About Southern school news. (Nashville, Tenn.) 1954-1965 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 1955)
Factual Southern School New / VOL. II, NO. 3 NASHVILLE, TENN. $2 PER YEAR SEPTEMBER 1955 Desegregation Spotty As Schools Open ‘Calling You, Too’ Marshall Cites Strategy J^EGAL research has shown that practically all attempts to evade the anti-segregation decrees of the Supreme Court—including ultimate abandonment of public education as a state function—may be attacked successfully in the courts, the fore most legal spokesman for the Na tional Association for the Advance ment of Colored People claims. In an exclusive interview with Southern School News, Thurgood Marshall, director and counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educa tional Fund, said that investigations ®to such plans as those proposed or adopted in such states as South Car olina, Virginia, Mississippi and Ala- OMna may be attacked in the courts w ith good expectations of success. (Editor’s Note: SSN from time to tune presents interviews with figures ^presenting the various points of view on the school segregation ques tion.) Among the Southern state plans specifically investigated by the "AACP’s legal defense and educa- ooal division are the South Carolina school abolition proposals, the Vir- Smia moves toward withholding muds from desegregated schools and 6 Alabama pupil assignment plan, research preliminary to legal action OV? ^ as ^ een done In the cases of *Iahoma and Missouri where Ne- ^o teachers have been fired in the axe 0 f desegregation activities, ^shall said. 7* response to other questions ™ e d by Southern School News, i * ar ^hall asserted: t ,~~ desegregation in most areas of 7 Smith by not later than Septem- ^naa” * s t * ie p° Uc y a * rn ^-General NAACP strategy is to re- f7 e afi legal barriers to educational ities based on race by means of compliance with the letter of n mw as set out by the Supreme 1955” ° n Ma y 17 > 1954 and M ay 31, Se 7 actics used by the NAACP in n g admission of Negroes to pub- jijCHOOL doors are opening this fall on a South in transition from customary segregation to court-ordered deseg regation over a wide area. However, though Southern School News correspondents reported some desegregation this September in at least 362 school districts or local systems in eight states and the District of Columbia, the picture was spotty. In order to present a comprehensive story of the situation as schools opened, SSN correspondents were asked to define the official attitude in their states toward the Supreme Court decisions. Was it “hardening against” the deci sions? Or was it “toward compliance?” Opposition clearly was firmer in seven states—Alabama, Georgia, Lou isiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Six of these states (excepting Virginia) en tered the 1955-56 school year with constitutional provision or statutory requirement permitting abolition of the public school system or assign ment of pupils. In Virginia, six coun ties arranged their finances so that public support could be dropped im mediately if courts ordered integra tion. —Courtesy of Knox, Nashville Banner lie schools will be arrived at largely on the local level to meet local con ditions, with some “understandable errors in judgment” a possibility. Marshall declined to answer ques tions touching on the recent hearing in Clarendon County, S. C., and the suggestion made from the bench there that segregation may be continued in the schools on a voluntary basis. He said: “In view of the fact that these cases are still pending in the court, we be lieve it would be unethical to discuss the merits of the litigation involved in these questions.” The questions referred to here also sought to determine his oninion on the effects the South Carolina hear ing may have on trends toward de segregation, as well as NAACP plans for either appealing the decision ren dered July 15 or for seeking further moves to attain desegregation based on that decision. Some of the more pertinent ques tions asked Marshall, and his answers, are as follows: Q. Can the NAACP’s long-range strategy in the school segregation controversy be outlined or summed up briefly in non-legal terms? A. It is, of course, impossible to set forth our long-range strategy in brief fashion. Generally, it might be summed up as follows: The over-all objective is to remove all legal bar riers requiring racial segregation. These include statutes and/or consti tutional provisions as well as local laws and regulations requiring racial segregation. We intend to do this as rapidly as possible under all circum stances. We intend to work closely with all governmental agencies will ing to change their systems to con form to the mandate of the Supreme Court. We are willing to consider any proposal, yet insist that we will not compromise on any principle. It should also be emphasized that the speed of this program will be deter mined by NAACP branches in the lo cal communities involved with the See MARSHALL, Page 2 During the summer some 60 school districts or communities in Texas an nounced desegregation for September (two, San Antonio and Amarillo, sub sequently delayed their plans), while in Oklahoma 80 districts, including Oklahoma City with its heavy Negro population, were to desegregate. At least 10 counties and four of the lar ger cities of Kentucky had similar plans. Forty-four out of 55 counties in West Virginia were desegregating and Missouri reported 114 districts with mixed classes out of 244 with Negro enrollment. Petitions from Negro parents, usu ally backed by local branches of the National Association for the Ad vancement of Colored Peonle. were popping up all over the South. At press-time Southern School News counted 118 petitions in 13 states nlus an undetermined number in Okla- home (where state policy largely has nullified their imoortance). A feature of this activity was the later withdrawal of Negro signatures in numerous instances, particularly in the Deeo South, either because of renorted misunderstanding of the original puruose or because of eco nomic pressure. * * * Pressures of various kinds were be ing applied by anti-integration groups, whose activity increased as the school year approached. South ern School News previously (August issue) had counted 13 of these groups and found three new ones—Patriots of North Carolina, Inc., Christian Civic League of Georgia and U. S. Klan. Knights of the Ku Klux Klan— in the last month. The question of the plight of the Negro teacher under desegregation also was current. One estimate put the number of dismissals at 227 in Oklahoma. Another feature of the month’s de velopments was the difficulty in some states of marketing school construc tion bonds where segregated schools were snecified. Florida reiected bids on 810,585.000 worth of bonds “be cause of high interest demands by Northern buyers worried about seg regation and a shaky market.” (Bond attorneys pointed to the fear that states might float bonds, then aban don their public schools for private ones.) The issue delayed a vote on Special Offer Southern School News has received a number of in quiries concerning reprints of the special June article, “What the Court Really Said,” by Prof. Robert Leflar. We now have a sufficient quantity of re prints on hand for the use of school boards, PTAs and other groups. These may be obtained from SSN at the rate of $2.25 for 100 copies, mailed post paid. (Rates for larger quanti ties will be quoted on request.) $44 million worth of bonds in Dela ware and disturbed some localities in Virginia. * * * A summary of developments, state by state, follows: Alabama—Legislative action high lighted the month in Alabama. A school placement bill became law without the signature of Gov. James E. Folsom. A bill intended to restrict activities of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peo ple in Wilcox County was passed over Gov. Folsom’s veto. Petitions seeking the end of separate classrooms were filed in at least seven Alabama coun ties; school boards in three of the counties—Montgomery, Gadsden and Mobile—announced they had no pres ent plans for desegregation. * * * Arkansas—Four school districts in the state have been integrated. In the four there are 49 Negroes and 2,170 whites. At Hoxie, where integration went into effect without incident for three weeks, the school term was ended two weeks earlier than sched uled (some Arkansas schools open in mid-summer, then close in the early fall for the harvesting season) after a protest movement developed. Hoxie school board members blamed the uprising on “out-of-state influences.” SSN Correspondent Tom Davis re ported the state official attitude on the Supreme Court decisions as “neutral.” * » * Delaware—The school year is open ing with at least 21 of 104 public school districts of all categories con sidering themselves desegregated, as against 12 in September, 1954. Op position to desegregation was strong in the two counties of southern Dela ware. Meanwhile the General As sembly failed to enact a $44 million school construction bond issue bill because an attempt was made to cut from the bill specfic references to Negro schools—objected to by bond attorneys. Official state policy is to press for desegregation. * * * Florida—As the new school term approached, Florida had petitions on file from Negro parents in four coun ties — Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sara sota and Broward. No action had been taken on these except referral to study committees. It is “very hard to tell” when and if suits will be filed, said special counsel for the NAACP. Atty. Gen. Richard W. Ervin said that Ne gro leaders generally have shown “great forbearance.” * * * Georgia—The State Board of Edu cation rescinded two resolutions adopted in July revoking the license of any teacher who condoned or agreed to teach racially mixed classes or held membership in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Meanwhile, five inte gration petitions had been filed in the state: some Negroes asked to have their names withdrawn. Atty. Gen. Cook named 25 “special deputies” to assist in maintaining segregation. Georgia added a new “white suprem acy” organization, the Christian Civic League. From the report of SSN Cor respondent Joe Parham it appeared tha- r the official attitude was “harden ing against” the court decisions. * * * KENTUCKY — The state began the school year with limited integration in at least 10 counties and four of the larger cities. One city, Lexington, said it would approve admission of Ne groes to all schools “if they apply.” Most of the areas involved were in eastern Kentucky. Louisville, with the largest proportion of Negroes, told peitioners that its plans were aimed at initiation of integration in the fall of 1956. “Best estimates of Negroes affected,” reported SSN Correspond ent Weldon James, were “several hundred.” He reported also that the official attitude toward Supreme Court decisions was: “Toward com pliance, some now, the rest later.” « * * Louisiana — Catholic Church offi cials announced during August that parochial schools would not be inte grated in Louisiana this year. Mem bers of the state legislature meanwhile gave overwhelming approval to a $100,000 appropriation to hire attor neys to fight integration suits on the local level. In New Orleans a 1952 suit against the school board was amend ed by Negro plaintiffs to include an attack on 1954 state legislation de signed to combat the Supreme Court’s anti-segregation decisions. SSN Cor respondent Mario Fellom reported that “the official attitude of the state is generally hardening against the Supreme Court decisions.” * * * Maryland — Some integration of white and Negro pupils was expected in seven of Maryland’s 23 counties, in addition to Baltimore city which desegregated its schools last year. Admission of a few Negroes to white schools was considered a nossibility in two other counties, while a tenth is admitting Negroes to two special schools for the handicaoped. Some in tegration was reoorted possible also in five teacher colleges. The remain ing counties will maintain segregated schools this year. Increased activity of “opposition” groups was noted. State policy calls for transition from segregation to desegregation “at the earliest practicable date.” * * * Mississippi—Atty. Gen. James P. Coleman won nomination in the Democratic gubernatorial primary runoff. The first primary was high lighted by vows on the part of five candidates to preserve school segre gation. Coleman had made a “solemn pledge” to the people: “There will be no necessity to abolish the public schools, nor will there be anv mixing of the races in those schools.” Integra tion petitions have been filed in five Mississippi cities. SSN Correspond ent Kennth Toler reoorted that the official attitude was “hardening against” the Supreme Court decisions. See SCHOOLS OPEN, Page 2 Index State Page Alabama 3 Arkansas 10 Delaware 15 District of Columbia .. 12 Florida 13 Georgia 16 Kentucky 5 Louisiana 7 Maryland 8 Mississippi 5 Missouri 11 North .Carolina 14 Oklahoma 4 South Carolina 6 Tennessee 13 Texas 9 Virginia 12 West Virginia 2
