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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS —Oct. I, 1954—PAGE 7 Kentucky LOUISVILLE, Ky. entucky’s public schools began the 1954-55 school year as they had since enactment of the Day Law in 1904, with complete segregation still in effect. This was in compliance with the June 17 advice of the state board of education that such a course be followed pending a final decree on segregation by the Supreme Court. Nowhere in the state did Negro stu dents apply for admission to white public schools below the college level. There was a notable lack of public discussion of desegregation during the month of September. State officials made it plain that they welcomed this “simmering-down period,” that Ken tucky plans no news-making changes at this time, and, save for research and discussion of the problems in volved, probably not until after the Supreme Court gives its what-how- and-when ruling next spring or la ter. Kentucky will not be represented at the Court hearing in December, Gov. Lawrence Wetherby said on Sept. 24. It will simply await the Court’s ruling. It will then, he said, recalling his May 17 statement, “do whatever is necessary to comply with the law.” “We are taking this whole thing in our stride,” he told Southern School News, “and we can do it best with a minimum of fanfare. “I have asked members of the seven-man Citizens Advisory Com mittee on Desegregation”—appointed by the Governor last July—“to keep abreast of all developments in this field and be prepared to discuss pos itive recommendations at a joint meeting with the State Board of Ed ucation at some future date,” he added. The committee has yet to hold its own first meeting. On the keep-abreast front, Ken tucky was represented at two confer ences by Sam Taylor, head of the State Department of Education’s Di vision of School Supervision. In Sep tember he attended the Second Re gional Conference of State Boards of Education and Chief State School Officers in Atlanta where “the bi- racial picture in southern education and related problems” was the theme. Earlier he attended the University of New Jersey Workshop on Com munity Leadership where New Jer sey’s experience in desegregation was detailed at length. Some Criticism Heard Kentucky’s apparent go-slow pat tern has met with some quiet crit icism from Negro leaders, who be lieve that at least two local districts might have begun an integration program this fall had it not been for the state board’s advice, and who de sire “faster spadework” on prepara tions for change. In this vein Dr. R. B. Atwood, pres ident of Kentucky State College at Frankfort (Kentucky’s land-grant Louisiana NEW ORLEANS, La. OUISIANA’S students have re- J turned to their studies amid a growing confusion of ideas, opinions and views on the segregation-inte gration problem. But, despite a discernable trend in some portions of the state to talk over the problem, there has been no offi cial action by the government since the last Legislature closed its doors July 9. Thus Louisiana remains in the Deep South bloc that, presently at least, will not consider integration on a state level. Louisiana is one of five states that have announced they will boycott the next round of arguments scheduled by the Supreme Court on the segre gation issue. State attorney general Fred LeBlanc explained: We are not parties to any of the segre gation suits now before the Supreme Court. The thought among attorneys general (of the five states) is that if we did file briefs, we possibly would be bound by the decree rendered in the case; whereas if we do not file, we would not be bound directly by decree. It may be that if any integration decree is to be enforced in Louisiana, additional suits would have to be filed against the State Department of Education and school boards around the state. Louisiana’s school system is ad ministered mostly at the local level, with the state department supplying additional financing (almost one-half in every instance) and controlling teacher certification. Legislature’s Position LeBlanc pointed out that the offi cial position of the state is the same as taken by the legislature at its last session. The 1954 legislature approved two acts, one calling for Louisiana to use police power under the constitu tion to continue separate schools for the races, and the other authorizing ocal superintendents of schools to as- Sl gn children to specific schools in ad- v ance of the school term. The legislature also approved and sent to the state’s voters a proposed constitutional amendment, dealing W *th the same right as passed by act which would allow the state to use its Po i,'ce power to continue segregation. This “police power” constitutional amendment, which will be voted No- ember 2, is the heart of Louisiana’s a empt to maintain its present edu- ca tional system. It declares segregation a matter of “health and morals,” and subject to control by the state’s inherent police power. The same amendment also pro posed that the legislature have the flexible power to call special elec tions at any time on educational ques tions. The latter provision makes it possible to pass additional legislation in the event the “police power” pro posal is declared unconstitutional. Committee at Work A 10-man legislative committee, aided by a number of volunteer at torneys, has been making a study of segregation-integration since the leg islature closed. However, no report has been made as yet. State Sen. William M. Rainach of Summerfield, chairman of the group, said that his committee is considering a new tack in its resistance to the Su preme Court ruling. The new plan will involve court action. Rainach would not, however, reveal details of the new plan. “We don’t want the National Asso ciation for the Advancement of Col ored People to get set,” he said. We hope to take an entirely new route, if necessary, but I can’t say what that route will be. Our plans are not developed. We want to remain on a peaceful, calm and sensible course . . . We’ve got a pret ty good idea what we can do and we’re not going out and attempt something sen sational that we know won’t work. Meanwhile, the state’s students went back to school early in Septem ber almost without incident. In Baton Rouge, 40 children at tempted to register at an all-white school, originally constructed for Ne gro use in Dixie, a predominately Negro-occupied suburb of the city. They were told by the school prin cipal that they could not be admitted because he had received no instruc tion from the State Department of Education to admit them. The same thing happened in Gret na, directly across the Mississippi River from New Orleans, when seven Negro children attempted to register in a school. There were no other incidents. No Court Suits Planned A. P. Tureaud, attorney for the NAACP, said his organization planned no immediate court suits since “we’ve got grammar and high school suits filed over a year ago in Orleans and St. Helena parishes (counties).” college for Negroes), proposed to Gov. Wetherby that (1) the super intendent of public instruction be named to ex officio membership on the advisory committee, an extra- legal body composed of laymen, and that (2) the state board of education, on recommendation of the superin tendent and the advisory committee, establish a new “Division on Deseg regation.” The division’s mission would be to assist (“when invited”) local school boards in developing and carrying forward plans to desegre gate the public schools. Praising the governor’s past steps as “a good beginning,” Dr. Atwood urged creation of the new division to meet the need of local committees for “expert counseling and guidance.” He suggested that the educational- sociologist director of the proposed division be white, the assistant direc tor a Negro, and that the governor’s emergency fund supply $25,000 an nually for the division’s operations “as long as necessary.” Gov. Wetherby discussed the mem orandum-proposal with Dr. Atwood and has since referred it to State Su perintendent of Public Instruction Wendell P. Butler for further consid eration. College Doors Opened While September saw no basic change in the public school system of the state, there was an apprecia ble widening of college doors to Ne gro students. Several institutions of higher learning have admitted Negroes since 1949. But until this year the Univer sity of Kentucky has limited them, in general, to its graduate and pro-* “And since these suits were filed before the legislature passed its acts, they have no bearing on these cases. We’re just going to sit and wait,” he added. Both suits are still pending in low er courts. However, Tureaud said that suits had been filed against McNeese State College in Lake Charles and South eastern Louisiana College in Ham mond, two small state colleges. Both have refused to admit Negroes as undergraduates. Negroes have been admitted as un dergraduates in only one state col lege—Southwestern Louisiana Insti tute in Lafayette. Pre-registration reports had it that some 40 Negroes were preparing to register, but that number has report edly increased since registration has taken place. SLI President Joel Fletcher said that he has no idea how many Negroes are enrolled in the college since stu dents are not required to classify themselves by race when they regis ter. There have been no further an nouncements by the colleges as to Negro students. Tureaud Case Pending Louisiana State University grad uate school is open to Negroes, but Negro undergraduates have been re fused admission pending the outcome of a case involving A. P. Tureaud, Jr., son of the NAACP attorney in New Orleans. Young Tureaud attended LSU for a short time, living in a university dormitory, before his registration was revoked on the grounds that there were equal facilities at South ern University, an all-Negro college, also located in Baton Rouge. A ruling of the U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals fh the Tureaud case, which upheld segregation, has been remand ed by the Supreme Court on a ques tion of procedure. The case was orig inally heard before the U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals by only one judge, rather than the full three. Attorneys for both sides are still confused as to whether or not the case should be reconsidered on merit or procedure, according to Tureaud. In other portions of the state, Ne groes have been admitted into the College of the Sacred Heart at Grand Coteau, La., a small, very old Cath olic college for girls. Negroes have also been admitted this semester to the Baptist Seminary in New Orleans, and the graduate faculty of Tulane University has pe titioned the Board of Administrators to admit Negroes on a graduate level. The Tulane board is still consider fessional schools. Last summer sev eral Negroes were admitted to sum mer session undergraduate courses, and in September some 15 to 20 Ne gro undergraduates were enrolled for the regular session. The number included, for the first time, several freshmen. And at Murray State Col lege, for the first time, a Negro part- time student was enrolled. Other Kentucky institutions which have been enrolling Negro under graduates for some time include the University of Louisville, Berea Col lege, Paducah Junior College, and three Catholic colleges. Three Prot estant theological seminaries in the state — Baptist, Presbyterian, and Christian—also accepted students of both races. And at the University of Louisville, for the first time, two Negro athletes won berths on the varsity football team and played in the season’s open er for the Cardinals against an all- white Murray State team. Louisville lost, 3-13. There have been no reper cussions. Faculty Integration On the other side of the coin, there was a small beginning of de segregation at Frankfort’s Kentucky State College for Negroes. New fac ulty members include two white men: Dr. William S. Snyder, who holds degrees from William and Mary, Chicago, and Pennsylvania, became school physician (the second white man to hold this post at the college), and Paul Patrick Sullivan, a University of Kentucky graduate employed by a Frankfort bank, be came a part-time instructor in busi ness administration. ing the petition, and no action had been taken. Loyola University of the South in New Orleans, a Jesuit institution, has admitted Negroes as undergraduates for the past 5 years. No Catholic Plan The Catholic Church, a potent voice in predominantly Catholic South Louisiana, has continued its battle for integration, but seems to have bogged down on any suggested plan for widespread integration of parochial elementary and high schools. Prime stumbling block is the fact that Catholic schools are already overcrowded on a segregated basis, with the church being forced to set up a system of non-academic admis sion requirements to take care of applicants. In almost every instance, a paro chial school will admit no student if he (or she) is not from that church’s parish. Extra priority is given if members of the child’s family have previously attended that school. In New Orleans alone, parochial school attendance—almost one-half Florida (Continued from Page 6) mission was denied, and that all other remedies are exhausted. The courts could take testimony and determine the merits of each case. Consideration might well be that the legislature has had reason able time to reorganize the school system, that the school authorities have shown good faith in attempt ing to abide by the spirit of the Supreme Court’s integration ruling. Other valid evidence, the brief suggests, might be the progress of the local community toward solving the problem, whether such admis sion might jeopardize a gradual so lution, and the degree of basic op position and hostility which might provide reasonable grounds for be lief that granting the application might lead to disruption of the school system or create psychological feelings among the children as to interfere seriously with their edu cation. The attorney general suggests that the courts of first instance, where the original cases were heard, might be given wide latitude in their de grees, based on careful consideration of local conditions. The problem is one of the most difficult, the attorney general points out, because it involves the collec- And the student body, for the first time, included a white woman stu dent, who after earlier studies at the University of Kentucky, is now working in Frankfort and taking part-time instruction in physical ed ucation at Kentucky State. The Kentucky State campus is no stranger to integrated classes, how ever. It was host last summer to a two-week University of Kentucky Extension Department seminar in Art Education, participated in by 25 lo cal-area students of both races. Coleman’s Statement One clearly - defined attitude toward impending change was voiced on Sept. 14 by Dr. A. Lee Coleman, University of Kentucky sociologist, to a group of the state’s community leaders attending the university’s an nual School-for-a-Day program. Of eight “classes” offered, one was en titled “How to Approach the Prob lem of School Integration.” Said Dr. Coleman: I feel strongly that the Supreme Court made the right decision . . . and really the only possible decision under the circumstances, and that the long-run con sequences will be good. You can’t get around it—the ideas of compulsory racial segregation and democ racy are incompatible and one or the other must go. "Separate but equal” is manifestly impossible when enforced by a majority group on a minority group determined solely by race. We have gone to great lengths in argu ing the pros and cons of "separate but equal” . . . the test is simply for each one of us to ask himself whether I per sonally would feel that I had equal oppor tunity if I were told by a majority group that I could use only certain facilities and no others—simply on the grounds of what kind of parents X was bom to, or the color of my skin. I am certain there is not a person anywhere who could give an honest “Yes.” of the city’s total—was up more than 2,000 students in the school year 1953- 54, as compared with the previous year. Public school attendance, based on figures by the Orleans Parish School Board, was up 1,000 during the same period. State Superintendent of Education Shelby M. Jackson, an elective offi cial, has made no public statement on the issue, and has said that he will not make any statement at this time. Orleans Parish Superintendent of Schools James Redmond has said that neither the Orleans parish school board nor his staff had discussed the question. “I’ve given thought to it, myself, of course, but the parish’s school sys tem is under the control of the state and we have received no instructions to prepare any plans,” Dr. Redmond said. Dr. Redmond pointed out that, in his opinion, no local school board could take any action at this time since the state legislature had estab lished the state’s policy along segre gated lines. tive conscience and mores of the white citizens. That conscience, as revealed by the detailed preparatory studies for the brief, is that citizens generally are not ready for immedi ate desegregation. The opposition is deep-seated and is based on ingrained fears, racial differences, history, traditions and customs, and this opposition cannot be changed over night, the brief contends. Free men cannot be molded and transformed by a drastic judicial de cree which does not square with their conscience, Ervin’s brief says. The problem is so enormous that it involves reconciliation of the ma jority to a decree to which it is opposed. There must be a plan, the brief argues, and that plan must be adapt able to each local situation. The only factor which these varied aspects must have in common, to be suc cessful, is sufficient time to make the adjustment. The brief poses these alternative views which history may take of this Supreme Court decision imple menting integration: It may go down as a seismic shock which creates hate and emotional im pacts that carry away the school system that took a half century and billions of dollars to build. Or it may be looked upon as the ex pression of the high goal of democracy toward which men of good will strive slowly but steadily to attain.