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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