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PAGE 14—MARCH 1956—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
Virginia Lawmakers Overwhelmingly Approve Interposition
RICHMOND, Va.
verwhelming approval of an inter
position resolution and considera
tion of another resolution to continue
segregation during the 1956-57 school
year highlighted February’s deliber
ations of the Virginia General As
sembly.
The Arlington County school
board’s announced intention of be
ginning desegregation next fall
(Southern School News, February
1956) also touched off a bitter con
troversy in the assembly.
The fight revolved around a bill
which would take away from Ar
lington its right to elect its school
board members by popular vote. Ar
lington is the only county in the state
in which school board members are
elected.
The month also saw the election, on
Feb. 21, of the 40 delegates to the
convention which will amend the
state constitution to permit the use
of public funds as tuition grants to
children attending private schools.
This amendment, authorized by the
voters in a referendum on Jan. 9, is
designed as one device to prevent en
forced integration. (See “Legislative
Action.”)
By a vote of 90 to 5 in the House
of Delegates and 36 to 2 in the state
Senate, the General Assembly on
Feb. 1 adopted a resolution “inter
posing the sovereignty of Virginia
against encroachment upon the re
served powers of this state, and ap
pealing to sister states to resolve a
question of contested power.”
The relatively few legislators who
voted against the measure did so
primarily on the ground that the
resolution was an attempt to “nulli
fy” the Supreme Court’s anti-segre
gation decisions. Most of these oppo
nents favored adoption of a resolu
tion of “protest” but not one of
“nullification.”
Advocates of the measure denied
that it involved nullification. They
pointed out that that word did not
appear in the resolution.
OPPONENT’S REMARKS
Only speaker against the interpo
sition resolution in the House of
Delegates was Robert Whitehead of
Nelson County (where Negroes con
stitute 31 per cent of the school en
rollment) . Whitehead, who spoke for
one hour and 48 minutes, is generally
considered the leader of the Demo
cratic party force in Virginia which
opposes the dominant faction of the
party led by U. S. Sen. Harry Flood
Byrd. Whitehead also is considered
a probable candidate for governor in
1957.
He declared that the resolution was
nullification camouflaged under a
“sweet-sounding name,” and that
interposition is inseparable from nul
lification. He traced the history of
interposition from John C. Calhoun
to James J. Kilpatrick, editor of the
Richmond News-Leader, whose in
tensive editorial campaign first fo
cused widespread public attention on
the possible use of interposition in
the current school segregation con
troversy. Whitehead offered a “reso
lution of protest,” but it was snowed
under with “no’s” when put to a voice
vote.
‘CRY AT MOON’
In the Senate, the principal speech
against interposition was made by
Sen. Ted Dalton of Radford (a city
with nine per cent Negro school pop
ulation). Dalton, a Republican, made
a strong but unsuccessful bid for the
governorship in 1953.
“We are all for separate schools,”
he told the Senate. “Are we going to
kid ourselves that this is the answer?
Are we going to cry at the moon?”
The other Senate speaker against
the resolution was Dr. Edward Had
dock, a Richmond physician and for
mer mayor of this city, who is serving
his first term in the General Asssem-
bly. A lay leader in the Methodist
Church, Haddock opposed the resolu
tion on religious and patriotic
grounds, and declared that “enslaved
people will find no comfort in what
we do.”
Later in the month, Whitehead
submitted seven questions concern
ing the interposition resolution to
Atty. Gen. J. Lindsay Almond Jr.
ALMOND’S OPINION
In answer, Almond said that the
resolution does not suspend enforce
ment of the Supreme Court decision
and cannot be used as a legal defense
in the Prince Edward County suit
(one of the five cases directly in
volved in the Supreme Court ruling).
But the attorney general added:
“While this resolution cannot be
asserted as a defense, its solemnity,
gravity and patriotism of purpose
should give pause and invoke delib
erate consideration at the hands of
every branch of the federal govern
ment dedicated to a Union indissolu
ble composed of indestructible
states.”
POLICY RESOLUTION
The resolution declaring it to be
state policy for schools to be operated
on a segregated basis during the next
school year was passed 62-34 in the
House of Delegates and now goes to
the Senate. The chief patron was
House Speaker E. Blackburn Moore.
The preamble of the resolution
states that necessary legislation could
not be enacted and other plans made
to carry into effect by fall the pro
gram set forth in the Gray Commis
sion’s report. (This is the report
which calls for tuition grants for
‘Now That I’m
INTERPOSED, Where
Am I?’
—Washington Star
children who attend private schools
to avoid integrated public schools,
and also for the assignment of pu
pils to specific schools for health, ap
titude and other reasons except race.)
The Moore resolution then de
clares, “... it is the sense of the leg
islature that for the school year be
ginning September 1956, the public
schools throughout Virginia shall
continue to operate on a segregated
basis...”
BAD FAITH CHARGED
Opposition to the resolution was
based primarily on the argument that
passage of the measure would be a
“breach of faith,” as the Richmond
Times-Dispatch termed it.
The opponents said that during the
campaign preceding the Jan. 9 ref
erendum on the proposed constitu
tional change, Virginians were told
that if they authorized the amend
ment for tuition grants, then the state
would move immediately toward
putting the full Gray Commission
plan into effect before the start of the
1956-57 school year. That plan would
allow localities to desegregate, if they
desired, whereas the Moore resolu
tion would seek to prevent this, at
least for another year.
The Roanoke Times said adoption
of the resolution would be “a vio
lent contradiction” of what had been
promised during the referendum.
The Charlottesville Daily Progress
said the measure would be a “hind
rance” to segregation, since it could
be used to prove to the courts that
Virginia was not moving with the re
quired “deliberate speed” toward
complying with the Supreme Court
decision.
But the Farmerville Herald, of
Prince Edward County, called the
WILLIAM OLDS
Interpositionist
Moore proposal “a wise and impor
tant resolution” and declared that a
“reasonable delay” was needed for
more study of the whole segregation
problem.
And the Richmond News-Leader
also said the resolution should be
adopted “so there will be no question
of the will of the state as a whole or
of the General Assembly.” The paper
added that while the resolution
would set forth state policy, it would
not legally prevent a locality from
going ahead with voluntary deseg
regation.
ARLINGTON CONTROVERSY
The Arlington County controversy
in the Assembly centered around a
bill introduced by Delegate Frank
Moncure of Stafford County (a coun
ty with 14 per cent Negro school en
rollment) to take from Arlington its
privilege of electing its school board
members.
In January, the Arlington board
approved a plan to permit desegre
gation in some elementary schools in
the fall of 1956, with the provision
that no child would be forced to at
tend such a school. The board said it
was acting on the assumption that
the Gray Commission plan would be
in effect by that time.
Delegate Moncure’s bill, as intro
duced, would provide for replacing
the present board members by the
system used in most Virginia coun
ties. Under this system, the circuit
judge appoints a school trustee elec
toral board, which in turn appoints
the school board.
A House committee, however, vot
ed to amend the bill to permit ap
pointment of the school board by the
county’s governing body, the Arling
ton County board. This is the system
used in all Virginia cities and in a
few counties.
HUNDREDS AT HEARING
The Moncure bill brought hun
dreds of Arlington residents to the
state capitol for the committee’s
public hearing. Proponents charged
that the present school board does
not represent the will of the people.
Some said the board echoes the views
of the large number of non-Virgin
ians who now live in Arlington but
who work for the federal government
in nearby Washington, D. C.
Opponents, on the other hand,
maintained that the Moncure bill was
designed as a punitive measure
against a board which was doing
nothing more than planning to exer
cise its rights under the Gray Com
mission plan.
The House approved the bill 80-10.
Present school board members will
serve out their terms.
In another bill related to the Ar
lington situation, Delegate John B.
Boatwright of Buckingham County
(51 per cent Negro school enroll
ment) sought to prevent federal em
ployes from serving on county school
boards or holding other county offices.
The present Arlington school board
has three members who are federal
employes.
Said Delegate Kathryn H. Stone of
Arlington, the only woman member
of the Virginia General Assembly:
“The pattern of retaliation is now
clear. The Boatwright bill, coming on
the heels of the Moncure bill and
carrying the signatures of top leaders
in the administration, makes it very
plain that this extremely punitive ac
tion toward northern Virginia came
from the very top of the Byrd (U.S.
Sen. Harry Byrd) organization.”
Delegate Boatwright also intro
duced a bill to require full disclosure
of persons, firms or associations sup
porting suits against school boards.
He said the bill would apply to the
NAACP or to any other group insti
tuting desegregation suits against
school boards. He explained that his
measure was prompted by his belief
that the suit against the Prince Ed
ward County school board was insti
tuted by “outsiders.” The bill pre
sumably could not apply to federal
courts.
As on many occasions in the past,
an assembly committee killed a poll
tax repeal bill. This time there ap
peared less support for repeal than
formerly. It was generally agreed that
the segregation controversy has less
ened the desire for repeal on the part
of some white persons, who fear that
repeal would increase the Negro vote.
INTERPOSITIONIST NAMED
In another move which many per
sons feel was indirectly related to
the segregation controversy, the Gen
eral Assembly chose Chesterfield
County Attorney William Old to be
judge of a new circuit created for that
county and the adjacent town of Co
lonial Heights.
Old is considered here as the first
‘The Challenge’
—Richmond, Times-Dispatch
person to suggest the use of interpo
sition as a weapon for the South to
use in the school segregation contro
versy. A pamphlet he wrote and cir
culated on the subject came to the
attention of News Leader Editor
James J. Kilpatrick, who in turn
brought the subject to national at
tention. A News Leader editorial
hailing Old’s election to the judge-
ship called him “the father of the
interposition movement now sweep
ing the South.” Old’s interposition
role put him into the state limelight.
DELEGATES ELECTED
The Feb. 21 election of the 40 dele
gates to the state constitutional con
vention of March 5 came off with
little fanfare. The change which will
be made in the constitution had al
ready been approved, in effect, in the
Jan. 9 referendum. That change will
make it possible for the state and
localities to give tuition grants to
children whose parents set up private
schools so that their youngsters won’t
have to attend public schools in any
locality which permits desegregation.
Only 15 of the 40 seats were con
tested. The only surprise, from the
statewide standpoint, was the elec
tion of 32-year-old Dean Brundage,
a school teacher, in the northern Vir
ginia district of Fairfax County and
the city of Falls Church. Brundage
was the only one of five candidates
in that district who did not promise
to work for adoption of the proposed
constitutional amendment.
SCHOOL BOARDS
AND SCHOOLMEN
The Arlington County school
board, center of a heated controversy
in the General Assembly (see “Leg
islative Action” above), received a
setback in a school bond referendum
on Feb. 21.
By 6,653 to 5,720, county voters
turned down a proposed $9,400,000
bond issue for school construction.
Board Chairman E. R. Draheim said
Arlington’s children were “the los
ers” and that 30 elementary class
rooms will have to go on shifts in the
fall, unless a bond issue can be ap
proved “in 60 days.”
Draheim said it was “unfortunate
that the timing of the election result
ed in other issues becoming confused
with the fact that increasing enroll
ments need added school facilities.”
‘NO CONFIDENCE’ ALLEGED
George M. Rowzee Jr., a member of
the county’s governing board, said
advocates of the bond issue had con
tended that the vote would be one of
confidence in the school board.
“Therefore,” he said, “those op
posed to the board can call the ref
erendum vote a vote of no confidence
in this school board.”
Another northern Virginia county,
Fairfax, sold a $4 million bond issue
in mid-February at an interest rate
lower than officials had anticipated.
Since it was the first school bond sale
in Virginia since the constitutional
change referendum in January, it was
looked upon as a possible test of what
effect recent segregation issue devel
opments might have on such sales.
The interest rate on the Fairfax sale
was 2.9643, just a shade above the 2.9
per cent on a $3 million bond issue
by the same county last year.
Mary Washington College, a state-
supported women’s institution in
Fredericksburg, has received an ap
plication from a Negro for enrollment
in the fall. College officials said the
application would be processed and
then turned over to President Colgate
W. Darden of the University of Vir
ginia at Charlottesville for a policy
ruling. Mary Washington is the
women’s division of the University of
Virginia. The college has never had a
Negro student.
Referring to the presence of several
Negroes as students at the universi
ty, Darden said recently: “They are
good students of particularly high
type ... There have been no inci
dents. We anticipate none.”
U. S. Sen. A. Willis Robertson of
Virginia has asked Congress to exer
cise its right to enforce the Four
teenth Amendment of the Constitu
tion by legalizing any state’s choice to
operate either integrated or segre
gated schools.
His proposal, if approved, would
seek to override the Supreme Court s
anti-segregation decision.
SMOOTH CHANGE SEEN
A committee of the Richmond First
Club (an organization devoted to
study of civic problems) has reported
that desegregation could be put into
effect smoothly in Richmond if par"
ents and officials resolved to make it
work.
The committee reported, in part:
“Voluntary integration can result
in a minimum of integration in the
schools as a whole. Integration with
the use of achievement tests could
possibly result in a maximum of ac
ceptance and a minimum of mixing
... At least some of the disparity m
educational levels could possibly he
alleviated by starting the integrate 11
on the first-grade level and proceed
ing progressively a year at a time-
NEGRO FIRST GRADERS UP
In Richmond in February, mom
the
to
Negroes than whites were in
group of first-graders starting
school. Fifty-three per cent of
1,435 five-year-olds beginning th eir
school careers were Negroes. Whitof
are still in the majority in the to*"
school population—55 per cent to
45
this
per cent Neuro—but officials say
situation will be reversed in the n*'
ture, one reason being that man-
young white families are moving *
the suburbs in adjacent counties.