Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—August 1955—PAGE 17 Historic Vicksburg First City in Mississippi To Get Petition JACKSON, Miss. V icksburg, the cradle of Mississip pi’s Confederacy which for over 80 years failed to celebrate the July 4th Independence Day because that was the day it fell to Union forces in 1864, has been selected by the Na tional Association for the Advance- me nt of Colored People for its initial attack on the state’s segregated school system. The “opening shot,” heard possibly “around the world” because of its potentials in this segregation strong hold, was a petition filed by the Vicksburg chapter of the NAACP demanding that immediate steps be taken by the Vicksburg school board to reorganize the system in line with the U. S. Supreme Court’s integration decision. It was purportedly signed by 140 Negroes. Simultaneously with filing of the Vicksburg action, Dr. A. H. McCoy, dentist of Jackson and president of the Mississippi branches of the NAACP, said at Jackson that other “ultimatums” are being prepared for submission to school authorities at Jackson, Natchez and Clarksdale. Later, integration petitions were filed with the school boards at Nat chez and Jackson. Pending school board meetings during August, those officials had no comment except that their documents are similar to the one filed in Vicksburg. NO TIME LIMIT Dr. McCoy said the documents are “not petitions, but ultimatums which will be followed up with legal steps to force compliance with the court’s decision.” He also said that no “set time limit” for compliance had been fixed by the NAACP and that legal action “can be expected after a rea sonable time.” Dr. McCoy said legal counsel for the Mississippi suits will be furnished through the legal department of the NAACP in New York, and that “it is likely that local attorneys will also be employed.” He said that 50 of those signing the Vicksburg request had already signed statements retain ing the NAACP-selected counsel to represent them in the case there. The petition in the Vicksburg case was mailed to the school board with Joseph R. Johnson, a Negro minister and cleaning firm employe, signing it as president of the Vicksburg chapter of the NAACP. After its receipt was made known, Atty. Gen. J. P. Coleman interrupted his campaign for governor and went to Vicksburg to confer with the school board and H. V. Cooper, superintend ent of the city school system. After a conference with the attor ney general on Tuesday, July 19, the day following mailing of the petition, the school board headed by Dr. W. K. Purks issued the following statement: “After conferring with the attorney general and upon full consideration of the purported petition received through the mails on Monday after noon, July 18, the Vicksburg school board finds that this communication is not a petition, wholly fails to meet the requirements for a petition and actually presents this board with nothing upon which to take action. “The matter therefore will receive no further consideration from us and the incident is closed.” Tennessee Group (Continued) to take legal action to restrain edu cational officials who, in violation of Article XI, Section 12, of the state Constitution, may seek to receive white and Negro children as scholars together in the same schools; and we offer legal assistance and guidance to citizens of both races who wish their children to continue to have the free dom of attending school with their own cultural group.” legal aid requests Thus far, he said, "several re quests, both from private citizens and from educational institutions, ’ have been received for legal assist ance. Davidson declined to go into plans of the federation for enlarging the legal staff to assist Paul F. Bumpus, Nashville attorney and a former state district attorney who has been ap pointed chief counsel of the group. Such plans will be announced later, he said. However, Davidson noted, °ffers of assistance from distin guished attorneys in various parts of the state have been received. The Tennessee federation, incor porated under state law on June 30, 1955, is affiliated with the Federation or Constitutional Government, a southwide organization which aims at national stature. The southwide group, under the temporary chair manship of John U. Barr of Louisi- ®n a , was organized earlier this year during meetings at Atlanta, Ga. and Ja ckson, Miss. The exact relationship of the Ten- dessee organization, independently incorporated, to the regional group as not been fully determined. This question is due to be settled during i e re §ional chartering convention to e “eld in the near fuutre. Position defined nr endeavoring to ascertain the position of the Tennessee q u era l'°n on the school segregation •*<*. Davidson was asked: Does r gr°up feel that the recent court to tv,° n ° n segregation is contrary Ho he Principles of constitutional r^nmenU If so , explain why. this, he replied: eont^’ We that the decision is tutio ? t0 t ^ le Principles of consti- re as<5 Sovemment for the obvious p U k,. cited by various prominent of )yj 1C ngures, notably Sen. Eastland in p lsslss iPPi in his recent speeches P r em° n r^ eSS ' h 0 ^ that the Su- tionaf . our t violated the constitu- p° w Principle of the separation of Wh a t attempting to declare, not e law is, but what they thought it ought to be. Thus they usurped the legislative power ac corded to the federal Congress and the states of the Union. Further more, in abandoning established precedent and judicial procedure in favor of mere sociological and psy chological opinionating, the present Justices did gross and possibly irre parable injury to the authority and prestige of the U.S. Supreme Court as an institution.” Questioned on the federation’s plans for financing its activities, which in addition to the legal assist ance will include dissemination of information through a news and edi torial service, newsletters and bulle tins, Davidson said voluntary contri butions would constitute the primary source of income. “We have no capital endowment at present,” he said. “Our prospectus ... says that ‘the normal annual sub scription for a sponsoring member is $5.’ But we will accept contributions in larger or smaller amounts.” CONCERNING MEMBERSHIP On the matter of membership, Da vidson said the question, Do you aim for mass membership? is “hardly appropriate” since “we are not a poli tical party or anything of that sort.” However, he said an eventual mem bership of 100,000 is anticipated. The question of whether the organiza tion would be open to persons of both the white and Negro races, Da vidson said, “has not been much dis cussed.” However, he pointed out that the offer of legal guidance and assistance has been made to Negro citizens as well as white. “The implications of this offer are perfectly clear,” he asserted. “We shall not hesitate to make common cause with Negro citizens of the state who may share our point of view. We are exploring the extent of interest of Negro leaders who are friendly to our announced purpose, and several prominent Negro citizens have expressed an interest in our or ganization and a willingness to par ticipate toward our objectives. We are in no sense an ‘anti-Negro’ or ganization.” The objectives of the organization, as set out in the corporate charter, are to disseminate “educational and cultural information and (to take) such other steps as mav be deemed necessary to preserve the traditions, beliefs, customs and the constitution and laws and the public policies of Tennessee and the United States of America.” St/m i’T am* jtfraw tivT'i; WiMMiSUL ■' —Jackson (Miss.) Daily News In an accompanying statement, Atty. Gen. Coleman said: “The public school system of Mis sissippi is in no danger whatever from the attempted attack at Vicks burg.” On July 20, W. H. Jefferson, chair man of the executive committee of the Vicksburg branch of the NAACP, issued a statement that the Vicksburg school board will be given a “reason able time” to take action and if none follows that legal action will be taken. He said the petition was drawn by Thurgood Marshall, chief counsel for the NAACP in New York, “and in our opinion was legal and proper in every respect.” Another immediate development was a statement issued at Vicksburg by Rev. H. H. Hume of Greenville, president of the Negro General Bap tist Convention of Mississippi in ses sion at Vicksburg July 20. Hume, who edits a Negro weekly newspaper, charged that filing of the integration petition in Vicksburg “was timed to coincide with the convention in Vicksburg in order to give the im pression that the convention had a hand in it.” Asserting that the statewide Baptist convention he heads “is not inter ested in segregation or in integration of the schools of Mississippi,” Rev. Humes said, “The General Baptist Convention of the state of Missis sippi has never gone down on record as pushing any litigation for integra tion.” A resolution said to have been unanimously adopted by the conven tion stated that “we deplore the at tempt to give the impression that the General Baptist state convention majors in any field outside religion. What we’ve worked for is peace of the community.” Hume said “such implications to the contrary on the part of the leadership and the NAACP are most false and untrue.” NO SOLUTION “Litigation such as we have flying here in Vicksburg and in other places will not solve the problem,” Hume told the convention. “Integration in Mississippi, if it were initiated, would be purely experimental and those who clamor for it don’t know if they’d be happy if they got it.” President Johnson of the Vicks burg NAACP answered, stating that Hume’s statement “is just more prop aganda to oppose action.” Chairman Jefferson of the NAACP’s executive committee said filing of the petition at the time of the Baptist convention “was purely coincidental and had nothing to do with it.” Meanwhile, the five candidates for governor used the petition as a basis for strengthening their positions against integration efforts. One of the candidates, speaking to an audience in which about 40 Negroes were present, said the majority of Mississippi Negroes want to continue the segre gated system. State Rep. Ney Gore Jr. of Quit- man County, secretary of the Legal Education Advisory Committee headed by Gov. Hugh White and created at the 1954 legislative session to map plans to combat integration efforts, conferred during the latter part of the month with attorneys gen eral in North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia and Alabama. Rep. Gore, who has been reelected without oppo sition, earlier was placed on full-time status to build up a file of develop ments in the South on the segrega tion vs. integration issue. No legal action has been taken in Mississippi, but has been pro grammed by several local chapters of the NAACP. It is scheduled as a follow-up to petitions being filed with school boards asking for immediate action looking to compliance with the Supreme Court’s integration decision. The Vicksburg petition filed with the school board there on July 18 was the first move in Mississippi by the NAACP to seek integration of the segregated school system. The petition follows: “To the Board of Education of Vicksburg, Miss., and Superintendent of Schools of Vicksburg, Miss.: “We, the undersigned, are the par ents of children of school age entitled to attend and attending the public elementary and secondary high schools under your jurisdiction. As you undoubtedly know, the U. S. Supreme Court on May 17,1954, ruled that the maintenance of racially segregated public schools is a viola tion of the Constitution of the United States and on May 31,1955, reaffirmed that principle and requires ‘good faith compliance at the earliest prac ticable date’ with the federal courts authorized to determine whether local officials are proceeding in good faith. “We therefore call upon you to take immediate steps to reorganize the public schools under your jurisdic tion on a non-discriminatory basis. As we understand it you have the responsibility to reorganize the school systems under your control so that the children of public school age attending and entitled to attend pub lic schools cannot be denied admis sions to any school or be required to attend any school solely because of race and color. ‘DUTY BOUND’ “The May 31st decision of the Supreme Court, to us, means that the time for delay, evasion or procrastina tion is past. Whatever the difficulties in according our children their con stitutional rights, it is clear that the school board must meet and seek a solution to that question in accord ance with the law of the land. As we interpret the decision, you are duty bound to take immediate concrete steps leading to early elimination of segregation in the public schools. Please rest assured of our willingness to serve in any way we can to aid you in dealing with this question.” After publication in a Vicksburg daily newspaper of the names of those signing the petition, Rev. B. L. Thomas, pastor of the King Solomon Baptist church at Vicksburg, whose name appeared as one of the peti tioners, issued a statement charging his name was a “forgery.” He said he had no knowledge of the petition until it appeared in a Vicksburg newspaper. His statement was issued July 23. The petition was filed July 19. “I am totally innocent of signing this petition,” Rev. Thomas said. “I was not even contacted, and whoever signed my name to the petition com mitted a forgery.” WHAT THEY SAY Walter Sillers, attorney of Rosedale and member of the House of Repre sentatives continuously since 1916 from Boliver County, said filing of the petition “is not a surprise.” Repre sentative Sillers was one of the leaders who gained voter-ratification of an amendment to the state consti tution of 1890 authorizing the legis lature to abolish public education in event integration is attempted. The amendment also provides for a system of “public education” without regard to race or that it be operated on a “separate, but equal” basis as pro vided under the 1890 constitution if so desired by the legislature if aboli tion is not voted. The amendment also empowers the legislature to permit abolition of pub lic education “county by county” as well as statewide. COUNCIL STATEMENT At Winona, headquarters of the Mississippi Association of Citizens Councils composed of “white males dedicated to preservation of segrega tion,” Robert Patterson, the statewide organization’s executive secretary, said: “White citizens of Vicksburg have not seem fit to form any organization with which to defend themselves. Organized aggression must be met with organized resistance.” At Jackson, William J. Simmons, secretary of the Citizens Councils, said “it’s no surprise.” “It’s right in line with what the NAACP said they were going to do,” he said. “If the white people need anything to show them this is seri ous, this is certainly an indication.” On July 20, a group of white citi zens at Edwards, small town halfway between Jackson and Vicksburg, held a mass meeting which was addressed by Circuit Judge T. P. Brady of Brookhaven, and Ellis Wright, presi dent of the Jackson Citizens Council. The meeting was presided over by E. O. Bufkin, superintendent of schools at Edwards. Judge Brady, a Harvard graduate and leader in the southern movement to organize Citizens Councils, called on citizens of Vicksburg to organize a council to help school officials main tain segregation. NON-VIOLENCE “This is a clash of principles,” he said. “We will fail with bullets and bricks. The highest, finest, cleanest non-violent program is necessary if we are to be victorious. Then we will have God and right on our side.” Organization of a Negro counter part to the white Citizens Councils was revealed by the Columbus, Miss., Sun, a Negro newspaper. The organi zation is called the “Parent-Teacher- Youth Council.” The Sun said the new group will “foster segregation, combat and ex pose Negro agitators and encourage racial pride among the Negro people.” A spokesman for the white Citizens Councils confirmed that his group is “working with” the new Negro group, but emphasized that organizational work is being done “by the Negroes themselves.” In a statement issued at Jackson, State Superintendent of Education J. M. Tubb said with reference to the Vicksburg integration petition: “We were hoping this wouldn’t happen, because it brings us into liti gation. I don’t think this will improve the feeling of the people as we try to initiate a program of equal schools for all the people.” Increased activity in organizing new all-white Citizens Councils fol lowed filing of the Vicksburg inte gration petition. The statewide organ ization claims a present membership estimated at 60,000, mostly qualified electors. At Jackson, the local Citizens Council opened a drive, with a mem bership goal of 10,000. The Jackson Daily News and the Jackson State Times both carried long stories on the membership drive. One carried a photostatic copy of the application in calling on white citi zens to affiliate with the council. The “mother” chapter is at Indian- ola in Sunflower County, organized about a year ago. Each unit is autono mous with no relation to other groups, but all working in cooperation with a state headquarters maintained at Winona in Montgomery County.