is indicated by various reactions, ac cording to the brief. Mrs. Mary McLeo Bethune, found er of the Bethune-Cookman College at Daytona Beach and a widely known Negro educator, said that the Supreme Court has “put a legal foundation under a belief many of us have long held and which is clearly and concisely stated in the most basic American ideal: All men are created equal. In quietness and patience, people of culture receive this news, realizing the inevitable has at last come about. They also realize, however, that the absorp tion into our daily lives of this new deci sion—the putting of it into practice— must represent an organic cultural as similation, which, like all social processes, will take time. Let us enter into this integration calmly, with good judgment. United States Sen. Spessard L. Holland said in a press interview in Tampa: We cannot spend all our time in vain regrets, but rather time must be spent in trying, as apparently the State Cabinet has been doing along with officials and educators of both races at the local level, to learn how to bring it about. The Lakeland Ledger said editor ially: That attitude (Holland’s) is the only one with which the problem now at hand can be solved, and it is the attitude of all clear-thinking citizens of the South. If the process is not rushed, there will be a good chance of making the adjust ment harmoniously over a period of years. The level-headed view such as that ex pressed by Sen. Holland must prevail. The Orlando Sentinel pointed out The attorney general claims there are several precedents upholding the propriety of Georgia’s position. He cites the decision in Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 Dali. 419, which allowed a citizen to sue the State of Georgia and was circumvented by the Elev enth Amendment. He cites also the Sixteenth Amendment adopted by Congress and the state legislatures to circumvent a Supreme Court decision declaring the federal income tax un constitutional. More recently, he points to the circumvention of a Su preme Court decision in the tidelands oil case where Congress reversed a decision of the court. Cites Lincoln Quote Cook, in giving his opinion that Georgia will be able to work out a plan that will not conflict with the Constitution of the United States and yet preserve “the customs and mores of our people,” quotes Abraham Lin coln as saying about the Supreme Court’s decision in the famed Dred Scott case: “We mean to reverse it, and we mean to reverse it peaceably.” “Surely the court,” says Cook, “cannot be so naive as to have failed to take cognizance of the various plans under consideration in our re spective states, the sole aims of which are to frustrate, rather than assist, the implementation for the coming from the October hearings.” To appear, reasons the attorney general, would seem to the court not only extremely bad taste, but bad faith as well. The attorney general also criticizes the upcoming implementation in struction sessions by saying that, in his opinion, the landmark case of Hague vs. CIO, 307 U. S. 496, estab lished beyond question the principle that a decree could only declare a law Georgia that the integration problem varies for community to community, as it does from state to state. Clearly It would be unfair to expect public officials to overcome the prob lems of integration all at the same time without regard to the difficulties in volved. The Supreme Court should take cognizance of the inherent differences among individuals as among communi ties and leave the problem of when de segregation can safely be accomplished to the local authorities. All these, and many other cited instances, add up to a respectable body of public opinion, the brief says, adding that it leads to a belief that any attempt to compel immedi ate desegregation would constitute a shock treatment so drastic that any further efforts to reach understand ing and gradual settlement of ques tions by responsible leaders would be nullified. Internal Variations The brief points out the regional variations in the state. North Florida and West Florida are largely set tled by people of southern ancestry, while there has been a large influx in south Florida of people from northern states. Such variations, though based on generalizations, preclude the possi bility of a single, statewide solution, time schedule or pattern, Ervin says. Only local officials backed by the understanding and willingness of local people to accept the plan keyed to local needs and conditions, has any chance of success. A wide degree of latitude must be left to local communities, the brief says. Suggestions Offered With this background, the brief offers specific suggestions for pos sible court procedures on a purely legal basis. One is that the Supreme Court remand the original cases to the courts of first jurisdiction with di rections to frame decrees in these cases. It is suggested that the lower courts may be ordered to consider suits brought to gain admittance to a specific school, which claim dis crimination because of color. Decis ions in these cases might be reached in accord with certain general di rections from the Supreme Court: The petitioner must show that ad mission was sought in a reasonable time period, that he lives within the limits of the school district, that ad- (Continued on Next Page) void and enjoin its enforcement, and could not prescribe a method of ad ministering the law as rewritten by the court decision. The man who will be the architect of legal strategy in the Griffin admin istration’s efforts to resist integration believes that once consolidated suits covering all Georgia’s school systems are filed in the federal courts, as lit tle tune as 12 months could pass be tween initiation and termination by a Supreme Court decision outlawing segregation in Georgia schools. At that point, in his opinion, the federal courts or special masters ap pointed by the Supreme Court would have a choice of ordering imprison ment of non-complying Georgia school officials on charges of contempt of court or of requesting the Presi dent of the United States to send federal troops to Georgia to enforce the non-segregation decision. Backs Private Schools Cook believes the only answer for Georgians desiring to maintain public school segregation lies in the private school plan. He holds it to be the only weapon against mixed schools which is beyond reach of successful legal attack. His opinion is not shared by Dr. M- D. Collins, state superintendent of schools, who believes such a plan is impractical and not a guarantee of continued public school segregation. There are intense partisans on both sides of the private school plan argu ment. Between now and Nov. 2 when a decision will be reached, Georgians will be debating the issues in this mo mentous question.