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PAGE 6—Feb. 3, 1955—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
Georgia
MACON, Ga.
TTHE General Assembly of Georgia
convened on Jan. 10 with the pas
sage of laws aimed at strengthening
segregation in the public schools one
of the primary legislative objectives.
In the works are proposed meas
ures recommended by the Georgia
Education Commission which would:
1. Make it a felony for any school
official of the state or any municipal
or county systems to spend tax money
for public schools in which the races
are mixed, with punishment set at
two years in the penitentiary in addi
tion to liability for the money ex
pended.
2. Allow school superintendents to
assign individual students to specific
schools in their districts.
3. Permit local school boards to
create school districts and amend and
alter them at any time.
On Jan. 24 the Senate passed with
out a dissenting vote the bill mak
ing it illegal to use local funds for
mixed schools.
The other two bills which were
recommended by the commission
were withdrawn in the Senate for a
few days while legal experts cor
rected some technical points, admin
istration leaders said. No one doubts
that the other two measures will pass.
OTHER PROPOSALS
These three proposed laws, which
were explained in detail in the Jan
uary issue of Southern School News,
have been followed by several other
legislative proposals designed to cir
cumvent the May 17 U. S. Supreme
Court decision outlawing segregation
in the public schools or to show dis
pleasure at the decree.
Both the House and the Senate ap
proved two resolutions which would
amend the Constitution of the United
States to make states solely respon
sible for the policies under which
their schools operated.
One resolution seeks to have
Congress initiate the proposed consti
tutional amendment. The other reso
lution seeks ratification by the leg
islatures of at least two-thirds of the
states.
The House has passed a resolution
introduced by Rep. C. C. Perkins of
Carroll County and Rep. Bill Kilgore
of Gwinnett County which asks Con
gress to amend the U. S. Constitution
in order to allow white persons to
serve with other whites and colored
persons to serve with other colored
persons in military life.
The effect of the amendment urged
in the resolution would be to pro
hibit a draftee from being ordered to
serve with any military unit not com
posed of members of his own race if
he preferred to serve only with those
of his own race.
The authors of the amendment said
the military reserve program in the
South would be wrecked if the na
tional administration forces mixing
of the races in the federally-con
trolled reserves. Rep. Perkins pre
dicted that Southerners would resign
from the reserves unless steps to pre
vent integration are taken.
Widespread integration in the
armed forces has taken place in units
based in Georgia, but reserve and
National Guard authorities in the
state have vigorously opposed such a
policy.
At Fort Benning, Georgia’s largest
military post, all schools on the post,
serving some 1.000 grammar school
students, have been operating on an
integrated basis for several years.
The grammar schools on the post are
financed with federal funds.
The post does not have a high
school and all high school students
living on the post go to high schools
in the city of Columbus and county
of Muscogee, which are operated on
a segregated basis.
Secretary of Defense Charles E.
Wilson has set Sept. 1, 1955 as the
deadline for integration of the 17
military post schools still operating
on a segregated basis. None of the 17
is in Georgia.
Repeal of Georgia’s compulsory
school attendance law may be sought
in a proposed bill now under study
prior to introduction in the legisla
ture.
State law now requires all children
between the ages of 7 and 17 to at
tend either public or private schools.
Gov. Marvin Griffin has promised to
change the public school system to
a segregated private school system as
“a last resort” to avoid integration.
The author of the proposed bill to
wipe out the school attendance law
said it may be necessary to repeal the
present act requiring school attend
ance as a further safeguard against
integration.
In his traditional message to a joint
session of the House and Senate, Gov.
Griffin reminded that he had pledged
in his campaign for the gubernatorial
nomination that Georgia’s constitu
tional requirement for the races to
be segregated in her schools and col
leges would be upheld with all the
resources at his disposal “come what
may,” and said that the fulfillment of
that prime commitment would be a
dedicated purpose of his administra
tion.
Gov. Griffin labeled the Supreme
Court decision outlawing segrega
tion as a challenge flung in the face
of the people “of our region,” and said
he spoke for the people of Georgia
in accepting the challenge. Pointing
out that the state created, built and
financed its own educational insti
tutions, he said the right to conduct
and regulate them would not be sur
rendered.
“It is likely,” Griffin said, “that
during the services of the members
of this General Assembly now in
office the school segregation crisis
may reach its fearful climax.”
In that event, the governor said,
“Our only concern . . . will be the
welfare of the children of Georgia.”
Gov. Griffin reminded the legisla
ture that a constitutional amendment
preparing the machinery for a pos
sible segregated private school sys
tem had been ratified by the people
in the November general election. He
endorsed the report and recom
mendations of Georgia Commission
on Education and put the full weight
of his administration behind an ap
peal for passage of the laws proposed
by the commission.
COMMISSION REPORTS
The 23-member commission, com
posed of state and school officials,
legislators and private citizens, all
white, reported to the members of
the legislature in a book which listed
the proposed laws designed to
strengthen segregation, cited official
opinions by Georgia Atty.-Gen. Eu
gene Cook and listed state and fed
eral court decisions bearing on the
subject of segregation.
A memorandum from Durwood T.
Pye, executive secretary of the com
mission, was included in the report
and posed and sought to answer the
auestions: “How may the people of
Georgia be protected against this de
cision?”
Pye dismissed legislation of a
temporary character in his memo
randum and said “The problem is one
of long range, involving both the
education of all the children and the
social structure of the state, and the
legislation should be such as looks
the situation in the face and may be
reasonably regarded as permanent.”
At the state’s command, said Pye,
are at least the following resources
“which constitute materials available
for an educational structure whereby
the children may be educated in
separate institutions:
(a) The desire of the people for separate
education;
(b) The limitations of the Fourteenth
Amendment and of the Oliver
Brown decision;
(c) The taxing power of the state;
(d) The state’s ownership of the exist
ing public educational plant; and
(e) The general legislative power of
the state.
Examining the “resources” separ
ately, Pye said:
(a) “The desire of the people for
separate education is a resource the
importance of which cannot be over
emphasized ... If the people of the
state are permitted to follow their
own inclination and desire, the result
of separate education will be accom
plished ... If an educational system
can be erected beyond the scope of
the (U. S. Supreme Court) decision,
and beyond the power of the federal
judiciary establishment, separate
education will prevail notwithstand
ing the federal courts. Logic indicates
that such a system must operate in
the field of education not occupied
by the Oliver Brown decision. The
unoccupied field is private educa
tion. That educational field must be
explored and utilized.”
(The case of Oliver Brown, et al vs.
Board of Education of Topeka, Shaw
nee County, Kansas, resulted in the
1954 Supreme Court decision outlaw
ing racial segregation in the public
schools.)
(b) “. . . Neither the decision nor
the Fourteenth Amendment to which
it applied deals with other forms of
educational assistance by the state
or with any educational structure
other than state-operated schools.
The decision will be effective to ter
minate the existing public school
system in all areas where it is ap
plied and enforced by judicial de
cree. But it in no way forecloses uti
lization of the great field of privately
operated educational institutions . ..”
STATE’S TAXING POWER
(c) “The taxing power of the state
is perhaps our greatest resource. By
state money our children are edu
cated. Federal contributions are rela
tively insignificant . . . The state’s
power to tax for such public purposes
as the state deems proper is beyond
federal control . . . (Ratification of)
the proposed amendment to the
Georgia constitution permitting the
General Assembly by law to provide
for grants of state, county or muni
cipal funds to citizens of the state
for educational purposes . . . puts
beyond any doubt of legal construc
tion the right, power and authority
of the General Assembly to utilize
the taxing power of the state for the
purpose of making educational grants
to citizens when such is deemed nec
essary and proper by the General
Assembly . . .”
(d) “All the children of the state,
both white and colored, may be ade
quately housed by making available
the existing educational plant, and
the buildings and other physical fa
cilities of which it is composed. Local
school authorities, sensitive to local
School Population
Figures Released
Figures on school population by
race compiled by the state depart
ment of education show that Georgia
has one county, Dawson, which is
100% white and another county, Han
cock, which has 80.4% non-white.
The figures are for 1950, the latest
year available, and are for 6 to 17
year old school age population and
not for enrollment in school. For
various reasons, department officials
said, all the school age population
does not enroll in school.
The percentage of Georgia’s non
white school age population has
steadily decreased from 43.6% in
1920 to 35.1% in 1950. Population esti
mates of the Southern Regional Edu
cation Board anticipate a continuing
decrease:
Year
Percent
Percent
White
Non-White
1951
63.4
36.6
1952
63.9
36.1
1953
63.9
36.1
1954
64.7
35.3
1955
65.0
35.0
1956
65.3
34.7
1957
65.9
34.1
1958
65.8
34.2
1959
65.9
34.1
Based on the 1950 figures, the me
dium, or county above which 50 per
cent falls and below which 50 per
cent falls, is Wheeler County with
62.5% white and 37.5% non-white
6 to 17 year old school age popula
tion.
Figures on non-whites of school
age in Georgia’s 159 counties show:
Less than 1%— 7
Less than 5%— 15
Less than 10%— 21
Less than 15%— 33
Less than 20%— 39
Less than 25%— 46
Less than 30%— 57
Less than 35%— 72
Less than 40%—- 88
Less than 45%— 97
Less than 50%—107
More than 50%— 52
More than 55%— 40
More than 60%— 31
More than 65%— 19
More than 70%— 13
More than 75%— 8
More than 80%— 2
needs, can determine the terms and
conditions upon which these prop
erties may be made available for
educational purposes, just as the
General Assembly has from time to
time handled the leasing of the state’s
railway and other state properties
when it was concluded that it was
no longer desirable for the state to
operate them.”
(e) “. . . Included within the au
thority of the General Assembly to
make laws are the following, which
are here of particular relevancy:
(1) The power to . . . provide for an
educational shift-over in school dis
tricts in which the existing separate
public school system is knocked out
by federal court decree, without dis
turbing the present separate public
school system in those localities un
affected by such decree ... (2) The
power to classify . . . This principle
should be applied to those localities
in which the federal courts knock out
the existing public school systems.
(3) The licensing and regulatory au
thority . . . now utilized in this state
to a limited extent only (but) it is
requisite that it be expanded in the
interest of adequate educational
standards for the protection of stu
dents and teaching personnel.”
Separate education, Pye concludes,
requires only (1) money for school
tuition and other necessary educa
tional expenses; (2) a sufficient num
ber of available schools to house the
school population; (3) adequate reg
ulation of educational institutions to
insure corrective standards; and (4)
schools which are beyond the coer
cive power of the federal courts.
“These ingredients,” he said, “are
available.”
MARSHALL SPEAKER
Only a few days before the legis
lature convened, a spokesman for the
organization declared in Atlanta that
the NAACP cannot afford to win the
battle against school segregation and
“lose the war against segregation.”
Atty. Thurgood Marshall, chief le
gal officer of the NAACP, spoke at the
91st annual celebration of the Eman
cipation Proclamation at the Wheat
Street Baptist Church in Atlanta on
Jan. 1.
In his first address in Georgia since
the May 17 ruling, Marshall told
some 2,000 Negroes that states con
tending that the integration decrees
handed down by the court will not
work are run by politicians instead
of the people. Marshall said Georgia
was in this category and said the
NAACP intends to find out why pub
lic spokesmen maintain that mixed
schools are unworkable.
The NAACP, said Marshall, is
pledged to an all-out effort begin
ning in 1955 to “break down segre
gation in all forms, including trans
portation on street buses and railroad
waiting rooms.”
He observed that the May 17 rul
ing has been called “The Second
Emancipation Proclamation” but de
clared, “unless we continue the
struggle with renewed vigor and
without abandoning our objectives,
it might be that in the future the so-
called Second Emancipation Procla
mation will go the way of the first.”
CONGRESS TO GET BILL
A bill to remove jurisdiction of fed
eral judicial agencies from state
school systems, proposed by Georgia
Atty. Gen. Eugene Cook before the
national convention of attorneys gen
eral several weeks ago, will probably
be introduced in Congress by Rep.
E. L. Forrester of Georgia’s Third
Congressional District, Cook said.
The bill, designed to block the Su
preme Court from enforcing its inte
gration decision, has been held by
Cook to be the simplest means for
the South to avoid mixing the races
in the schools. Cook said Forrester
told him “a number of my colleagues
are interested in the measure.”
Sen. Richard B. Russell of Georgia
had said earlier, however, that he saw
little hope of Congress passing such
legislation.
In Augusta, two Negro women
were accepted for grand jury service
when Richmond County Superior
Court convened. They were listed as
Jerrylina Walker and Leah B. Foster.
Both are residents of Augusta.
Court officials expresed an opinion
that it was the first time Negro
women have served on a grand jury
anywhere in the country.
Augusta was also the site for an
organizational meeting of the States’
Rights Council of Georgia, Inc. In a
brochure being circulated, the group,
composed of Augusta citizens, said
the council is dedicated to:
1. The preservation of the social, politi
cal and economic institutions of our
Southland.
2. The prevention of the encroachment
of subversive ideologies which have as
their aim the undermining of our con
stitutional rights.
3. The preservation of the integrity of
the white and Negro races, under our
system of segregation as the only means
of maintaining racial harmony.
4. The use of every lawful means to
achieve and maintain the objectives set
forth above.
The council believes integration
will “lead to miscegnation and ulti
mate mongrelization of the races”
and warns: “There is a job to be done.
Don’t be lulled into complacency by
the soothing talk of ‘gradual’ race
integration. There must never be any
integration.”
Hugh G. Grant is fisted as presi
dent of the organization and Roy V.
Harris is first vice president.
In Atlanta, the NAACP charged
that Negro doctors were discriminat
ed against at a meeting of the Amer
ican Cancer Society. The Negro doc
tors did not attend any of the sessions
because of what they considered an
insult in being barred from the lunch
eon and dinner, according to C. I.
Harper, president of the Atlanta
NAACP branch and Dr. F. Earl Mc
Lendon, president of the Georgia
State Medical Association, an organi
zation of Negro physicians. They
contended information about cancer
given by featured speakers at lunch
eon sessions should have been avail
able to all members of the medical
profession.
Dr. Enoch Calloway, chairman of
the Professional Education Commit
tee of the American Cancer Society’s
Georgia Division, said an error was
made in addressing invitations to the
meeting. The committee intended to
invite Negro doctors to only the sci
entific sessions and white doctors to
the scientific sessions and the lunch
eon and dinner, Dr. Calloway said.
Through an error, he reported, invi
tations urging “every white doctor
in Georgia” to make reservations for
both functions were mailed out.
The Medical Association of Geor
gia, composed of white members, has
agreed to allow any county medical
association to grant full membership
to colored doctors but only two
groups have done so.
New Negro Association
Draws NAACP Criticism
NOTASULGA, Ala.
Dr. Collier P. Clay, introduced as
a noted Negro educator and presi
dent of “Union Theological Semi
nary” of Birmingham, told a group
of Macon County Negroes on Jan. 22
that “the best friend we have is the
Southern white man.”
Dr. Clay spoke before a group
calling itself the Negro Improvement
Association of Alabama, Inc., organ
ized in avowed opposition to the
“outside troublemakers” of tbe Na
tional Association for the Advance
ment of Colored People.
(Dr. Clay’s school, “Union Theo
logical Seminary,” is not fisted to
either the Birmingham city directory
or telenhone directory.)
The Negro Improvement Associa
tion of Alabama seeks equalization
of Np°ro facilities rather than inte
gration.
In referring to the segregation
question as “the greatest threat to the
human family,” Dr. Clay said:
“. . . The answers to all the race
problems of the South are found to
the South. We have our problems,
but for all of them there is a South
ern remedy.
We don’t need and don’t want help
from the outside. If you have any oro .’
lems here, petition the white foil 1 ®.
authority and they will help you. *o
know who feeds you, you know wn
clothes you, and you know who fills jp
gaps. That’s what the white folks do »
yOU '
On Jan. 24, the Alabama NAAL‘
replied to Dr. Clay’s address by r®
affirming its intentions to fight
“first class citizenship.” The state or
ganization from its Birmingh 31 ^
headquarters, warned against
known pseudo-leaders” speaking 1
state Negro citizens.