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PAGE 14 —Nov. 4, 1954 — SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS South Carolina COLUMBIA, S.C. OUTH CAROLINA’S continuing concern over the school segrega tion problem is manifested more in words than in deeds, since public schools are being maintained on the traditional separate basis in the ab sence of any Supreme Court direc tive specifying otherwise. Most of the words on the subject stem from white political and educa tional leaders who fear that efforts at enforced commingling of the races in South Carolina schools will make for trouble, and will impede the educa tional progress of both races. Con versely, spokesmen for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People are maintaining that integration will be, and should be, accepted by South Carolinians at an early date. Against the background of these conflicting statements, there has been an extension of the membership and influence of organizations formed with the primary aim of preserving racial separation, particularly in the public schools. Several such organ izations already are in existence and others are springing up under vari ous names. Most of them are in the eastern portion of the state where the Negro population is heavy. Both the incoming and outgoing governors of South Carolina have ex pressed concern over incidents of racial strife in northern and border states, and cite such incidents as proof of public unwillingness to ac cept enforced integration. South Carolina Methodists have counseled against mandatory mixing of the races. The South Carolina Education Association (white) has called for preservation of separate schools in the best interests of both races. BYRNES SEES TROUBLE Gov. James F. Byrnes, in a public statement prepared for delivery at an industrial ceremony in Dillon, re newed his contention that mixing the races would retard the education of both white and Negro pupils. He documented the state’s progress to ward full equalization of school facilities, saying “those Negroes who seek admission to white schools will do so only because they do not want to attend Negro schools with Negro teachers.” Citing developments in more northern states, he added: The racial disturbances that have oc curred during the past week in West Virginia, Delaware, and Ohio where there are relatively few Negroes presents a powerful argument in favor of the con tinuance of segregated schools. Thoughtful people should realize that if there is such feeling in communities in the border states and in a northern state where the percentage of Negro popula tion is relatively small, far more serious situations will arise in such counties as Clarendon in this state when an effort is made to mix the races. In the case of the Clarendon County school district now pending in the Su preme Court, the records show that in the schools of that district there are 2,900 Negro students and only 290 white stu dents. The writers on social problems whose views were quoted with approval by the Supreme Court know nothing of the seriousness of the problem involved in such a district. I congratulate the people of South Caro lina on their restraint since the decision of the Supreme Court. . . I believe the vast majority of Negroes in South Caro lina would prefer to send their children to the splendid schools now being con structed for them. My hope is that the final decision of the Court will be such that our people will be able to find a way to live within the law of the land and still preserve our separate school system. REPLY FROM HINTON Those statements by Gov. Byrnes drew this reply from James M. Hin ton, Negro insurance executive and head of the South Carolina Confer ence of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored pupils: Negroes foresee no trouble ahead (in mixing races in schools) unless it is sug gested by those entrusted with the admin istration of the law. The number of chil dren and parents involved where friction came was very small in comparison to the large number of children and parents involved where no friction came from integration. Clarendon County whites and Negroes are law-abiding citizens, and will follow the course of law and order when the occasion arises. There should be no feeling on any person’s part that whites and Negroes would be other than good cit izens, following any decision or decree from the United States Supreme Court. Lt. Gov. George Bell Timmerman, Jr., Democratic nominee for gover nor and unopposed in the November general election, has publicly re newed his position that parents and children should be allowed a “free choice” of schools to be attended. Ex pressing concern over the welfare of Negroes as well as of whites, Mr. Timmerman said this: The attempt to force integration upon people who are not willing to accept it is engendering racial hatreds which will take years to wipe out. The real problem is the establishment and maintenance of working relationships between white and Negro citizens. Here in South Carolina we have steadily improved those relation ships while rapidly improving Negro school facilities. Now, equality goes hand in hand with separation. Disrupting those relationships by force will set back the cause of education for both races and will make for social discord beyond the con ception of the Northerners who tell us how to conduct our own affairs. The unfortunate thing is that the inno cent Negroes are the losers whenever such turmoil is stirred up. I am hopeful that the people of South Carolina will guard against blaming the innocent for what the guilty have done. That will be difficult, for it is only natural to resent bitterly the attacks against southern leaders and the South generally, but we must place the blame where the blame belongs. CHARGES ‘CONFUSION’ The incoming governor is critical of the tendency of the Supreme Court and of northern writers and politicians “to confuse ‘discrimina tion’ with ‘segregation.’ ” The two terms are not interchangeable. I am opposed to discrimination on any grounds, racial or otherwise, but it does not necessarily follow that racial dis crimination results from racial separation. If anything, separation makes for less dis crimination, for it does not provide a basis for the inevitable discrimination which will follow if white and Negro children are mingled in the same schools and the same classrooms. In years past, there has been discrim ination against the Negro in education. That is now being wiped out with public support and public approval, so that our "separate but equal” laws are becoming ttruly meaningful. The "separate but equal” policy provides a fair and practica ble basis for race relations in South Caro lina. If the administration of the law in years past has been faulty, the need is for improved administration such as we are now giving, not abandonment of the prin ciple itself. The public is convinced that equal fa cilities are both desirable and necessary. The real test now is whether the Negroes of the state are willing to take advantage of their opportunity to advance the cause of education, or whether they will seek to upset the entire pattern of public schooling as we know it. This much is certain—whatever progress we make will depend wholly on the willingness of the public to support the program. Meanwhile, the South Carolina Education Association, comprising COLUMBIA, S. C. HE South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation has announced a plan to stimulate “constructive thinking” aimed at meeting the Supreme Court threat to racial separation in public schools. E. Hugh Agnew said that the board of directors had decided that the Farm Bureau could render a useful public service by promoting a realis tic approach to the problem pres ented by the Supreme Court decision. At the same time he emphasized that the Farm Bureau was not seeking to interfere with any governmental or legislative offices concerned with the crisis and was hopeful of cooperating fully with all such agencies. Farm Bureau officials, he said, are basing their educational and informational approach to the problem on these two conclusions: 1. That under the Supreme Court decision of May 17 there is no legal way by which persons desiring to at tend mixed schools can be denied such schools, but 2. That if the right of free choice of racial association is granted to Negroes, the same right can be claimed by each state for its white citizens, thereby permitting volun tary attendance at separate schools. some 10,000 white teachers of the state, decided against formulating any definite course of action pending the Supreme Court’s final decree on school segregation. The association, however, through its authoritative Council of Delegates, on Oct. 9, did adopt this statement, drafted by a special committee headed by Guy L. Vam, superintendent of the Colum bia city schools: “1. An adequate system of free public schools in South Carolina should be maintained. 2. Of necessity we rely upon so cial custom and the good judgment of the citizens of each local district for the maintenance of the system of schools best suited to the needs of all children. 3. It is more important now than ever before to expedite the building program in order to rush to comple tion the provision of adequate edu cational facilities and to maintain the system of schools best suited to the needs of all children. 4. We believe that the present pat tern of public education in South Carolina is the best form of organiza tion for meeting the needs of chil dren of both races.” The annual conference of South Carolina Methodists, held in Spar tanburg on Oct. 21-24, adopted a re port saying “we fear the Negro would suffer most” if races are integrated in public schools “without regard to their relative numbers.” The report was drafted by a committee of eight ministers and eight laymen appoint ed last year to study and report on the segregation situation. It survived a motion to table by a vote of 289-148. Embraced in the report were these statements: The question of racial integration in the public schools can best be resolved on the state or local level. It is apparent to us that an attempt to integrate the races in our public schools without regard to their relative numbers would work grave in justice to many innocent persons, and in the present instance we fear the Negro would suffer most, as he has often when those far removed from his everyday problems have undertaken to speak in his name. Consideration must also be given to the large number of Negro teachers and ad ministrators in our public schools, lest they be denied leadership among their people. To compel a parent, whether white or Negro, to send his child to school and at the same time to compel the child to live under conditions which the parent re gards to be detrimental to the highest interest, would, in our judgment, intro duce problems of serious import. EX-BISHOP SPEAKS OUT A prominent Episcopal church man of the state spoke out strongly on the subject in The Living Church, national weekly publication of Prot estant Episcopalians. The Right Rev. Albert S. Thomas, of Wadmalaw Is land, retired bishop of South Caro lina, defended the Southern view- In documenting these conclusions, the Farm Bureau has enlisted the services of the Management Research Institute, a Charleston research firm headed by Frederick McDonald. Over a period of months the Institute has studied educational establishments, attitudes and circumstances in seven southern states. Out of that study has come a report which the Farm Bu reau will distribute in booklet form to its 20,000 members and will make available to the public. In citing the findings of the In stitute, Mr. Agnew raises the possib ility of turning disaster into triumph by remodeling public education so as to provide still better schooling while retaining “the greatest possible de gree of racial segregation.” “The Supreme Court,” he said, “has no authority, and we believe no intention, of ruling out the right of free citizens to their free choice of association, but since segregation by law in public schools must end, we must seek a new system which will operate within the law, one that will operate successfully and is not pro hibitive in cost. We think such a sys tem can be established on the twin foundations of ‘free choice of associa tion’ and ‘equal and better educa tion’ point on segregation in an article containing these assertions: It may well be that, when we plan to facilitate and expedite the amalgamation of the Negro race with other races, we are verily frustrating a great purpose of God. Where segregation is un-Christian, this is due to man’s fallen nature, not to segregation itself. When the Supreme Court of the United States, departing from its proper consti tutional function of interpreting the law of the land, ventures into the field of some fancied results of educational psy chology without any reference to the principles of human conduct and man’s ultimate destiny as given us in revealed religion, it may haply be found to be fight ing against God. A steadily increasing recognition of the rights and privileges of the Negro race is now, by all indications, receiving a severe blow by those in au thority in both church and state. An as sumption of wisdom beyond God’s word is rather a thing which must be “abhor rent to God.” I believe that this view of segregation would be pleasing to the Negro race as a whole, even if not to those misguided leaders whose motives are questionable: also to the best Christianminded white people where the problems are acute, but perhaps not to those leaders of the nation whose motive to appease atheistic Com munism abroad seems more important than the happiness and well-being of a large portion of our own land which would be insured by strict adherence to principle. The segregation issue is playing a minor role in the current race for the United States Senate seat left vacant by the death of the late Burnet R. Maybank. Two write-in candidates, former Gov. J. Strom Thurmond and Marcus A. Stone, a Florence lumber man, are opposing State Sen. Edgar A. Brown, of Barnwell county, who was nominated by the State Demo cratic Executive Committee when the committee decided insufficient time remained for a primary election. All three candidates favor separate schools for white and Negro students. On the legal front, attorneys for Clarendon County School officials who are involved in the Supreme Court litigation, have decided to file a short brief with the Court next month. Robert McC. Figg Jr., Char leston attorney, said “there are no new allegations and no new material. However, it is felt that the former voluminous briefs would be too bulky for the Supreme Court’s pur pose, so we will file a smaller and more current brief boiling down and reiterating positions which have been stated before.” Those prior positions embrace the contention that the case should be referred back to the local district courts for such further action as may be necessary in light of the Supreme Court’s decision. They also contend that the Supreme Court is without authority to prescribe any specific school system whereby integration might be effected. In mid-October, South Carolina members of the NAACP were told in state convention that “a feasible plan to end public school segregation” Turning to the report itself, the Farm Bureau quoted this: “The South wants its white and Negro children to be able to attend racially separate schools; and where mixed schools are required, for no child to be forced to attend one un willingly.” He added, “Under such a plan as we envision, every parent would have the right to express his or her choice as to the kind of school the child would attend.” Mr. Agnew said the deep public concern over the situation was mani fested in numerous resolutions being submitted by local Farm Bureau chapters with the approach of the Nov. 16 annual meeting of the organ ization. “Most of the thinking apparently has been along lines of evasion and resistance to the implied provisions of the Supreme Court decision. Our feeling in the board of directors is that we should shift the emphasis from defeatism and resistance to one of hope for an improved educational base providing equal and better schooling while retaining the maxi mum amount of separation possible. We believe such an approach will create an atmosphere of confidence in the South and avoid the hysteria and turmoil of ‘shotgun thinking.’ ” Farm Bureau Takes Action ‘Constructive’ Thinking Urged would be presented to the Supreme Court “at an early date.” That state ment came from Dr. Charming R Tobias, chairman of the national or. ganization’s board of directors. He did not detail the plan in any respect, at least insofar as public disclosure is concerned. Dr. Tobias’ address also included a call upon Gov. Byrnes to face up to “the responsibility of influ encing implementation” of the Su preme Court decision. Later in the month, another out- of-state visitor delivered another sort of message to a South Carolina audience. Georgia’s Commissioner of Agriculture, Tom Linder, cham pioned the cause of segregation in a speech delivered before a joint meet ing of the States’ Rights League of Sumter county, and the Florence chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of White Peo ple. Approximately 700 persons, mostly from rural areas and including a sprinkling of women and a few chil dren, heard Mr. Linder charge the NAACP with seeking not only to mix races in the schools, but “in the homes, then in the church, and then before the marriage altar.” “When we fight for separate schools,” he said, “we fight for the very existence of the white man down here in the South.” CENSUS REQUESTED Mr. Linder suggested that a census be conducted of all school children and their parents to determine their wishes in school attendance. Parents and pupils would be required to sign a contractual form stating whether they wished a mixed school or a sep arate school attendance. Those lists, according to the Linder plan, would be published in the press and disclose “who’s who” in the fight. He did not elaborate further on his plan but did say that an abandon ment of the public school system at this stage would constitute “an ad mission of defeat on this first line of battle.” Edward V. Atkinson, Sumter at torney who heads the States Rights League, and G. L. Ivey, head of the Florence unit of the NAAWP, both urged that pro-segregation organ izations such as theirs be merged into one large body with resulting greater political and numerical strength. The States Rights League has a present membership exceeding 430, Mr. Atkinson reported. It has an office in Sumter and is chartered under South Carolina laws with the following purpose: The dissemination of information “relating to the powers of the states not surrendered to the federal gov ernment, to educate the people by lectures, papers, periodicals and other means of the necessity of preserving and maintaining such rights, defend ing such rights in debate, in court and elsewhere.” Another pro-segregation group, as yet unnamed, has been formed in Clarendon County, where South Carolina’s school case originated. Th e organization elected officers at a meeting attended by approximately 300 persons. W. B. Davis Jr., a cotton farmer of the county, is president. In Charleston County, an organ - ization known as the “Grass Roots League” is actively championing seP' aration of the races. The organization has been in existence for several years with the goal of working 110 preserve constitutional government and State Rights and to combat So cialism and Communism in State and Nation.” PAPER SUGGESTS PLAN While the vast majority of South Carolina newspapers hold firm ® their opposition to integrated school* the Evening Herald, of Rock Hill, b* 5 suggested editorially the possibility of beginning the mixing of races s ' the first grade level, so that preset' differences of educational attainm®® between white and Negro scho°- could be avoided. “After the first grade has b®^ passed,” the paper says, “the n®* year the second grade would ^ ready without difference in the q ua : ; ity of education. This process coUj continue year after year until gn . uation from high school. Tb ^ throughout the school years, stude® _ have the same opportunities with® ’ confusion, unequal levels and lo' vef ing of school standards.”