Southern school news. (Nashville, Tenn.) 1954-1965, September 01, 1955, Image 1
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