Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—May 4, 1955—PAGE 9
Delaware
WILMINGTON, Del.
i TTY. Gen. Joseph Donald Craven,
-•■Democrat, who was elected Nov. 2
jjkJ took office Jan. 2, succeeding H.
Albert Young, Republican, says that
he followed the entire brief filed by
Mr. Young last year in the U. S. Su
preme Court except on the point of
the court fixing a deadline date.
Mr. Craven, who appeared before
the U. S. Supreme Court in the April
hearings on the mandate, declared
that Delawareans are a “divided and
a troubled people in the face of the
mandate of the court.”
He asked the court to send the
Delaware integration cases back to
the state with direction for the state
board of education or local school
boards to submit plans for desegrega
tion to the state courts which should
see to it that these plans are carried,
out. He argued that no deadline
should be fixed by the U. S. Supreme
Court.
On the other hand, Louis Redding,
the attorney for the Negro children
in the Delaware cases, argued for
“forthwith desegregation.”
Soon after Mr. Craven returned to
Wilmington from the arguments be
fore the U. S. Supreme Court, he ap
peared before 200 members of the St.
Thomas Catholic Church Holy Name
Society. He said:
COURT APPEARS TROUBLED’
“The U. S. Supreme Court appears
troubled and divided in how to carry
out the decision without serious or
dvil repercussions in different parts
of the country.”
Mr. Craven, who is a Catholic, also
said:
“The judges of the Supreme Court
have their hours of destiny before
them in preparing this expected
momentous mandate. Each member
must make his decision alone, and
that will make it difficult to render a
unanimous decision on such an im
portant question; but the various
states’ public officers all hope there
will not be a divided decision. All
hope for a unanimous decision stating
that the decree must be carried out
this way.”
In the meantime, pending the de
rision of the U. S. Supreme Court, a
number of school boards in northern
Delaware are beginning to plan for
the expansion of their partial inte
gration programs, notably Wilming
ton, New Castle and Newark, which
are located in the upper part of New
Castle County.
PARTIAL integration set
While none of the boards is read>
to announce plans, officials have said
at, in the main, the partial integra-
10 n plans will be expanded to take
oare of children who are now in inte
grated classes and who will be pro-
m °ted into what have been segregated
areas.
P°r example, in Wilmington, the
^ r gest city in Delaware, all elemen
ts ^ schools were desegregated last
d J* em ^ er - It is planned to extend
e gregation next school year into
c e J Un * or high school grades at least,
ffl-at 'j 61 ' sc h°°ls will again be inte-
- ed as during the summer of 1954.
momiT rally ’ April was a “quiet”
’ exce Pt for the conviction of
Natf nt B° w l es > president of the
van ° na Association for the Ad-
^ c ement of White People,
of rf' Bowles who is now a resident
a a ware—living in Houston, Del.
e n * S c " ar ged with counselling par-
to Sf m /7 thern Delaware last fall not
hi g k d , their children to the Milford
of l] ^°°l because of the presence
chjj. , e §r° students. He also was
Parent conspiring with white
He S *° ^ eep their children home.
Jud Jftried before Common Pleas
state’ A . y D. Magee in Dover, the
each of was found guilty on
S30o on " e two barges and was fined
jail on ea ? c h ar £ e or six months in
the fm p eaC " c h ar ge if he failed to pay
Th’
H°wl es ' VaS first conviction of
with h; fi e came to Delaware
Advan S ^ a fi° na l Association for the
TV ^ ment of White People.
What h ar ® es Were the outgrowth of
^ i 'for f i aS <i- COI ? le *° ke known as the
°hildren mc ident” when 11 Negro
(white 1 ) i'' Vere Emitted to the Milford
dra Wn school but later with-
B *
es appealed the conviction to
the Superior Court of Kent County
and was released upon $3,000 bail.
Soon after Bowles’ conviction, his
wife sent a letter to the editor of the
Delaware State News of Dover, Del.,
charging that “the courts, both poli
tical parties in Delaware and a few
others have joined with such left-
wing groups as the National Associa
tion for the Advancement of Colored
People to break us down financially.
That may not be too hard to do, but
they will never break our spirits.”
In other developments, several
school districts have gone on record
as opposed to the proposed plan of re
organization of school districts in
Delaware, and a bill was presented
to the state Senate to wipe out the
state board of education and replace
it with a $10,000-a-year state school
commissioner.
The latter bill is not being taken
seriously by most people interested
in public education and is regarded as
one of those “just in case” measures
that are often put on the legislative
calendar just before the deadline for
new measures.
REORGANIZATION DOOMED
It is generally assumed, on the other
hand, that the proposal of the state
board of education to reorganize
Delaware’s 110 school districts into
15 large and fairly autonomous dis
tricts will not pass this current ses
sion of the General Assembly. Factors
against it include local pride in school
districts and the fear that reorganiza
tion will mean automatic integration.
Meanwhile, one of the state’s lead
ing proponents of integration has
raised this serious question: “Can we
honestly make the assumption that
Negro parents in Delaware really
want their children educated in mixed
or integrated public schools?”
The question was posed by James
H. Snowden, a Republican leader of
the Delaware General Assembly and
most recent outgoing president of the
Delaware Congress of Parents and
Teachers.
RACE PROBLEMS DISCUSSED
Mr. Snowden, who lives in Wil
mington and who personally believes
in integration in public schools, ad
dressed an interracial problem meet
ing, sponsored by church women of
the Wilmington area. This meeting
was held in an Episcopal church out
side of Wilmington and was attended
by Negro and white men and women.
It was a day-long session on various
interracial problems.
Mr. Snowden, who is noted for his
leadership among PTA groups and for
his advocacy of a gradual but definite
program of integration on all school
levels and throughout the PTA fabric
of the state, startled his audience
when he said:
“Can we honestly make the as
sumption that Negro parents in Dela
ware really want their children edu
cated in mixed or integrated public
schools? Please note that I have elim
inated any reference in this question
to other factors. Discard for a moment
the legal, sociological, ethical, moral,
religious and economic considerations
of a dual education system. Ask your
selves just this one question: Do
Negro parents prefer their children
in integrated schools?”
Mr. Snowden continued with parti
cular reference to the white members
of his audience:
“As you turn the import of that
question over in your mind, you will
gradually realize that you know al
most nothing about what Negro par
ents think about their children’s
schools—or any other subject for that
matter.
“You have read, just as I have,
about what some Negro parents want
—those who are active in cultural or
educational associations. But is that a
representative opinion? Is it a ma
jority opinion, or a minority opinion?
Is there behind the crusading organ
ization an apathy founded on five
generations of second-class citizen
ship or a profound reluctance to sub
mit their children to the same crisis
that a multitude of white parents also
fear?”
To develop his point, Mr. Snowden
recalled that last October the Dela
ware Congress of (white) Parents and
Teachers voted without dissent to
admit to membership any unit of the
Delaware Congress of Colored Par
ents and Teachers that made applica
tion.
This was virtually a policy of de
segregating what had been a solely
white organization. The decision was
made during the height of the Milford
integration controversy.
“It was then agreed (in Octbober),”
Mr. Snowden said, “that the ultimate
result of that action would be the
eventual dissolution of the Negro
Congress.
“The total result to date of this
action is nil,” he said. “Not one Negro
PTA unit nor one member of the
Negro Congress has taken the oppor
tunity to affiliate with the so-called
white Congress.
“It is true that three Negro units in
the city of Wilmington, which had not
been affiliated with either Congress,
did join the white Congress. So we
now can claim some progress in the
direction of proving that the races
can and will work together for objec
tives in which they have a mutual
respect.
“But, as significant as the joining of
three units may be, I am more im
pressed by the total lack of progress
with respect to the Negro parents
who were and are members of the
Negro Congress. If integration in the
public schools is as important as many
Negro and white leaders would have
us believe, certainly integration in an
organization devoted to those schools
would be an important step toward
advancing common understanding.”
Mr. Snowden went on to say:
“I cannot help but report to you
that from the date of the Supreme
Court decision in May 1954 to October
1954, there was tremendous activity
on the part of the Negro educational
leaders for immediate consolidation of
both the schools and the collateral
parent organizations. Once the door
to the parental organizations was
opened, however, the interest appar
ently dwindled to nothing.”
VESTED INTEREST
Mr. Snowden said he was aware
that there are Negroes in Delaware
“whose vested interest in continuing
segregation, while understandable,
accounts for much of the apparent
reluctance of Negro people generally
to participate in the areas of coopera
tion offered them.”
He also admitted he is aware there
are many Negro lay people who can
not generate enough community in
terest to “overcome this dominance
by the few, misguided persons who
occupy positions of community or
cultural leadership.
“However, in the end,” Mr. Snow
den said, “this means that the aver
age Negro is, as of today, not suf
ficiently interested in using the
openings for cooperation, and I cannot
accept the answer that the reason is
one of backwardness, pure and
simple.
“There is obviously more than just
an expression of fear or inadequacy
or indifference. I am willing to sug
gest that we, the white race, do not
in our concept of equality, give
enough space to the will and the right
of the Negro to maintain his own
identity and his own culture and his
own personality.”
“If we begin with the realization
that we do not really understand the
Negro, we can then realize that he
does not really understand us; and
this very lack of understanding is a
bar to creating means to resolve the
racial problems which confront us in
the areas of education, housing, eco
nomics and elsewhere.”
The former president of the Dela
ware Congress of Parents and Teach
ers concluded this section of his
speech with this observation:
“As an individual, I confess my
complete poverty to knowledge of
how to obtain what I believe vital to
race problems: the necessary under
standing of what the Negro means by
equality.”
In March of this year, Snowden ran
for and was elected to the state House
of Representatives on the Republican
ticket in a special election called be
cause of the death of a Democratic
representative in what is known as
the Second Representative District of
Wilmington.
No sooner had Mr. Snowden taken
his seat in the state House of Repre
sentatives than he was elected acting
leader of the Republicans who are in
the minority there.
And because of his views in favor
Florida
MIAMI, Fla.
Jj^ORMER acting Gov. Charley E.
Johns’ announced intention to lead
the fight for continued segregation re
sulted in action by the Florida Senate
in the last days of April.
Without advance notice Johns, who
continued as senator after leaving the
governor’s office, got consideration of
a bill permitting local school boards
to assign students to specific schools.
Johns, in the only speech on the
bill, admitted frankly it was designed
to maintain segregation.
He said he had high esteem for the
Negroes of his home town of Starke.
But segregation should “not be forced
on the people of Florida,” Johns de
clared.
The vote was 34-0, with four sena
tors abstaining. The bill now goes to
the House.
In related action, the Senate took
from committee consideration a me
morial to Congress offered by Johns.
It asks a federal constitutional change
to allow states to have sole authority
to regulate their schools.
The move makes possible early
action on the memorial.
A group of South Florida leaders in
many fields of business and civic
life started the ball rolling in April
to solve the vexing problems raised
by integration.
They met in an off-record break
fast in Miami to hear an informed
guess about the ultimate Supreme
Court mandate, and to consider what
they, as citizens, could do about it.
Atty. Gen. Richard W. Ervin, just
returned from his amicus curia ap
pearance before the Supreme Court,
said he believed the local communi
ties would be given decisive authori
ty and much leeway in carrying out
the integration mandate.
Local school officials would have
the key role. Under Florida law,
elected county school boards admin
ister the schools and have full au
thority, within broad standards, to
determine policy on school attend
ance, districting, hours and curricu
lum.
Instead of a rigid deadline, Ervin
suggested that the Supreme Court
might use sincerity of purpose and
honest effort on the part of local
school authorities to achieve integra
tion as its criterion.
Only if these are lacking after a
reasonable period would the court
crack down.
ROLE OF GROUP
The citizens’ group decided that
they could and should become a force
for better understanding of the vari
ous steps that must be taken in the
gradual integration process. They
could assist the school authorities in
gauging public opinion as to the rate
at which the process should go for
ward, and could be a force in forming
that opinion by gathering and pre
senting facts, and speaking out to
offset false and misleading state
ments.
The meeting was completely in
formal and almost spontaneous. Invi
tations went out over the signature of
Dr. H. Franklin Williams, vice presi
dent of the University of Miami, and
listed Miami’s Mayor Abe Aronovitz
as one of the sponsors. It was a last-
minute call made when it was learned
Atty. Gen. Ervin would be available
to answer questions.
Hollis Rinehart, president of the
Dade County Council on Community
Relations and a member of the state
board of control, which administers
the university system and state insti
tutions, served as chairman. He said
there was no effort to invite those
who favored or opposed integration.
It was simply a cross-section of
community leadership called to face a
community problem.
He said this type of informal or
ganization might serve as a model for
other communities.
Before this group, and in a later
of integration, it is expected that Mr.
Snowden will work to block any at
tempt to minimize the authority of
the State Department of Public In
struction by anti-integrationists and
will support any move that may be
made to enact an FEPC law in the
General Assembly.
formal address to the Southeastern
Adult Education Association, Ervin,
in his first public appearances after
his Supreme Court presentation, said:
“We probably will be allowed time
to work out desegregation at com
munity levels.
“But if steps are not taken to bring
about desegregation in due course,
the Court will throw the power of the
government behind the order.
“If we don’t do it voluntarily, they
will compel it.”
Compulsion, the attorney general
suggested, might come through the
withdrawal of a flexible compliance
schedule, based on local conditions,
and the substitution of a rigid dead
line.
After that the equity processes of
the courts would take over and local
school officials could be ordered to
admit children to any school in cases
where discrimination is established.
Ervin emphasized that his opinions
were based solely on experiences
during the Supreme Court argu
ments, and the questions asked by
justices to stimulate discussion on
points in which they showed particu
lar interest.
FORUMS ON PROGRESS
The Dade County Council on Com
munity Relations has been holding
neighborhood forums at which white
and Negro leaders discuss the issues
raised by integration. This is an edu
cational program.
The new program just getting un
der way is a departure. It is a con
scious effort to provide leadership in
carrying out the Supreme Court
mandate—whatever it may be.
Other than the Senate passage of
the Johns pupil assignment, there
has been no effort to raise the segre
gation issue in the legislature.
The nearest approach was made by
Rep. Prentice Pruitt of Monticello,
who said he was “seriously consid
ering” the introduction of bills to
preserve segregation. Pruitt repre
sents Jefferon County in North Flori
da, which has a 63 per cent Negro
population.
Just what form this legislation
might take has not been decided,
Pruitt said. It might be a bill to
abolish the public school system, or a
move to do away with continuing
contracts for teachers.
REDISTRICTING PLAN
A third plan, Pruitt said, might
empower local school boards to
gerrymander school districts and
separate the races on an artificial
geographic basis.
“I believe the abolishment of con
tinuing contracts would settle our
problem without any more drastic
legislation,” Pruitt said.
“Much of the trouble stems from
agitation by Negro school teachers. I
believe it would end if they knew
their contracts had to be renewed
each year.”
Under school regulations, teachers
who complete three years of satis
factory service have a tenure, and
can be dismissed only for cause after
a hearing.
The proposed school zoning bill
frankly would permit districting on
racial grounds, even between two
adjacent houses.
“The courts have held this is legal
in districting for voting,” the legisla
tor said. “I don’t see why it wouldn’t
be just as legal for schools.”
‘LOCAL OPTION’ SYSTEM
At the time this report was writ
ten, Pruitt’s proposed measures had
not been introduced. But there were
reports that if the segregation ques
tion does become an issue later, a
group of legislators will swing to a
“local option” type of school system,
with each county having three
choices.
One would allow continuation of
the present segregated school system.
Another would permit the public
schools to be scrapped in favor of a
private system, even though this
would mean the loss of any federal
matching funds. The third would be
an integrated system, if a sufficient
number of citizens petitioned the
school authorities to establish it.
So far this plan is under wraps and
no one has come forward to sponsor
it publicly.