Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 10—Jan. 6, 1955—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
Mississippi
JACKSON, Miss.
ESS than one-third of the qualified
electors in Mississippi went to the
polls on Dec. 21 and voted 2-1 in a
special election to vest the legislature
with authority to abolish public
schools if it takes that to prevent
desegregation.
The action ratified an amendment
to the state constitution of 1890 by
which public education is made leg
islatively optional rather than con
stitutionally required.
The amendment was drafted by a
25-man Legal Educational Advisory
Committee created at the 1954 reg
ular session of the legislature prior
to the U.S. Supreme Court’s May 17
decision. A ruling against segregation
had been anticipated, and the leg
islature created the committee to be
gin work on plans for preserving seg
regation in spite of the ruling.
Gov. Hugh White was named chair
man of the advisory group. Legisla
tive approval for submitting the pro
posed amendment to the voters was
gained at a special session last Sep
tember. Only 27 of the 189 legislators
voted against submission of the
amendment to the voters in the Dec.
21 special election.
CALLED ‘LAST RESORT’
Although proponents have insisted
that the amendment will be used only
as a “last resort” to preserve segre
gation, they demanded its ratification
in advance of other planned maneu
vers as an “additional weapon” t o
gain consent of Negroes to continu
ance of segregation on a “voluntary”
basis. The plan envisions the imme
diate elimination of the wide dispar
ity between Negro and white schools.
The plan, which is to be submitted
to a special session of the legislature
Governor White has called for Jan.
11, calls for adequate funds for pay
ment in full of the equalized teacher
salaries and transportation aooroved
earlier this year, and immediate is
suance of 60 million dollars in full
faith and credit state bonds for
launching a Negro school building
program. Ultimate cost of closing the
“gap” between Negro school build
ings and those long provided the
whites has been estimated by the
State Department of Education at
118 million dollars.
Sponsors of the school abolition
amendment made its ratification a
condition for the Jan. 11 special ses
sion to begin a far-reaching program
to give Negroes a fully equalized
program with that of the whites. Just
as soon as election returns showed
the amendment had been ratified,
Gov. White issued the special session
call.
State officials are confident that
Negroes will agree not to seek inte
gration if their oonortunities are
equalized without further delay. The
officials feel that Negroes will be
willing to accept that rather than no
tax-supported schools at all.
On that basis, state officials said
thev are willing to vote additional
funds for continued segregation un
der the asserted “protective fea
tures” of the abolition amendment.
OTHER STEPS MAPPED
Other planned steps to preserve
segregation, as previously outlined
by the Legal Educational Advisory
Committee, include:
1. Assignment of pupils (as pro
vided in a 1954 legislative enact
ment) .
2. Use of the state’s police power
on the assumption that attempts to
integrate will cause disorders.
3. Gerrymandering of school dis
tricts.
4. Other avenues yet to be devel
oped.
Not until those have been ex
hausted, proponents of the abolition
amendment said, will the “last resort”
amendment be used.
Before the amendment can become
operative, legislation implementing
it must be enacted. Gov. White said
no such legislation is planned at the
January special session because
“nothing has arisen to call for it at
this time.” However, from other
sources it is reported that several
bills to set the machinery for aboli
tion on the “local level” may be of
fered at the approaching assembly.
The amendment, which is sched
uled for insertion in the constitution
at the January special session, has
two “abolition” authorizations.
1. By a two-thirds vote of the
House and Senate, public schools may
be abolished statewide. (The House
membership is 140 and Senate 49.)
2. By a majority vote of each
branch, a county or separate school
district may be empowered to abol
ish public schools on these levels.
Should course No. 2 be attempted,
plans call for a provision which would
leave final abolition to some kind of
a referendum at the local level.
A THIRD PROPOSAL
Another provision of the amend
ment allows the legislature to con
tinue to support public schools with
out any reference to “separate, or
equal.” That section is planned for
use by its proponents to set up a sys
tem “within the framework of the
United States Supreme Court de
cision.” Under that course, propo
nents believe that an attack on what
ever system is developed would be
directed at a particular school and
not the statewide system, and would
serve as a “delaying action.”
Gov. White said the section per
mitting continued legislative support
of public education, without any ref
erence to segregation, will replace
the present constitutional require
ment for segregated public schools
which, he said, the court ruling
struck down by indirection. That was
the basis of his demand for ratifica
tion, since, he said, without the
amendment the legislature could not
vote funds for any type of public ed
ucation program other than a segre
gated one.
TAX BILLS SEEN
Confronting the approaching spe
cial session will be tax increases suf
ficient to bring in an estimated 18
million dollars in “new” money an
nually for public schools. That is in
addition to three million dollars to be
required to mature the 60 million
dollars in school building bonds over
a 20 year period. Interest on the
bonds will be borne by counties or
school districts sharing in the allo
cations.
The 18 million dollars “new” money
will make a total of 68 million dollars
available for public schools for the
usual allocated biennial period. The
new 68-million-dollar equalization
program enacted at the 1954 regular
legislative session increased the
amount previously noted from 50
million dollars for the 1952-54 bi
ennium.
However, in anticipation of the ad
verse Supreme Court ruling, the 1954
regular session refused to appro
priate the full amount for the new
two-year period, leaving the 1955-
56 session short by 18 million dollars.
A bloc of legislators, sufficiently
strong to prevent passage of revenue
measures by the required three-
fifths vote, refused to annrove the
full equalization for the 1954-56 bi
ennium in advance of the ruling.
Under the 1954 equalization pro
gram, teachers salaries. transDorta-
tion and funds for administration
were put on a par, regardless of race.
Salaries of teachers, which were left
up to local authorities, must now be
equalized on the basis of training and
experience without regard to race.
Provision is also made for transporta
tion of all students, Negro and white,
living more than one mile from school
outside municipal districts.
FUNDS FOR SUPPLIES
Negro schools, which in a large
measure depended on local contribu
tions. are now assured sufficient state
aid for necessary supplies, such as
lights, fuel and work material for
students.
Funds under the new equalization
program are allocated “where the
child is in school,” rather than on an
educable census basis, disbursed at
the will of the local school authori
ties. The old system resulted in the
wide disparities in expenditures per
child.
Equalization of facilities was not
provided at the 1954 regular session
pending outcome of the Supreme
Court’s action. That is the phase to
be dealt with at the January special
session with the amendment as an as
serted “additional weapon” to gain
Negro consent to continuance of seg
regation—but at long last on an
equalized basis.
To raise the 18 million dollars
“new” money, a legislative group has
blue-printed the following tax in
crease program:
Raise two per cent sales tax to
three per cent for an additional 15
million dollars a year.
Add one cent to the four-cents-a-
pack cigaret levy for an additional
$1,450,000 annually.
“Across the board” increases, pro
rated as to the additional needs, in
income, beer and wine, amusement,
franchise, statewide privilege and oil-
gas-timerance severance taxes.
CAMPAIGN BACKGROUND
Ratification of the school abolition
amendment in the Dec. 21 special
election followed a bitter statewide
campaign.
Gov. White and his Legal Educa
tional Advisory Committee headed
the proponents. They were aided by
five candidates for governor in next
summer’s election; the two U.S. sen
ators; five of the six congressmen;
the state superintendent of education
and all other state officials; the Mis
sissippi Farm Bureau Federation;
Mississippi Economic Council of
business and civic leaders; the Mis
sissippi Association of School Admin
istrators; many leaders in the Missis
sippi Education Association, and the
newly organized Mississippi Citizens
How They Voted
Here’s how Mississippi’s 82 counties
voted (unofficial figures) on the public
school abolition amendment:
For Against
Pet. Negro Amend- Amend-
County Pop. 1950
ment
ment
Adams
. 49.9
1,824
557
♦Alcorn
. 14.3
456
691
Amite
. 54.1
1,389
133
Attala
. 43.3
1,552
189
♦Benton
. 43.7
170
330
Bolivar ....
. 68.3
2,023
227
Calhoun ....
. 23.3
455
261
Carroll
. 56.9
626
23
Chickasaw .
. 44.4
842
141
Choctaw ...
. 30.2
647
176
Claiborne ..
. 74.7
491
37
Clarke
. 40.6
1,413
206
Clay
. 56.8
903
80
Coahoma ...
. 72.1
1,913
286
Copiah
. 53.3
1.645
124
Covington .
. 32.5
542
417
DeSoto
. 67.1
257
223
Forrest
. 28.7
2,200
1,975
Franklin ...
. 39.3
581
86
♦George
. 12.2
342
595
Greene
. 18.3
410
141
Grenada ....
. 52.1
1,047
47
Hancock ...
. 17.1
426
396
♦Harrison ....
. 15.9
5,287
5,758
Hinds
. 44.9
6,680
3,443
Holmes ....
. 73.4
2.393
70
Humphreys .
. 69.6
1,091
32
Issaquena ..,
. 67.4
207
12
♦Itawamba ..,
. 05.4
228
1,248
♦Jackson
. 21.4
688
2,868
Jasoer
. 51.2
1,079
261
Jefferson ...,
. 74.4
659
60
Jeff Davis...
. 55.5
573
198
Jones
. 26.1
2,767
941
Kemper ....
. 60.9
527
56
Lafayette ...
. 35.4
1,248
690
Lamar
. 15.8
369
202
Lauderdale .
. 36.4
3,259
1,600
Lawrence ..,
. 37.6
867
131
Leake
. 41.4
1,167
175
♦Lee
. 27.8
399
1,534
Leflore
. 68.7
2,661
127
Lincoln
, 32.9
2,065
200
Lowndes ...,
. 48.6
1,430
197
Madison ...,
. 73.6
814
71
Marion
. 35.0
1,140
263
Marshall ...,
. 70.6
323
33
Monroe
37.5
686
598
Montgomery ,
. 42.9
1,825
172
Neshoba ....
.22.5
223
66
Newton
. 33.4
1.068
152
Noxubee ....
, 74.3
904
51
Oktibbeha
48.6
1,138
257
Panola
55.9
1,119
162
♦Pearl River..
, 21.7
493
652
Perry
24.2
382
177
Pike
, 44.6
1,547
737
♦Pontotoc ....
19.0
339
1,371
♦Prentiss
11.7
391
845
Quitman ...,
, 60.5
342
29
Rankin
47.3
962
17
Scott
48.2
1,590
238
Sharkey ....
71.2
504
84
Simpson ....
33.3
1.479
323
Smith
20.2
521
139
♦Stone
21.7
307
787
Sunflower ...
68.0
1.915
64
Tallahatchie..
. 63.5
2,023
24
Tate
57.5
1,025
55
♦Tippah
19.3
198
1,673
♦Tishomingo ..
05.1
131
1,618
Tunica
81.1
297
7
♦Union
17.9
439
1,434
Walthall ....
46.0
1,029
56
Warren
50.6
1,680
446
Washington .
66.6
2,242
623
Wayne
36.5
778
263
Webster
23.1
872
189
Wilkinson ...
69.1
783
124
Winston
41.5
1,177
177
Yalobusha ..
43.8
620
66
Yazoo
61.8
1,838
90
Totals
91,903
40,875
* Against amendment
Councils composed of “white males
dedicated to preservation of segre
gation.”
The opposition forces were headed
up by an organization known as
“Friends of Segregated Public
Schools.” Miss Alma Hickman, re
tired state college professor of Hat
tiesburg and former president of the
Mississippi Education Association,
was chairman of that group. Her two
chief lieutenants were State Sen.
George Owens of Pontotoc, who
fought the submission proposal at the
September special legislative session
in the Senate, and Rep. Joel Blass of
Stone County (Wiggins), who fought
it in the House.
The Mississippi Conference of the
National Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People was op
posed to the amendment.
Both labor unions (CIO and AFL)
were against the amendment.
Parent-Teacher groups, as such,
took no part, although many officials,
as individuals, were against the
amendment.
State school leaders who supported
the amendment did so strictly as a
“last resort” step. They said that if its
use is attempted before that, they will
fight legislative approval of abolition
acts.
COUNTY RESULTS
Voters in 14 of the 82 counties re
jected the amendment.
Major opposition centered in the
heavily white-populated hill counties
of northeast Mississippi. Much of it
stemmed from their bitterness
towards the assertedly rich Delta
counties where Negroes outnumber
the whites. Many people in the hill
counties felt that the Delta would
seek to abolish public schools with
out any delay, and in that way re
move themselves from supporting
public schools.
The hill counties are in the equal
izing area where the state returns
to them more than they send to Jack-
son in the form of taxes. The situa
tion is reverse in the Delta. For in
stance, Washington County in the
heart of the Delta, sent in excess of
10 million dollars in general fund
taxes to the state for the period 1949-
June, 1954, and got back in state aid
for schools slightly more than two
million dollars. Some of the hill
counties, however, ratified the
amendment.
Hill counties voting against the
amendment were:
Alcorn (Corinth); Benton (Ash
land) ; Itawamba (Fulton); Lee (Tu
pelo) ; Pontotoc (Pontotoc); Prentiss
(Booneville); Tippah (Ripley); Tish
omingo (Iuka); and Union (New Al
bany) .
Two coast counties and adjoining
areas likewise opposed ratification.
They were George (Lucedale); Har
rison (Gulfport); Hancock (Bay
Saint Louis); Jackson (Pascagoula) ;
and Pearl River (Poplarville). home
of the late white-supremacist, U.S.
Sen. Theo. G. Bilbo.
The 26 counties in which it is
known there are organized Citizens
Councils went one-sidedly for ratifi
cation. Sunflower County (Indian-
ola), where the first council was or
ganized and home of U.S. Sen. James
O. Eastland (D. Miss) voted 1,915
for and 64 against.
Despite organized labor’s opposi
tion, only one of the counties where
that vote is strong went against the
amendment—Jackson on the Gulf
Coast. Other counties with big labor
votes which favored the amendment
included Adams, Pike, Jones, Lau
derdale, Warren, Monroe and Hinds.
In calling the special session for
Jan. 11. Gov. White has said that he
will submit the proposed 60-million-
dollar bond issue for new Negro
schools, as well as tax increases to
raise the necessary funds for full
equalization of the dual system.
CAMPAIGN ARGUMENTS
During the campaign, proponents
of the amendment said its rejection
would be “heralded throughout the
world as our rejection of segregated
schools and our acceptance of inte
gration.”
However, the opposition said such
was not the case because “everybody
knows Mississippi favors segrega
tion.”
Also posed was the question of
having confidence in the legislators,
with the added statement: “How can
we ask for states rights if our peo
ple do not trust their own elected
state legislature to enact laws?”
Gov. White said ratification was
“not necessary as a vehicle for abol
ishing the public schools, but in order
to make sure that there will be a con
stitutional basis on which the state
government can continue to aid our
people obtain an education for their
children in the event the Supreme
Court of the United States or some
other federal court holds our present
provisions pertaining to schools un
constitutional.”
“There is no desire on my part and
no thought among the members of
the legislature to abolish the public
schools or to take the state out of the
business of helping every boy and
girl in Mississippi to obtain the ben
efit of an education,” Gov. White said,
“The whole thought, effort, and pur
pose behind the proposed amendment
is to place our state government in
position to cope with any problem
that may arise by virtue of any un
favorable federal court rulings.
“If we are not placed in position to
act freely and without fear through
the passage of this amendment, then
we may well become subject to what
ever evils an all-powerful federal
autocracy desires to cram down our
throats,” he said.
Asserting that the amendment “is
not a threat to public education,”
Gov. White said:
It is my view that under it the people
can continue to expect the oneration of
public schools in the state of Mississippi,
and that, if our separate public school
system is destroyed by the federal courts
—not by the Mississippi legislature—our
pen’ll e can still continue to have their
children educated in separate schools,
at state expense, through a system op
erated under provisions of this amend
ment.
When we look at the amendment in
the light of the existing situation and our
fundamental philosophy of government,
it is crystal clear that the adoption of this
amendment is no threat to public school
education, but that it is in reality noth
ing more than an additional weapon with
which we are seeking to arm ourselves
in our fight to conduct our own affairs
as we know they must be conducted if
we are to survive as a free people.
The only possibility that the public
schools will be abolished is that at some
future day the yoke of federal tyranny
may become so oppressive upon us that
the people will demand of their chosen
representatives in the legislature that a
system be devised for educating our chil
dren in schools other than public.
OPPOSITION VIEWPOINT
Opposing ratification, Rep. Blass
said instead of the amendment being
a “last resort” matter, it will be “used
as the first and only resort by a hand
ful of legislative bosses showing dic
tatorial arrogance.” He said an inci
dent could be created and then mag
nified far bevond its real significance
for immediate use of the amendment.
“This could bring on a tidal wave
of hvsteria which would overwhelm
the legislature at the special session,’
he said. “They would act immediately
to destroy the public schools before a
blue-nrint for nrivate schools has
been worked out.”
Ren. Blass and the “Friends of Seg
regated Public Schools” said other
stens should first be taken before the
legislature is clothed with abolition
power. They suggested use of the
state’s nolice power as has been voted
in Louisiana.
Miss Hickman declared that “seg
regation is not the real issue and is
not in danger.”
“There are much better and less
dangerous means of preserving seg
regation,” she said.
STATEMENT ISSUED
Following the election. Miss Hick
man and Rep. Blass said in a join*
statement:
The election on the school amendment
is over and with it. we hope, any bitter
ness arising from the campaign. We wib
work in complete harmony with all 0
those seeking to provide better school
for our children. At the same time, ' ,v?
will continue to maintain the closest P 0 ^
sible vigilance to protect our public scho°*
system against any future attack.
We feel that the nre-election cornua'^
has been very helpful in pointing outjjj
the neoule the dangers of the course
are following and that the very sw”
stantial vote against the amendment vhj
give our legislators the support thev ne^
as they try to work out a sound and web-
financed school program.
The incomplete returns from tb e
82 counties showed the following
vote:
For ratification, 106.832.
Against ratification. 46.095.
Total tabulated, 152,927.
Total voting strength, 525,000.