Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 8 — Dec. I, 1954 — SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
Mississippi
JACKSON, Miss.
STATEWIDE campaign against
ratification of a constitutional
amendment vesting power in the
legislature to abolish public educa
tion to prevent integration is being
conducted in Mississippi by a group
under the banner of “Friends of
Segregated Public Schools.”
The issue is to be decided in a spe
cial election on Dec. 21.
Except for the approach, the ob
jective of the organization headed by
a former president of the all-white
Mississippi Education Association is
the same as that of Gov. Hugh White’s
Legal Educational Advisory Com
mittee, sponsors of the amendment.
Neither group favors integration.
The Friends of Segregated Public
Schools takes the position that other
planned and outlined delaying steps
against enforcement of the May 17
decision of the United States Su
preme Court should first be ex
hausted before the legislature is
given blanket abolition authority.
They hold that the state’s strongest
weapon against integration is use Of
its police power.
And, taking the proponents
planned “bypass” maneuvers as one
of their texts, the opposition chal
lenges the immediate necessity for
the amendment. The proponents
have outlined a series of legal steps,
including use of the state’s police
power, which they contend are suffi
cient to stall an integration show
down for 10 to 20 years.
On that premise, the opposition
forces headed by Miss Alma Hick
man of Hattiesburg, and two legis
lators who fought in a recent special
session against submission of the
amendment to the voters, pitch their
campaign against ratification at this
time.
LEGISLATORS SPEAK OUT
The two legislators who are bear
ing the brunt of the campaign in
speeches over the state are State Sen.
George Owens of Pontotoc, and State
Rep. Joel Blass of Stone County
(Wiggins).
Miss Hickman’s group is fearful
that the legislature, assertedly dom
inated by leaders who have opposed
increased funds for public schools,
will seek to use the abolition author
ity immediately and not as a “last
resort.” However, Gov. White and the
other 24 members of his advisory
committee have pledged not to in
voke the amendment until other steps
to prevent integration have failed of
that accomplishment.
The proponents have also publicly
agreed to launch a building program
to close the 118-million-dollar gap
in facilities between the two races,
and to appropriate adequate funds
for equalization of teachers salaries,
transportation and administration.
That agreement, however, hinges on
ratification of the amendment.
Chairman of the House and Senate
revenue-raising committees, who
blocked increased funds for schools
in the 1954 regular and special ses
sions pending adoption of a plan to
preserve segregation, have agreed to
go along now on full financing sub
ject to ratification of the amendment.
They have blueprinted a tax increase
schedule sufficient to raise an addi
tional 18 million dollars a year—the
amount said to be needed at this
time for full equalization of the dual
system. The state now appropriates
34 million dollars annually for all
phases of equalization, except facili
ties.
Under the amendment, the legisla
ture is authorized by a two-third
vote to abolish the statewide public
school system, or by majority vote to
permit counties or separate school
districts to abolish on the “local lev
el.” The latter provision would allow
some areas to abolish public schools
and others to continue their tax-
supported institutions.
NEWSPAPERS DIVIDED
Newspapers are divided on the is
sue, with the two Jackson newspa
pers, The Daily News and Clarion
Ledger, outspoken in its favor.
On the other hand, Editor James
D. Arrington of the weekly News-
Commercial at Collins, a former
president of the Mississippi Press
Association and unsuccessful candi
date for lieutenant governor in 1951,
heads up the publicity committee of
the Friends of Segregated Public
Schools.
Three of the most outspoken daily
newspaper opponents to the amend
ment include Editor Oliver Emme
rich of the McComb Enterprise-
Journal; Pulitzer prize-winning Edi
tor Hodding Carter of the Greenville
Democrat Times, and Editor George
McLean of the Tupelo Daily Journal.
In the weekly newspaper field, Edi
tor Eastin King of the Pascagoula
Chronicle, and Editor Murphy Weir
of the Poplarville Democrat, are ac
tive opponents.
Editor Emmerich is a former pres
ident of the Mississippi Press Asso
ciation and is now serving on the
board of trustees of state institutions
of higher learning which recently
tightened admission requirements to
the state’s senior colleges to block
entrance of Negroes.
NAACP STATEMENT
The recent state convention of the
Mississippi Conference of the
NAACP, by resolution, “deplored
and condemned” the amendment.
The NAACP called on Mississippi
voters “to defeat this proposal be
cause it is corrupt, unethical and an
obnoxious reflection upon the digni
ty and integrity of our officials who
have taken an oath to uphold the
law of the land.”
At the same time, the state NAACP
insisted that “there should be inte
gration at all levels, including the
assignment of teacher personnel on a
non-discriminatory basis.” In that
connection, the association said:
We are ready to sit in conference with
school boards and discuss the implementa
tion of the May 17 decision on a peace
ful basis in the spirit of the American
creed of fair play and equal justice to ail.
Gov. White’s advisory committee,
although making no public state
ment, felt that the NAACP action
would strengthen its campaign.
At the same time, the Friends of
Segregated Public Schools saw in it
the possibility of hurting their ef
forts, and in a statement issued bv
State Ren. Blass termed the NAACP
action “hypocritical.”
Mr. Blass, as spokesman for the
FSPS, said:
Walter White, executive secretary of
the NAACP, is no fool. He is calling the
signals from New York and knows that
NAACP opposition will help pass any
proposal made in Mississippi.
The conclusion is inescapable that they
did this because they know their opposi
tion will have a reverse effect and help
pass the amendment.
Mr. Blass asserted that “if the
amendment passes, Negroes will only
have to sue for admission to white
schools and the state supreme court
will be compelled to allow them to
enter. Section ‘A’ of the amendment
provides for schools without refer
ence to race and color, and nowhere
in the amendment are there consti
tutional safeguards to maintain seg
regated public schools or prevent
integration.”
JACKSON, Miss.
A special session of the Mississippi
legislature voted to submit a con
stitutional amendment to the voters
in a special election Dec. 21 under
which public schools may be abo
lished as a “last resort” to prevent
integration of the races.
Here is the concurrent resolution
(HCR 2), adopted by the House and
Senate submitting the amendment
for voter ratification or rejection and
also the amendment:
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF
MISSISSIPPI, THE SENATE CONCUR
RING THEREIN:
SECTION 1. That there be and is here
by submitted to the qualified electors of
the State of Mississippi for their approval
or rejection, in an election to be held in
accordance with section 273 of the con
stitution of this state, on Tuesday, the 21st
day of December, 1954, the following
amendment to Article 8 of the Constitu
tion of the State of Mississippi, to be num-
Mr. Blass’ statement also said:
Instead of being a measure to preserve
segregation, the amendment actually
opens the doors of white schools to Ne
groes. It should rightly be called an in
tegration amendment, since it gives the
Negroes an entering wedge into white
schools they do not have at present.
At the same time, it is an abolition
amendment because a small group of
legislators can abolish public schools on
a statewide basis or grant permission for
counties or districts to operate private
schools.
The failure of the framers of the
amendment to provide sure ways of pre
venting integration must be attributed to
oversight or to a plan to bring about
either integration or private schools.
Whatever the motive or motives, the very
thing which is being boosted to preserve
segregation is beyond doubt the one thing
that will bring either integration or a
private school system.
Major consideration was given the
amendment at the recent state
NAACP convention in Jackson, at
which Dr. A. H. McCoy, Jackson
dentist, was elected president to suc
ceed Dr. A. L. Stringer, Columbus
dentist. They included the following
statements:
By Daniel E. Byrd of New Orleans,
field secretary of the NAACP:
If it is time for Negroes to pay taxes,
it is time for them to use all public fa
cilities paid for by taxes. Some claim
attitudes cannot be changed by law (Su
preme Court’s integration decision). It
does not try to change attitudes—it af
fects actions.
By Clarence Mitchell, director of
the Washington bureau of the
NAACP:
There is no doubt that racial segrega
tion in the United States is dead. No mat
ter what demagogues may say, no matter
what state legislatures may do, we are
fortified by the knowledge that freedom
from racial segregation is God’s plan. We
fear no storm of opposition and we know
that neither we nor the nation will ever
turn back. The new enlightenment that
is reaching the South is not wanted by
those who have thrived on exploitation
of colored and white residents of this
area. They have hit upon the device of
abolishing public schools as a means of
spreading ignorance and chaos.
By Mrs. Ruby Hurley of Birming
ham, Ala., southern regional head
quarters director:
We don’t want to be white—all we
want is a chance to prove we are good
Americans.
OTHER ENDORSEMENTS
Meanwhile, proponents gained en
dorsement of the proposal from the
Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation
and the two United States senators,
James O. Eastland and John Stennis,
along with the four leading candi
dates for governor in next year’s
campaign.
In endorsing the amendment, the
Farm Bureau pledged to work with
the legislature “on the school build
ing program commensurate with our
ability to pay, that will tend to
equalize opportunities as between
races and between rural and urban
schools.”
“We insist, however, that no build
ing program begin until reasonable
assurance can be given that segre
gated schools will continue,” the
farm bureau resolution stated. “We
pledge ourselves, as individuals and
as an organization, to the proposition
that racial purity is a law of nature,
divinely ordained, and that any at
tempt to integrate, assimilate, com
mingle, miscegenate or otherwise
break down racial barriers for the
purpose of mixing the races is sin-
bered and inserted therein and added
thereto as "Section 213-B’’ thereof, to wit:
Section 213-B. (a) Regardless of any
provision of Article 8, or any other pro
visions of this constitution to the con
trary, the legislature may authorize the
establishment, support, maintenance and
operation of public schools.
(b) Regardless of any provision of
Article 8, or any other provisions of this
constitution to the contrary, the legisla
ture shall be and is hereby authorized and
empowered, by a two-thirds (2/3rds) vote
of those present and voting in each House,
to abolish the public schools in this state,
and enact suitable legislation to effect the
same.
(c) Regardless of any provision of
Article 8. or any other provisions of this
constitution to the contrary, the legisla
ture shall be and is hereby authorized and
empowered, by a majority vote of those
present and voting in each House, to au
thorize the counties and school districts
to abolish their public schools, and enact
suitable legislation to effect the same.
(d) In the event the legislature shall
abolish, or authorize the abolition of the
public schools in this state, then the legis
lature shall be and is hereby authorized
ful, abhorrent and detrimental to the
Negro race as well as to the white
race.”
SYNOD TAKES STAND
Another development on the ra
cial issue was rejection by the Synod
of Mississippi, the Presbyterian
Church, U. S. (Southern), of its
General Assembly’s memorial to
open its churches and schools to Ne
groes.
In a resolution offered by Dr. G.
T. Gillespie of Jackson, who recently
retired as president of the denomi
nation’s Belhaven College after 33
years, the Synod advised the General
Assembly that it “cannot in good
conscience comply with the recom
mendations with respect to institu
tions under its control or to the vari
ous conferences sponsored by the
Synod, nor can it place the stamp of
its approval upon the recommenda
tion that sessions of constitutent
churches of this Synod admit per
sons to membership and fellowship
without reference to race.”
The Synod protested “against the
action of the 94th General Assembly
in receiving and adopting that sec
tion of the Report of the Council on
Christian Relations entitled ‘The
Church and Segregation’ with its
recommendations, and overtures the
assembly to reconsider and rescind
such action.”
The matter of the segregation of
the races is, and for a long time has
been and doubtless for a long time to
come will continue to be a highly
controversial political issue,” the
Mississippi Synod said. The resolu
tion added:
The recent revolutionary decision of
the United States Supreme Court has not
settled the issue, but has only served to
precipitate a violent conflict between the
states and the Federal authorities and
has raised many serious and complex
problems which must be dealt with by
legislation, administration and further
litigation in the civil courts.
Even though there are moral and ethi
cal considerations involved, as there are
in all human relations, nevertheless the
action of the General Assembly in un
dertaking to deal with this question au
thoritatively, and to make deliverances
concerning it which are obviously in
tended to bind the conscience of mem
bers of the lower courts and congrega
tions, would seem to be in plain violation
of the distinctive and important provi
sions of the Constitution of the Church
found in the Confession of A Faith.
The resolution was adopted by a
vote of 62 to 40.
SITUATION TENSE
The tenseness of the overall situa
tion with reference to the amend
ment was reflected at a recent meet
ing of Gov. White’s 25-member Legal
Educational Advisory Committee.
That group was created by the 1954
regular legislative session to plan a
program designed to preserve segre
gation. The amendment was one of
the plans advocated, although for use
as a “last resort” when other delay
ing steps have proved unsuccessful.
At that meeting, Gov. White re
iterated a previous statement that he
would not call a special legislative
session next year to vote the needed
18 million dollars for operation of
schools in the 1955-56 term without
ratification of the amendment. That
was the “deficit” in school funds left
after 34 million dollars had been set
aside for the current year’s opera-
and empowered to enact suitable legisla
tion to dispose of school buildings, land
and other school property by lease, sale
or otherwise.
(e) The legislature may appropriate
state funds and authorize counties, muni
cipalities and other governmental sub-
divisons and districts to appropriate
funds, including poll tax and sixteenth
section funds, to aid educable children of
this state to secure an education.
(f) The legislature may do any and all
acts and things necessary for the pur
poses of this section, and this section is
declared to be, and is, supplemental to all
other provisions of this constitution, and
legislation enacted under authority hereof
shall prevail, whether in conflict with
other sections or not.
SECTION 2. Said election for the sub
mission of the aforesaid amendment shall
be held in every election precinct of this
state on said Tuesday, the 21st day of
December, 1954. Notice of said election
shall be given as required bv the con
stitution and same shall be held agreeably
to the general election laws of this state,
and said amendment submitted therein
in the same maner as amendments to the
constitution are submitted in regular gen
eral elections held in this state.
tions. Unless the funds are made
available, schools will not be able to
open next September. The next reg
ular session is not until January of
1956, when a new administration
takes office. Only the proclamation of
the governor can convene a special
session.
When Gov. White reiterated his
position after Dean Robert J. Farley
of the University of Mississippi Law
School and president of the State Bar
Association, suggested its withdraw
al would aid the cause of the amend
ment’s proponents, the chief execu
tive told newsmen covering the open
meeting that his assertion was “off
the record.”
However, when the statement was
published by The Associated Press
and Jackson Daily News, the gover
nor reprimanded the two reporters
and then ordered them from his of
fice. Another reporter for the New
Orleans Times Picayune interposed
that it was apparent the governor
“does not welcome us today.” The
reporter got up to leave, and the
governor told him he “could get out
also.”
Later, all other newspaper and
wire services carried the governor’s
statement.
Dean Farley in suggesting with
drawal of the statement, told the gov
ernor that the opponents were
branding it as a “threat” to coerce
citizens into voting for the amend
ment. Dean Farley suggested that
emphasis be given to an equalized
program and its tendency to stimu
late racial pride among Negroes
through segregation, with the end
result of improving their economic
position.
Gov. White said his stand is based
on his belief that without the amend
ment as a “standby” weapon to force
Negroes to accept a voluntary seg
regation, conditioned on their oppor
tunities and facilities being imme
diately equalized, the legislature
under the present constitutional pro
vision that funds be voted for “sep
arate but equal” opportunities, could
not so act. He said that is based on
the indirect invalidation of the pro
vision by the May 17 decision of the
United States Supreme Court.
ELECTION RESULT
Meanwhile, proponents of the
amendment have long been encour
aged by the recent general election
ratification of an amendment in
creasing the educational require
ments of qualified electors. Although
there is no mention of race, it would
further restrict the voter qualifica
tion of Negroes by requiring all ap
plicants to be able to “read and
write,” and then write in their own
hand a “reasonable” interpretation of
any section of the state constitution
to the satisfaction of the county reg
istrar.
Like the school amendment, the
one on voter qualification was
backed by the recently organ
ized “Citizens Councils” composed of
“white males dedicated to preserva
tion of segregation.” A recent report
from the state office opened by the
councils at Winona, shows 53 of the
82 counties with councils.
With the backing of the “Citizens
Councils,” the voter qualification
amendments, which was roundly de
feated several years ago, was ratified
by a vote of 75,488 for and 15,718
against.
The state conference of the NAACP
has announced it will attack the con
stitutionality of the amendment in
the courts. Although somewhat iden
tical to the Boswell amendment in
Alabama which was voided by the
United States Supreme Court, the
Mississippi proposal contains the
words “reasonable,” which NAACP
spokesmen admit weakens their at
tack.
A compilation by Atty. Gen. J. P-
Coleman showed only 22,104 Negroes
qualified to vote in Mississippi out of
an estimated voting strength of
500,000.
Negroes outnumber whites in 31 of
Mississippi’s 82 counties.
Out of a total of 799,621 children
of educable age in Mississippi (age 5
6 to 21), as of the 1953-54 term, there
are 431,857 Negroes and 367,76’
whites. Enrollment of Negro children
was reported by the State Depart
ment of Education as 267,388 com
pared to the 272,769 whites, and the
average daily attendance: Negroes*
214,649; whites, 237,579.
Mississippi Amendment Text