Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS —Dec. I, 1954 —PAGE 15
V ir ginia
RICHMOND, Va.
VIRGINIA’S public schools may
’ close down for years if ample
time is not granted to permit a “grad
ual adjustment” to the Supreme
Court’s segregation ruling, attorneys
for the state and Prince Edward
County School Board told the court
on Nov. 15.
The legal brief filed by the Vir
ginia lawyers argued that the Su
preme Court should send the Prince
Edward case back to the United
States District Court in order that the
lower tribunal might issue the final
decree carrying out the May 17 seg
regation decision.
“The difficulty with present prep
aration of a final decree in this (Su
preme) Court lies in the fact that
there is no evidence of record on
which a final decree could be based,”
declared the brief. “The evidence of
record relates primarily to the effect
of segregation; the final decree must
generally be based on evidence as to
the effect of integration. None is now
before the Court; without it a final
decree would be based purely on con
jecture. . . . Furthermore, it is not
the purpose of an appellate court to
frame detailed decrees.”
In sending the case back, the Su
preme Court should set forth certain
basic instructions to guide the lower
court in drafting the final decree, the
brief declared.
First, the court below should be in
structed that ample time may be allowed
for that first directive of the court to be
made fully effective. We do not believe
that this court should attempt to estab
lish any specific limit of time . . . Con
ditions over which we have no control
make it clear that a very substantial pe
riod of time will be required.
Next, the court below should be per
mitted to take into account the physical
problems that will now arise. These in
clude use of school buildings and trans
portation facilities . ..
The court below should then be au
thorized to take into account intangible
factors that affect the solution of the
problem. These include general levels of
health, morals and educational capacity
and attainment. Even more basically, that
court must be permitted to consider the
feelings of the children, their parents and
their community . . .
Finally, the court below should be per
mitted to take into account any other
factor that may be presented by the par-
ues . . . The court below should not be
tied down to any pattern . . .
SPECTRE OF CHAOS’
In its opening paragraph, the brief
declared that the May 17 decision had
raised over most of Virginia “the
spectre of impending educational
chaos” and that this spectre would
become a reality if immediate amal
gamation of the races were ordered.
We make clear at the beginning,”
the brief continued, “that Virginia
has no plan or panacea that will re
sult in complete solution of this prob-
e ™- We do not foresee a complete
solution at any time. . . . The people
°t many sections of Virginia have
stated forthrightly that they will not
consent to compulsory integration of
the races in the public schools. Nei-
er court decree nor executive order
oan force in those sections a result
so basically opposed by a united ma
jority.”
The brief pointed out that more
an 30 Virginia counties and cities,
ough their legislative or school
°dies, have gone on record as being
TPhsed to integration.
All that this means,” the brief con-
rvfx?^’ that if this Court’s opinion
bv * s ever to t> e accepted
Y . ® people of many sections of
h'gmia, and it may never be, a sub-
tial period for adjustment must
e Permitted....”
that* ,f no ^ ler Point] the brief declared
Ion 6Ven a generation may not be
tjj g ' en pugh for solution, but to find
re« . e ® mn i n g of the path to solution
ihstm^t” substantial period of ad-
thiP 16 Virginia brief concluded with
‘hese words:
Battf t r o eite f ate that we know of no short
by this r . u ti°n of the problems raised
No mo- Court’s decision of May 17, 1954.
Paid and'u, JUd8men t may be entered and
bust in th b Case *h en P ut aside to gather
Pr° bl me ales. We anticipate continuing
disorder^ 'Y?^• Perhaps, prolonged social
t° r eseen • 0 generation of litigation
hers of «,■ trepidation by some mem-
by anv Jr? Court will not be forestalled
Our d tl0n n ° W takGn '
that mav Sire is to uiiuiuuze any conflict
y now result and to preserve the
public education of Virginia’s children.
We have outlined in this brief the best
way in our opinion that the chances of
achieving this aim may now be en
hanced. We know that some of the al
ternatives that others will suggest will
frustrate the achievement. The future is
still cloudy and shows few signs of
clearing; the path that we suggest seems
to us the safest to follow in the difficult
days that now lie ahead for our public
education.
COMMISSION HEARING
For a gruelling 14 hours—minus
only time out for lunch and supper—
the Virginia Commission on Public
Education on Nov. 15 listened to an
array of nearly 100 speakers give
their views as to the course this state
should follow in the matter of school
segregation.
The commission’s first public hear
ing, attended by more than 2,000 per
sons, produced a mass of testimony,
resolutions and statements that
ranged from pleas for immediate in
tegration to warnings that Virginians
would never under any conditions
accept the mixing of white and Negro
children in the schools.
The hearing in Richmond’s 4,600-
seat municipally-owned Mosque au
ditorium took place on the same day
that attorneys representing Virginia
asked the United States Supreme
Court to send the Prince Edward
County segregation case back to the
Federal District Court for further
proceedings, with no time limit set
for an end to segregation.
The long hearing before the 32-
member commission, presided over
by Chairman Garland Gray, for the
most part was held in an atmosphere
of calm deliberation. No applause
was permitted, and while speakers
expressed their opinions with vigor,
the general tone was one of restraint.
The audience of Negroes and whites
was unsegregated.
THREE RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendations of the speakers
fell into three major categories:
1. Find some way to continue seg
regation. Most of the white persons
who spoke urged this course.
2. Move toward integration. All the
Negro speakers favored this course,
as did some of the whites. Some per
sons urged immediate integration,
others suggested that it be brought
about gradually.
3. Set up a system that would per
mit either segregation or integration,
giving the localities broad powers to
determine exactly what plan they
would follow.
Proposal No. 3, the one calling for
a triple school system, was presented
right at the start of the hearing by
the first speaker, State Sen. Frank S.
Richeson of Richmond. He said he did
not believe this system would be
much more expensive than the pres
ent dual system because, in his opin
ion, few students would choose to go
to the mixed schools. He declared
that integration would cause “chaos
and confusion which would be detri
mental to both the whites and the
Negroes,” and he said that 90 per cent
of his constituents opposed integra
tion.
George E. Allen Jr., member of the
House of Delegates from Richmond,
suggested leasing school buildings to
private corporations. The private
school operators would be free to ad
mit any child they wanted to and
any child would be free to attend, un
der his plan. The state board of edu
cation would retain control of educa
tional standards.
Arthur S. Richardson, member of
the House of Delegates from Dinwid-
die County, expressed doubt that
there are enough members of the Na-
tinonal Guard or any other organ
ization to enforce integration in his
county.
M. Ralph Page, a Negro attorney
representing the Virginia Voters’
League, was the first speaker to come
out for “immediate and complete
compliance.”
Later, Oliver W. Hill, representing
the Virginia State Conference of
NAACP branches, declared that the
most effective method of desegrega
tion is to make the change “complete
ly and positively.” He said “imme
diate” action was preferable for many
reasons to the “gradualist” approach.
He said the separate but equal doc
HERE IS ONE VIEW of the nearly 2,000 persons who I 100 speakers express their ideas on what course that state
crowded Richmond’s Mosque auditorium to hear nearly | should follow as a result of the Supreme Court opinion.
trine is only “a sophisticated play on
words” and that it “was never in
tended to give the Negro equality.”
DIVERSITY OF OPINION
As the hearing dragged on into the
afternoon, evening and until nearly
midnight, the commission continued
hearing from speakers who were
poles apart in their views as to the
action Virginia should take in light
of the Supreme Court decision. Those
who spoke came from cities and
counties scattered throughout the
state.
The commission’s executive com
mittee held a two-hour closed session
at the state capitol on Nov. 24 and
later issued a brief statement which
said, in part:
The matter of holding further public
hearings was discussed at length. No fur
ther public hearings are to be recom
mended at this time. The commission will
be pleased to continue receiving letters,
resolutions and communications from
interested citizens and groups.
Chairman Gray said the executive
committee probably won’t meet again
until early January.
Meanwhile, other recent happen
ings in Virginia related to the segre
gation issue have included the fol
lowing:
1. The Virginia Education Associa
tion, statewide organization of white
teachers and school officials, holding
its annual three-day meeting in Rich
mond, rejected a proposed resolution
which would put the VEA on record
as commending the “inherent justice
and essential legality” of the Supreme
Court’s desegregation decision.
The resolution, offered by Dean
Brundage, a social science studies
teacher from Arlington County, was
presented from the floor as a substi
tute for one recommended by the res
olutions committee. The substitute
was laid aside after the convention
adopted a motion objecting to con
sideration of Mr. Brundage’s pro
posal. The resolution finally adopted
simply calls on VEA members and
the general public to give the court
decision careful study.
But the Virginia Teachers Asso
ciation, comprised of Negro teachers
and school officials, meeting here si
multaneously with the VEA, unani
mously adopted resolutions endorsing
efforts to hasten integration, reaffirm
ing support of the National Associa
tion for the Advancemetnt of Colored
People and commending parochial
schools which have admitted Negroes
to formerly all-white schools.
2. The Old Dominion Bar Associa
tion, comprised of Negro attorneys,
holding their semi-annual meeting
at Norfolk, adopted resolutions con
demning Virginia’s Atty. Gen. J.
Lindsay Almond for “repeatedly”
supporting segregation. The associa
tion urged all persons to oppose any
future bid by Mr. Almond for public
office.
3. The Eastern Virginia Confer
ence of Congregational - Christian
Churches, meeting in Norfolk, ex
pressed the view that the problem of
segregation “cannot and will not be
resolved by legal means alone.” It de
clared that the problem requires “pa
tience and forbearance, and every
possible attempt at understanding
on the part of all our citizenry, and
especially by us of the Christian
Church.”
DOCTORS CHANGE RULES
4. Members of the Medical Society
of Virginia, meeting in Washington,
D. C., voted 166 to 101 to admit to
membership Negroes who are mem
bers of local medical societies affiliat
ed with the state organization. A
spokesman for the MSV told a re
porter that of the 46 local affiliates,
only three—Alexandria, Fredericks
burg and Danville—had notified the
State group that they admit Negroes.
The motion to admit Negroes to the
state organization was made by Dr.
Walter Martin, of Norfolk, president
of the American Medical Association.
5. County boards of supervisors and
school boards scattered throughout
the state continued passing resolu
tions against integration, but particu
lar attention was centered on Fair
fax County, where the supervisors
rescinded a resolution which had
called for support of the free public
school system and local option in
solving problems presented by the
Supreme Court decision. The board
acted after receiving a petition signed
by 2,843 persons, who took the view
that the original resolution was, in
effect, an endorsement of integration.
After voting 6 to 1 to rescind, the su
pervisors, by a vote of 5 to 2, passed
another resolution calling for the
county to conform to whatever de
cision is made by the government of
Virginia. Altogether the governing
bodies of at least 52 of Virginia’s 98
counties have gone on record as be
ing opposed to integration.
6. The Virginia Farm Bureau Fed
eration, meeting in Richmond, adopt
ed resolutions declaring that racial
integration in the public schools is
against the best interests of both
races. The Federation called for con
tinuation of a system of free state-
aided public schools but said that
each county and city should have the
right to participate in this system or
to abolish its public schools.
7. The Virginia Baptist General As
sociation, in session in Norfolk, called
on its members to abide by the Su
preme Court’s segregation ruling.
The report adopted by the association
also expressed the view that free
public schools are basic to the dem
ocratic freedom of this republic, and
it commended the court for allowing
additional time in which the states
could propose methods whereby the
transition to integrated schools can
be carried out.
Texas
(Continued From Page 14)
churches mostly in East Texas, met
at Hillsboro in November. A report
of the convention by Thomas Turner,
staff writer of The Dallas Momiyig
News, quoted a resolution adopted by
the convention in part as follows:
God made the races and appointed the
bounds of their habitations, and since at
tempts to force racial union in social life
would lead to the Communist hope of
producing a 'one-world hybridized hu
man’ against the world and will of God,
we pray the people of our country to join
us in speaking for the preservation of our
historic past position on segregation and
speaking against the immoral principle
of social, business, recreational and re
ligious fusion, union and amalgamation
in the races.
We publish to the world that we pro
test the attempts being made to desegre
gate the races, because we believe such
would inevitably lead to the fusion, union
and amalgamation of the races into a hy
brid monstrosity that would defy the
word and will of God.
The resolution said the Supreme
Court ruling meant that “our chil
dren should be forced into schools
with the Negro race.” It pledged an
all-out fight to “mold and re-mold”
public opinion on the matter, and to
contact legislators to get their sup
port “to save our schools, businesses,
churches and homes from unneces
sary sorrows that would be brought
on by a legislated social intercourse
of all the races, through the proposed
desegregation attempts made upon
public society.”
Delaware PTA
(Continued From Page 3)
ual to adjust his viewpoint to this
new principle.
“Step 5. Use facts in discussing in
tegration. The State Congress has a
Group Relations Committee which
has spent months in considering this
problem of integration. It has officers
who have devoted many hours to the
subject. They will put on a program
along whatever line you wish. Film
strips, films, written materials, speak
ers, panels, etc., are just a few of the
many means of presenting this intri
cate subject to your members, and
any of your Congress officers or
Group Relations Committeemen will
be happy to help you meet your
needs.
“The PTA can and must play an
important part in this program. The
education of our children depends on
a calm, deliberate consideration of
this matter. Individual and group
participation is needed if we are to
have Delaware’s educational system
advance without exposing our young
people to conflict, bitterness, and dis-
sention.
“No other group of citizens has a
greater interest in the integrity and
the freedom of the public schools than
the members of the Delaware Con
gress of Parents and Teachers. With
out consideration of the issue of in
tegration in the schools, we can only
condemn forces which encourage and
foster disregard of law and authority
to attain their objectives, whatever
those objectives might be.
“By instruction of the Board of
Managers I call upon the 25,000 mem
bers of the Delaware Congress of
Parents and Teachers to resist any
group or movement which cannot op
erate within the framework of our
democratic institutions.
“Regardless of our views on the
elimination of segregation in the pub
lic schools, we are now seriously
concerned with the maintenance of
law and order and respect for our
democratic institutions and their
orderly process. The members of the
Delaware Congress have no choice as
to which side of that issue they will
support.”
—James H. Snowden