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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS —Dec. I, 1954—PAGE 13
South Carolina
COLUMBIA, S. C.
HE State of South Carolina is not
participating in the forthcoming
hearings before the Supreme court on
the formulation of desegregation de
crees, but the Clarendon County
school officials actually engaged in
the litigation have filed a new brief
in the matter.
Basically, the position taken by the
Clarendon attorneys last year is un
changed. Their principal contention
is that the matter should be referred
back to the local federal district
court for the issuance of such de
cree or decrees as may be necessary
in the light of the May 17 Supreme
Court decision.
In bulwarking that argument, Law
yers Robert McC. Figg, Jr., of
Charleston and S. E. Rogers of Sum-
merton (in Clarendon County) have
turned to language employed by the
Supreme Court itself in its decision of
last May and to statements embodied
in earlier briefs filed by the Depart
ment of Justice.
Meanwhile, the State’s Negro
teachers, through their Palmetto Ed
ucation Association, have made their
first specific reference to the court’s
outlawing of racial separation in pub
lic schools. The association’s House of
Delegates, meeting in Columbia, has
recorded its determination “to work
unceasingly to uphold” the Supreme
Court decision. At the same meeting,
the delegates voted to withhold ac
tion on the proposed construction of
a headquarters building. President
Madge Perry Harper, an Orangeburg
teacher, said the delay was due in
part to the association’s fear that ac
tive progress toward erection of such
a building might be misconstrued as
an evidence that the Negro teachers
did not expect to work toward inte
gration.
South Carolina’s white teachers,
through their S. C. Education Asso
ciation, have endorsed the principle
of racial separation in public schools
as being best suited for meeting the
educational needs of the children of
both races.
The South Carolina Farm Bureau
Federation likewise is working for
the preservation of “the greatest de
gree of separation possible” in light
of the Supreme Court decision. The
Farm Bureau is sponsoring an infor
mational program aimed at the ulti
mate improvement of the educational
establishment and the maintenance
of the right of “free choice of associa
tion” as a safeguard for separate
schools for those who wish them.
South Carolina Baptists, in annual
meeting at Greenville, accepted a re
port from the Social Service Com
mission which called for prayerful
moderation in meeting the present
school crisis. Without specific refer
ence to the issue of separation itself,
the report urged an attitude of friend
liness in race relations, a general
strengthening of public schools, and
obedience of the laws.
PROBLEM CITED
So far as the actual litigation on
school segregation is concerned, the
Supreme Court is being urged to al-
ow school problems to be worked out
°n the local level, under the jurisdic-
tion of federal district courts. In mak-
that appeal, the current Claren-
on County brief refers to the May
7 ruling in which the Supreme Court
^ted “the great variety of local con
ations” as a source of difficulty in
rafting decrees for the five cases in
volving racial separation. Clarendon
'-°unty, the brief contends, presents
° ne extreme on that “great variety.”
The problem in this district,” the
th ° meys s t a t e in their brief, “is not
® as signment of a comparatively
.. 1 number of Negro pupils to
bite schools. Here, integration
Quid involve the assignment of
th ^ ^ the proportion of less
a n one out of ten, to what are in
reality Negro schools. . .
brief makes reference to New
r sey s continuing efforts to inte
rs e the races in public schools and
mts out that even after four years
v SUc ^ e ffort, “with every factor fa-
inw! 6 *° suc k adjustments,” full
Nation had not been achieved in
Parts of the state. Then, with ref
erence to Clarendon County, the
brief says:
The problems and difficulties facing the
school authorities of this (Clarendon)
district greatly exceed those of any dis
trict in New Jersey and are as great as
any that will arise in any school district
in the country. We respectfully submit
that the instant case is a proper one to
be remanded for further proceedings in
the district court, so that the school au
thorities will have the opportunity of
presenting their problems fully to that
tribunal . . .
QUOTES EARLIER BRIEFS
The brief turns also to statements
made in briefs filed during the ex
tended litigation by Democratic Atty.
Gen. McGranery and Republican
Atty. Gen. Brownell. Those state
ments are cited in support of the
Clarendon County argument that or
derly and gradual adjustments should
be permitted to the new status cre
ated by the Supreme Court decision.
From the McGranery brief of 1952,
these excerpts are taken:
The fact that a system or practice is
determined to be unlawful does not of
itself require the Court to order that it
be abandoned forthwith . . .
The Court should take into account the
need, not only for prompt vindication of
the constitutional rights violated, but also
for orderly and reasonable solution of the
vexing problems which may arise in
eliminating such segregation. The public
interest plainly would be served by
avoidance of needless dislocation and con
fusion in the administration of the school
systems affected.
It must be recognized that racial sep
aration in public schools has been in
effect in many states for a long time. Its
roots go deep in the history and tradi
tions of these states. The practical diffi
culties which may be met in making
progressive adjustment to a non-segre-
gated system cannot be ignored or mini
mized.
From the Brownell brief of 1953,
these excerpts are cited:
In framing its judgment a court must
take into account not only the rights of
the parties but the public interest as well.
The needs of the public, and the effect
of proposed decrees on the general wel
fare, are always of relevant, if not para
mount, concern to a court of justice . . .
There is no single formula or blueprint
which can be uniformly applied in all
areas where existing school segregation
must be ended. Local conditions vary,
and what would be effective and practi
cable in the District of Columbia, for ex
ample, could be inappropriate in Claren
don County, South Carolina. Only a prag
matic approach based on a knowledge of
local conditions and problems can deter
mine what is best in a particular place.
For this reason, the court of first instance
in such area should be charged with the
responsibility for supervision of a pro
gram for carrying out the Court’s deci
sion . . .
Turning to the transcript of oral
argument made in 1952 by an attor
ney for the Negro plaintiffs them
selves, the Clarendon brief quotes
this:
The only thing that we ask for is that
the state-imposed racial segregation be
taken off, and to leave the county school
board, the county people, the district
people, to work out their own solution of
the problem to assign children on any
reasonable basis they want to assign them
on ... I say it is not a matter for judicial
determination. That would be a matter
for legislative determination.
FARM BUREAU STAND
The South Carolina Farm Bureau
Federation, while seeking to stimulate
“constructive thinking” on the prob
lems posed by the Court’s anti-segre
gation ruling, is not retreating from
its conviction that separate schools
are most desirable for continued
progress and peace in South Carolina.
At the annual convention of the Farm
Bureau, held Nov. 16 in Columbia,
these statements were included in
resolutions adopted by approximately
350 persons, representing a member
ship ranging between 15,000 and 20,-
000:
We reiterate our unfaltering conviction
in the segregated school system as the
best and most natural arrangement for
the public school system of our state and
urge that both the spirit and the letter
of the ‘separate but equal’ principle con
tinue as our educational goal in South
Carolina ...
In view of existing circumstances it
appears that we must find a new way to
approach the solution of the problem of
maintaining separate schools in this state.
We deplore the prospect of strife, dis
cord and a completely disrupted public
school system that is certain to result
from any attempt to force integration of
the races in public schools in this state.
We pledge our best efforts and full sup
port in the development of any plan of
operation designed to improve our public
school system and to avoid such chaotic
deterrents to that end as would result
from forced integration.
We recognize the equal right of free
choice of association guaranteed to all
citizens of this country by the Constitu
tion of the United States and we stand
ready to defend that right to whatever
extent necessary to preserve it.
So far as South Carolina’s state
government is concerned, the school
establishment is being operated as
usual. The state department of edu
cation is asking approval of a $55
million budget for the fiscal year
1955-56 without any reference to the
possibility of a disruption of the pres
ent system.
The Educational Finance Commis
sion, which administers the state’s
huge school building and expansion
program, likewise is proceeding as
before, modifying its policies only to
the extent that a more careful scru
tiny is given to the proposed location
of new schools. The intent here is to
Editorial
“An excellent example of the
determination of many southerners
to meet the problem of school de
segregation thoughtfully and fairly
is found in the creation of the South
ern Education Reporting Service by
a group of leading southern news
paper editors.
“. . . Now the first issue of a 16-
page tabloid, Southern School News,
has been mailed to some 10,000 edu
cators, public officials, newspaper and
magazine editors, librarians and in
terested citizens throughout the
United States. Through the corre
spondence of 18 southern newspaper
men it backgrounds the story of seg
regation by giving factual reports on
the status of southern education
state by state. . . .
“The work of the southern editors,
who have the backing of university
and college presidents of their area,
should bring light, not heat, to a
problem which needs calm and ob
jective reporting.”
The St. Paul (Minn.) Dispatch
“ . . . The first issue shows that
the directors of the service realize
fully the magnitude of the segrega
tion problem. All of the various re
ports are calm, factual and objec
tive, which is the way the problem
should be approached.
“If future issues of the paper meet
the standards set by the first, and
there is every reason to expect that
they will, the Southern Education
Reporting Service will perform a
most valuable function, one that will
help in meeting and solving the seg
regation question.”
The Rome (Ga.) News Tribune
“. . . So a very useful service is
being rendered by the Southern
Education Reporting Service in pub
lishing the Southern School News.
The first issue was mailed out on
Friday, Sept. 3, presenting a factual
summary of what is being done in
each of the southern states to deal
with the problem raised by the seg
regation decision. SERS is a non
profit agency established by a group
of southern newspaper editors, head
ed by Virginius Dabney of the Rich
mond Times-Dispatch. The project is
being financed by a grant from the
Fund for the Advancement of Educa
tion, an independent agency set up
by the Ford Foundation.
“The paper is designed, not to
plead a cause but to keep under
scrutiny what is being done. South
ern School News is distributed free
on request. In the long run here is a
great public service that may merit
a Pulitzer accolade.”
The Dallas (Texas) News
“. . . Formation of the Southern
Education Reporting Service by a
group of southern editors, which was
widely reported early in the summer,
is a prominent example of the lengths
to which newspapermen go to keep
themselves and others adequately in
formed on a subject which is of vital
interest to their whole area. Their
efforts in this instance actually go
beyond the ordinary call of duty, the
routine requirement of their jobs, and
should be cited as one of the many
extra curricular activities in which
newspapermen participate for the
knowledge and education of their
readers.
“We agree with Mr. McKnight that
place schools where they will logi
cally serve a racially homogeneous
community.
COMMITTEE RECONVENED
The special study committee set up
by the General Assembly to formu
late plans for coping with a Supreme
Court threat to the school system has
been reconvened for further closed
sessions. There is some suggestion
that the 15-man committee may have
another interim report for submission
to the legislature when it convenes in
January, but no official statement to
that effect has been forthcoming.
In other developments, Bishop
Frank Madison Reid of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church of
South Carolina, called for continued
efforts toward integration at the
church’s 91st annual conference in
‘this initial issue speaks for itself in
answer to the two southern news
papers which have voiced the opinion
that SERS was established to en
courage integration, and to the east
ern Negro newspaper which expres
sed the fear that SERS was a scheme
by Dixiecrats to thwart the Supreme
Court and preserve segregation.
“It is stated again ‘that the South
ern Education Reporting Service will
not be an advocate for or against
anything, that it will express no
opinions of its own on what is good
and bad or wise and unwise, and that
it will adhere scrupulously to the ac
curate and objective reporting of
facts as it finds them.’
“We think it has made an admir
able and effective start.”
—Robert U. Brown in
Editor & Publisher
“. . . Under these circumstances it
is fortunate that special measures
have been taken to make it easier to
get the whole story, reliably and
without bias. A new, temporary
agency has been set up to make those
facts available, especially for the
benefit of educators, governmental
authorities, civic leaders and news
papers where desegregation of the
public schools is currently a top is
sue.
“The Southern Education Report
ing Service, brought into being by
southern newspapers and educators,
has established headquarters in
Nashville, Tenn. It has the support
of the Ford Foundation’s Fund for
the Advancement of Education. Al
ready it has put out its first issue of
Southern School News, which can be
had for the asking.
“As a sample of the kind of objec
tive, informative, detailed reporting
that the SERS will do, that issue is
most reassuring. The contents, too,
give some reason to hope that pro
gress in desegregating public schools
is greater, and that restraint and
reason prevail more generally, than
might have been expected.”
The Milwaukee (Wis.) Journal
“A group of Southern newspaper
editors, furnishing the plan, and of
ficers of the Fund for the Advance
ment of Education, an agency created
by the Ford Foundation, furnishing
much of the money, decided in April,
May and June to establish the South
ern Education Reporting Service,
dedicated to telling the story, factual
ly and objectively, of what happens
in education as a result of the Su
preme Court’s opinion of May 17
holding segregation in the public
schools to be unconstitutional.
“The initial tangible result is the
appearance of Vol. I, No. 1, of South
ern School News, published in Nash
ville, Tenn., by the Southern Educa
tion Reporting Service, of which the
officers are: chairman, Virginius
Dabney, editor of the Richmond
Times-Dispatch; vice chairman,
Thomas R. Waring, editor of the
Charleston News and Courier; execu
tive director, C. A. McKnight, editor
of the Charlotte News, now on leave
of absence from his newspaper and in
direct charge of a unique publishing
effort.
“. . . The nature of this effort to
obtain and present information has a
special meaning in Virginia. Here it
has been assumed by the State gov
ernment that the complex problems
Columbia. “I never tire of commend
ing and congratulating those who
lead on in the work of the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People.”
On the other hand, a Parent-
Teacher Association on one of Co
lumbia’s upper middle-class white
neighborhoods has “heartily” ap
proved the action of the S. C. Edu
cation Association in endorsing con
tinuation of the segregated school
system. The PTA group added:
We... earnestly request, all public
school commissioners and trustees in
South Carolina, the members of the Gen
eral Assembly, and the South Carolina
senators and congressional delegation to
take immediate and progressive action to
assure the people of South Carolina the
right to locally control, operate and man
age the public school system in South
Carolina for the welfare of the children
and in the public interest.
SERS
following the segregation decision
can be handled best by a body of 32
State legislators directed by the Gov
ernor, in so far as he can direct them,
to produce a method of maintaining
segregation, without any indication
thus far of serious preliminary study.
There is another attitude of earnest
effort for the bases of action, for the
range of possibilities, for the develop
ment of ideas, for the recognition
that this is a matter of statesman
ship. The Southern School News re
flects that attitude. We hope it has
wide reading in Virginia and by none
more closely than the 32 State legis
lators on Governor Stanley’s com
mission.”
The Norfolk Virginian-Pilot
'. . . Any school administrator,
legislator, school board member,
newspaper editor or other interested
citizen will find that the first edition
of Southern School News adheres
strictly to its stated purpose of pre
senting factual information. There is
not an opinion in it except as record
ed in the correspondence and in the
court decision. But it is jammed with
facts from which a reader may learn
how each of the 17 states with seg
regated schools are going about
meeting, or preparing to meet the
new dispensation.
As the South comes to grips with
the Supreme Court’s order imple
menting its May 17 ruling, the SERS
should provide a periodic summary
of developments and out of these
lawmakers, state and local officials
and citizens at large may find solu
tions they can use.”
The Danville (Va.) Register
. Mr. McKnight and his col
leagues have now mailed out the
first issue of their paper. Because the
enterprise was earlier attacked in a
few misguided quarters (as on the
other, to encourage integration), we
are happy to report that the first
issue of Southern School News is
guilty of neither charge. It is, instead,
as factual and objective as trained
newspapermen could hope to make
it.
“The first issue’s state-by-state re
ports are also, as McKnight puts it,
‘somewhat long, somewhat weighty.’
But for their specialized audience
they had to be, because each gives
not only a wealth of background on
the state and local educational sys
tems and laws before the Supreme
Court spoke but also a three-month
summary of developments since then.
“. . . But the first issue alone is
of great value to the educators and
law-givers and opinion-makers most
concerned with understanding the
problems involved, and it firmly es
tablishes the factual and objective
approach so necessary to the attain
ment of SERS’s purpose to render
public service. Published in Nashville
and sent free of charge to educators,
public officials, newspapermen and
other interested citizens who ask for
it, Southern School News is well
launched to implement its practical
belief that communities throughout
the South and the border states ‘can
learn useful lessons from the experi
ences of one another.’ ”
The Louisville (Ky.) Courier-
Journal
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