Newspaper Page Text
Reaction
Continued From Page 6
“Hie case in Knoxville is one re
manded to the lower court from the
y S. Circuit Court of Appeals in
Cincinnati last June with instruc
tions to the Judge to dispose of the
suit in compliance with the Supreme
Court decision of May 17,1954. Judge
Robert L. Taylor, at that time, said
he would delay action until the high
court implemented its ruling. The
suit was filed on behalf of five Ne
groes seeking admission to the only
high school in Anderson County.
“The Memphis case is one filed by
five Negroes, seeking to enjoin state
education officials from refusing
them admission to Memphis State
College solely because of their color.
“How soon the courts will act on
these cases is not known. But because
of their existence, Tennessee may be
brought within the authority of the
court’s decree sooner than most oth
er states in the South.”
What They Said
STATE OFFICIALS
Gov. Frank G. Clement: “Such a
momentous decision will require
some time for study.” Clement de
clared, however, that in Tennessee,
“We shall continue to send all our
children of whatever race, creed or
color, to good public schools.”
Atty. Gen. George F. McCanless:
“I don’t think it would be prudent to
give an opinion on this until we have
had the opportunity to give it a good
deal of thought and study.”
State Commissioner of Education
Quill E. Cope: “I have no comment
to make on the decree at this time.”
CONGRESSMEN
Rep. Jere Cooper, Dyersburg: “I
thought the decision against segre
gation was most unfortunate, but 1
believe the best course to follow is
on a local basis. I’ve always felt the
control of the school system should
be at the local level.”
Rep. Percy Priest, Nashville: “I
think the court’s decision was a very
wise one which recognizes what so
many of us felt all along—the au
thority of the states to operate their
school systems should be main
tained.”
Rep. Joe Evins, Smithville: “It is a
satisfactory Southern decision.”
CIVIC GROUPS
Frank E. Bass, Nashville, execu
tive secretary, Tennessee Education
Association: “I believe we will prob
ity wait until the state legal au
thorities and state education officials
declare their policy before taking any
action. This was the policy the asso-
ciation adopted last June and as far
as I know, there has been no change.”
Mrs, Ralph W. Frost, Knoxville,
President, Tennessee Congress of
arents and Teachers: “I haven’t
read the decision and have nothing
to say about it. We probably won’t
. 0 anything until the state announces
>ts policy.”
OTHER comment
Federal Judge Robert L. Taylor,
Knoxville: “I haven’t seen the opin-
*°n and I ’ll have to see it before I’ll
, ave a statement to make.” Referring
p future action on the Anderson
unty case, Judge Taylor said, “I
e it that after the opinion is re-
,, Ve ° in due course action will be
est m* i e gal counsel for the inter-
parties, and, of course, I will
° n this action when it comes be-
l0r e me.”
ederal Judge Leslie R. Dar
^attanooga: “The opinion of th
preme Court places supervision c
jud Consumma ti°n of the court
^gment upon the district judge
CoiJ , ln one case, the state suprerr
Voi,„- 0r iginally tried the cases ir
,qrng segregation.
e Supreme Court would nc
cj ® ou id not direct a local judge t
did ° Ut 3 ^ ecree first the local judg
w not have the opportunity to de
Hr ^ru 11 t * le fi rst case.”
pr es i', C “ a rle s S. Johnson, Nashvilli
iud -t, Fisk University: “In m
er a the compliance by soutl
by s ates could have been helpe
Wit[, 0ta f Headline for integratioi
a r e a Headline to meet, it would b
sta^d °p S *hHity anyone could under
tors a Y5 38 ^ is, local administra
re likely to be held personall
responsible for any action too dila
tory or precipitous. There is now,
however, an immediate obligation for
states to begin changing their laws
. . . and anyone not complying will
be in a position of being on tolerance
as a violator of the law.”
Dr. Truman Pierce, Nashville,
Peabody College, director of the Kel
logg Foundation’s Southern States
Cooperative Program on Educational
Administration: “It seems reasonable
to believe that state boards of educa
tion and state departments of educa
tion will have to establish policies
and conditions in which the local au
thorities can act in response to the
decree, without being in violation of
the law or principles of the decree.”
Texas
SSN Correspondent Richard More-
head wrote from Austin:
“State officials received the Su
preme Court’s segregation decree
May 31 with cautious optimism.
“Nobody commended the court or
der publicly but privately most of
them expressed the view that it was
about the best that the southern
states could expect considering that
the court already has held segrega
tion to be unconstitutional.
“Reaction of both races to the
court’s order was tolerant. A Hous
ton Negro editor, long a champion of
equal rights for his race, appealed to
his readers to ‘take it easy’ and give
‘the people a chance to settle things
peaceably.’
“A legislator from East Texas
shelved plans to introduce legislation
to abolish the public school system
to preserve segregation. The court’s
decree giving local school boards and
local judges leeway in handling the
problem appeared to this lawmaker
to be about the best solution possible
after the decision that segregation is
unconstitutional.
“The decree ... is expected to bring
these early results:
“1. Fringe districts with a few Ne
groes like Friona (where three Ne
groes were admitted to the white
school last fall) will admit them to
white schools.
“2. Districts with large numbers of
Negroes will speed up efforts to pro
vide them with schools equal to those
for whites. This movement has been
under way on a large scale in recent
years, with millions of dollars spent
improving the Negro schools.
“The main problem actually may
come in districts where Negroes com
prise a sizable minority, but hardly
enough to justify the expense of first-
class separate systems.
What They Said
STATE OFFICIALS
Gov. Allan Shivers: “Preliminary
reports indicate that . . the court is
leaving some discretion to local au
thorities. That is good. I have always
advocated that these matters be
handled by local agencies of govern
ment.”
Shivers withheld further comment
pending a study of the decree.
Atty. Gen. John Ben Shepperd:
“We are, of course, pleased that the
Supreme Court recognized the local
nature of the question. But in an
nouncing the ruling it did not solve
this problem . . . The court at one
blow apparently tried to abolish state
and local laws in thousands of com
munities. The court should say what
the law is, not what the law should
be.”
Dr. J. W. Edgar, commissioner of
education: “We can’t apply one yard
stick to 1,900 districts in Texas.”
Sen. George Parkhouse: “I see no
need for legislation in Texas. It is a
victory for the states. The Supreme
Court and the national administra
tion have probably come to realize
that speedy integration would do
more harm than good for interracial
relations.
“I feel it is extremely wise to leave
some discretion to the local school
boards. Certainly also it is wise to di
rect the federal judges to consider lo
cal problems.”
Rep. Tom King: “It will take years
to work out. So far as I’m concerned
the present laws are adequate. The
Supreme Court got hold of a hot po
tato and didn’t know what to do with
it. I still think that the decision hold
ing segregation unconstitutional was
bad.”
Rep. Barefoot Sanders: “A very
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—June 8, 1955—PAGE 7
reasonable opinion.
“I can’t see that any legislation
here is necessary. I doubt that we
could legislate validly in any way ex
cept to implement the Supreme
Court’s decision.”
Sanders declared that federal
judges are proper persons to pass on
local applications since “they hold
their positions on a lifetime basis,
free from political pressures.”
OTHER COMMENTS
O. C. Armstrong, school board
president at Fort Worth: “I wouldn’t
presume to set a date for ending
segregation.” He added that in com
pliance with the court’s order, segre
gation in the public schools in Fort
Worth would end “as soon as is pos
sible and practical.”
Carter Wesley, publisher of the
Houston Informer: “My personal at
titude is to take it easy and see what
is going to happen. I don’t like the
idea of even suggesting or even
thinking of a suit or a fight without
giving the people a chance to settle
things peaceably. I’m telling my
readers to take it easy and avoid ar
guments and squabbles.
Virginia
SSN Correspondent Overton Jones
wrote from Richmond:
“Public schools in Virginia towns,
cities and counties, administered lo
cally but guided by state-set policies,
will await directions from the Com
monwealth before acting on the Su
preme Court order.
“A study of local reaction to the
decision showed:
“(1.) Local educators now will
wait for directions from the state
department of education and,
“(2.) Local officials generally were
happy with the outcome of the high
Federal Court’s deliberations.
“But in Prince Edward County the
county supervisors agreed to with
draw effective financial support
from the county’s public schools next
year.
“Prince Edward, thus, became the
first of the defendant localities in the
five suits to take a positive step to do
away with public schools rather than
abolish segregation.
“Yet, Edward A. Carter, chairman
of the county board, held out some
hope. He said:
“ ‘I don’t believe that integration
will serve to elevate or make better
citizens of either race. In view of the
above factor, we shall use every legal
and honorable means to continue the
high type of education we are pre
pared to give the children in Prince
Edward County.’
“On June 4, the parents of the
white children in Prince Edward
County, under the auspices of the
Parent-Teachers Association, an
nounced they would seek to raise
$200,000 to pay the salaries of the
county’s white school teachers next
year.
“R. B. Crawford of Farmville said
the group intends to form a non
profit corporation to raise money for
the estimated 70 white teachers in
the county.
“ ‘The action is being taken,’ he
said, ‘to assure the teachers we will
take care of them next year. We in
tend to guarantee their salaries to
preserve our teaching staff.’
“In Nottoway County the super
visors tabled a proposed school budg
et of some $600,000 for the coming
year, appropriated the statutory
minimum for school operations and
put the county in position to with
draw from the field of public edu
cation, if need be.
“One board member, W. C. Cole-
bum of Blackstone, said the super
visors are united in their determina
tion to have no public schools at all
as long as the threat of compulsory
integration continues.
“In Hanover, Circuit Court Judge
Leon M. Bazile barred the sale by
Hanover County of $1,000,000 worth
of school construction bonds author
ized prior to the Supreme Court de
cision of May 17, 1954.
“Judge Bazile said the high court’s
decision—of which he was strongly
critical—had made illegal the use of
proceeds from any bonds issued when
the State’s segregation statutes were
valid.
“Bazile’s ruling, supporting a suit
filed early this year by Attorney
Samuel W. Shelton, of Hanover, was
the first of its nature in a Virginia
court of record. It may be regarded as
persuasive in similar cases in the
State, in the opinion of responsible
legal authorities, unless overturned
by the State Supreme Court of Ap
peals.
“Whether the Hanover School
Board, defendant in Shelton’s suit,
will appeal Bazile’s ruling may be
answered later this month.
What They Said
STATE OFFICIALS
Gov. Stanley: “I am asking the
chairman of the Commission on Pub
lic Education to call a meeting of the
commission at the earliest date possi
ble. I am requesting the commission
to consider the new opinion of the
Supreme Court and give me the ben
efit of its judgment in the light of the
present situation. Its advice will be
helpful in determining any further
action that may be necessary or de
sirable prior to the regular legisla
tive session of 1956.”
Garland Gray, chairman of the
Commission on Public Education, an
nounced that the commission will
meet at the state capitol in Richmond
on Wednesday night, June 8.
Roanoke State Sen. Earl A. Fitz
patrick, a member of the State
Commission on Public Education,
said he was “pleased that the court
did not force action at the moment.
I feel that the commission will now
be able to work out something in the
best interests of all the people.”
Fitzpatrick said he was unable to
see any immediate need for a special
session of the General Assembly,
adding that he was “satisfied” none
will be called “until the commission
has reported, at least.”
Delegate Felix Edmunds of
Waynesboro: “From what I have
learned from press reports, the court
ruling appears fair and reasonable ...
Delegate George M. Cochran,
Staunton: “It sounds as though the
Court has gone along with the posi
tion of the Southern representatives.”
Judge Bazile: “The Constitution of
the United States is a written docu
ment. A particular section cannot
mean one thing one time and another
and different thing at another time.”
In this respect, he said, the high
court in 1896, “when its members
consister of great judges who were
educated in constitutional law and
who respected the high office which
they held,” had upheld the right of
states to maintain separate schools.
The Supreme Court last year, he
said, saw “fit to overrule (the earlier
decisions) on the authority of opin
ions of certain psychologists who
have no training in the legal field or
knowledge of constitutional law.”
He declared that any state remain
ing in the “public school business”
must conform to the decision and that
“the people of Virginia are helpless.”
LOCAL OFFICIALS
Supt. of Richmond Schools H. I.
Willett said the decision apparently
left the question a matter for the
General Assembly. He said he want
ed more time to consider before com
menting further.
(This feeling—that localities must
await disclosure of policies set in
Richmond—was generally paralleled
by local educators elsewhere in the
state.)
Robert P. McConnell, Danville’s
school board chairman: “Concession
to the South.”
Dr. H. M. Stryker, mayor of Wil
liamsburg: “It is as practical as the
court could make it ... ”
E. S. Bingley, chairman of York
County’s board of supervisors:
“Frankly, I don’t think it will affect
us any. It just depends on who rocks
the boat the most.”
Hugh K. Dabney, chairman of the
Gloucester County board of super
visors: “It now seems evident that the
court has not the courage of its pre
viously avowed convictions. Their
next move may well be to rule on the
sociological definition of the word
‘feasible.’ ”
Paul F. Swasey, chairman of the
Hanover County school board: (On
Judge Bazile’s ruling) “This thing
leaves us in an awful predicament.
The only thing we can hope for is
that the Gray Commission (Gov.
Stanley’s Commission on Public Edu
cation) will make some recommen
dations—soon.”
He added that it was “imperative”
that the governor call a special ses
sion of the General Assembly as soon
as the commission’s recommenda
tions are submitted.
Edward A. Carter, chairman of the
Prince Edward County board of su
pervisors: “I believe in equal but sep
arate schools for children of the
South as interpreted by the Supreme
Court of the United States in 1896.
“I believe in States’ rights. I believe
if we are left to work this question of
schools out, we will evolve a sys
tem that will be acceptable to both
races and be to the best interests of
all concerned.
CIVIC GROUPS
Collins Denny, Jr., attorney for the
Defenders of State Sovereignty and
Individual Liberties, which opposes
integration: “This decision doesn’t
change the fundamental question the
people of Virginia have before them.
It at best offers a short delay, but
Virginians still have to decide what
course they will follow—are they go
ing to integrate or not?”
West
Virginia
SSN Correspondent Frank A.
Knight wrote from Charleston:
“Rather than cause any delays the
Supreme Court’s decision to place
responsibility on local courts will
speed integration in West Virginia.
This was the consensus of both white
and Negro educators and officials fol
lowing the latest opinion.
“Had this been the case last fall a
county like Greenbrier, on the Vir
ginia border, likely would not have
rescinded its action to ban segrega
tion following protests by parents and
students. Without much question, a
local court would have ordered the
pupils to integrate.
“Eighteen other counties which
have taken no action on the issue
probably will do so within the year
and the feeling prevails that inte
gration will be completed within two
years in West Virginia. Twelve of the
55 already are integrated while 13
others have partial integration. Elev
en have no Negro pupils.
“While no integration suits are
pending and while there are no pres
sure groups at work there have been
delaying actions by boards of educa
tion. These likely will be ended now
that the court has reached its final
decision.”
What They Said
STATE OFFICIALS
Gov. William C. Marland: “I have
nothing to add to what I have said
in the past.” The governor has fre
quently said that West Virginia
would comply with the integration
order.
State School Superintendent W. W.
Trent: “I am glad the Supreme Court
upheld my opinion. Last June I ad
vised county superintendents to de
segregate as rapidly as the number
of teachers and school buildings per
mitted. Many counties, aside from
those which already have integrated,
have been studying desegregation,
and some of them have planned to
integrate classes with the opening of
the next term. I don’t know how long
complete desegregation will take, but
the courts will decide whether coun
ties are desegregating as rapidly as
conditions warrant.”
CIVIC GROUPS
Willard Brown, president, Charles
ton branch, NAACP: “I’m very
pleased with the fact the Supreme
Court has issued the directives put
ting an end to the myth of separate
but equal schools in the affected
states. The fact that the matter has
been referred to the district level will
mean, in my opinion immediate steps
to integrate fully the remaining
counties in West Virginia which
haven’t already taken action.”
OTHER COMMENT
Mrs. Ruth Jeffers, a Charleston
school principal: “I have no objection
to starting integration immediately,
but a more thorough and smoother
job might be accomplished if the mat
ter were taken slowly. There is quite
a bit of groundwork that must be
completed, but I’m sure that the ma
jority of the people are perfectly will
ing for it to take place.”