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‘Moderation’ Is Key to
NASHVILLE, Term.
mid calls for action from all sides,
■ one word—moderation—appeared
as the key to school segregation-de
segregation developments in Tennes
see.
During February:
In Memphis, the Commercial Ap
peal called for the formation of an
organization of “moderates,” which
j would be “an effective barrier be
tween the majority who want to live
in a progressive and peaceful city
and any small minority who might
seek to impose radicalism of any sort
on the rest of us.” (See “Community
Action.”)
In Nashville, both city and county
school board members are consider
ing gradual integration plans (see
“School Boards and Schoolmen”)
and members of 26 organizations, in
cluding civic, religious, labor and
education groups, attended a two-
day integration workshop. (See
“Community Action.”)
At the capitol, Atty. Gen. George
' F. McCanless termed “interposition”
an “empty word” with no legal status
(see “What They Say”).
( MARSHALL HEARD
In Memphis, Thurgood Marshall,
special counsel for the National As
sociation for the Advancement of
Colored People, said, “We’ve got the
other side licked. It’s just a matter of
time... We’re driving for the elimi
nation of every form of segregation
in every form of life in every part of
f the country.” (See “What They
Say.”)
In Nashville, Sims Crownover, at
torney for the Tennessee Federation
for Constitutional Government, said
he will recommend legislation to
abolish public schools if necessary.
(See “What They Say.”)
SURVEY RESULTS
James Ewing, capitol reporter for
The Memphis Commercial Appeal,
said a survey he conducted showed
Tennessee is quietly but firmly re
sisting the Supreme Court’s order.
Ewing said statewide sentiment ap
peared to be: “Things are rocking
1 along pretty well. We hope it will
stay that way.” (See “Under Sur
vey.”)
Robert A. Tillman, attorney and
president of the Southeast Memphis
( Chapter, Association of Citizens
Councils:
“Governor Clement would sell his
birthright to get the votes of the
( Negro in the North in order to be
elected vice president. We must elect
to the legislature people who think
as we do and go to Nashville next
January and express the sentiments
of the South.”
CLEMENT PRAISED
Former Gov. Jim McCord, now
i State Conservation Commissioner,
describing the late January meeting
to Nashville of Gov. Frank G. Clem
ent with pro-segregationists:
i ff calmness and patriotism alone
bad activated the members of the
United States in the troublesome
Tifties, war might have been avert
ed. And, if the people of today will
J?“d themselves to calm purposes and
Christian-like ideals, these questions
jvill be settled adroitly and to the
best interests of Tennessee.”
Clement, in a Nashville speech,
said that the demonstrators (pro-
Se gregationists who last month met
Wl th him) waved “profane signs”
and distributed circulars which cast
reflection upon the character of Ten
nessee womanhood; that one of the
crowd threatened to attack a Negro
Porter in the capitol, and that a
unchstand operator and Negro at-
^dant were insulted. He stated:
"hen the day comes that people
toe that attempt to force their will
P°n the government and when your
governor has to surrender to people
jj e that, then God help Tennessee.
y °n think your governor is right,
e n it is time to stand up and be
ounted. We are determined that
e jjtom shall prevail over force.”
s governor, while declining to
y "whether he approved or disap
proved of interposition, later indi
cated he will follow the advice of
Atty. Gen. George F. McCanless in
any official action that might come
up with respect to interposition.
DENIES CHARGE
A. A. Canada, president of the
Tennessee Society to Maintain Seg
regation, one of the organizations
which marched on the capitol:
“The governor mentioned those
pictures to us at the conference. But
the TSMS has been unable to find
anyone among the Chattanooga dele
gation who was responsible or even
saw any pictures or circulars of the
kind that the governor mentioned.”
Z. Alexander Looby, Negro lawyer
in Nashville long active in moves to
set aside racial restrictions:
“I shall continue the fight regard
less of threats ... as long as breath is
left in the body... I believe we are
right in activities we are engaged in
now.”
GALLUP POLL
Dr. George Gallup, poll taker, in
Memphis, referring to a “special
study” poll of the Southern states
just completed:
“The poll will show that while the
majority [of Negroes] are for deseg
regation, it is not an overwhelming
majority. It will present an objective
and honest picture.”
Thurgood Marshall, Negro special
counsel for the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored
People, speaking in Memphis:
“We’ve got the other side licked.
It’s just a matter of time. The period
of peace and quiet has passed. Which
ever state continues to defy the law
will have to answer in court. We will
finish the fight we started in 1953 and
not for one moment will we deviate
from our goal.
“We’re driving for the elimination
of every form of segregation in every
form of life in every part of this
country. The church, the Catholic
church, the Methodist church
wouldn’t let us through their doors if
we were subversive. Edgar Hoover,
boss of the FBI, says we’re not sub
versive ...
“We don’t represent them (Ne
groes) all, but we represent a darn
sight more of them than the daily
press does. They say the Negro
doesn’t want integration. I’ve got
news for them: The Negroes in the
NAACP are for it, the Negro Masons
are for it, the Catholic Negroes are
for it, the Methodist Negroes are for
it, the Baptist Negroes are for it. If
that many are for it—who’s left?”
JUDGE HEARD
U. S. District Judge Leslie R. Darr,
Chattanooga, in a speech:
“Desegregation of public schools
has been legally possible since enact
ment of the 1871 civil rights statute.
By the sword and by blood it was
written into the Constitution that the
union was one and indivisible. The
Fourteenth Amendment took away
practically all the rights of the states.
They have been a long time finding
that out, but they are finding it out
now.”
Sims Crownover, Nashville, attor
ney for the Tennessee Federation for
Constitutional Government, com
menting on the federation’s program
to maintain segregation:
“We can first try the doctrine of
interposition, and if that doesn’t work
we can do away with public schools.
I don’t agree that they are essential.
Let the people educate their own
children. Most of them would set up
private schools. I recommend doing
away with them as a last resort. And
I say that advisedly because I have
three children in the public schools
“What the Federation has in mind
—and there are chapters organizing
all over the state—is to find out the
attitude of the people running for
the legislature and communicate
that to the people.”
A majority of representatives of 26
organizations called on Nashville and
Davidson County boards of educa-
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—MARCH 1956—PAGE 15
Month’s Developments in Tennessee
‘Trouble Travels in Pairs’
—Nashville Banner
tion to desegregate public schools at
the closing session of a two-day
workshop sponsored by civic, reli
gious, labor and educational groups.
Minority reports favored more
study and preparation prior to de
segregation.
These views were expressed by
recorders who jotted down conclu
sions reached in 12 panel discussions
all dealing with the central question,
“How can we here in Nashville and
Davidson County meet our problem
in school integration?”
No one spoke on the pro-segrega
tion side of the issue.
PLAN ENDORSED
The Memphis Commercial Appeal
editorially called for an organization
composed of moderates to preserve
mutual trust and understanding
among the races in Memphis and to
weed out any threat of strife or vio
lence.
Prompt endorsement of the pro
posal came from civic officials, clergy
and businessmen.
West Tennessee municipal officials
placed racial segregation high on a
list of problems confronting towns
and cities represented at a municipal
league meeting in Jackson.
The 25 mayors and other city offi
cials indicated they had no wish to
conform with the Supreme Court’s
ruling that Negroes be allowed the
use of city parks and playgrounds.
The Knoxville Ministerial Asso
ciation approved unanimously a res
olution calling for integration of city
schools “as rapidly” as possible in an
orderly manner.
Three Negro students who failed
a series of screening tests will not be
admitted at Memphis State College
this spring.
Of five applicants taking the tests
(two white, three Negro), one passed,
R. P. Clark, MSC registrar and
chairman of the college’s entrance
and credits committee, said.
The examination, first of its type
in the school’s history, were ap
proved Jan. 13 by the MSC adminis
trative council for transfer and out-
of-state students. They are designed
to limit enrollment in meeting pro
posed accreditation changes.
THREE IDENTIFIED
The Memphis Commercial Appeal
identified the three who failed the
tests as:
O’Ferrell Nelson, a teacher at Mel
rose High School; Minor Dandridge,
an interviewer with the Tennessee
Department of Employment Securi
ty; and Fred J. Williams, all of
Memphis.
Clark said those who failed the
tests may reapply for entrance for the
summer semester starting June 6.
Eleven students who applied for
entrance to the college’s graduate
school were notified they would have
to take the test, Clark said.
He said about 30 other students, all
graduated from “fully accredited
schools and having ‘B’ or better
averages in the undergraduate work”
have been admitted and were not re
quired ot take the test.
Federal Judge Marion Boyd ruled
last October that five Negroes who
sought admission to Memphis State’s
graduate school be allowed to enter
this month. None of the three who
took this week’s tests were involved
in the court case.
UNDER SURVEY
A statewide survey of the Tennes
see school situation by James Ewing,
capitol reporter for the Memphis
Commercial Appeal, made these
points:
1) Tennessee is quietly but firm
ly resisting the Supreme Court’s pub
lic school desegregation order.
2) Sentiment against integration
is not confined to cities and counties
with a large Negro population.
3) The word “interposition” while
new to many Tennesseans, is begin
ning to gain support in West Ten
nessee, where the state’s largest
concentration of Negroes is found.
4) Weststate leaders indicate Ten
nessee governmental heads, including
Gov. Frank Clements, Senators Estes
Kefauver and Albert Gore and
members of the House of Representa
tives, “should come out forcefully
for segregation and join our sister
states in efforts to preserve it.”
5) But endorsement of interposi
tion is by no means unanimous. Some
agree with Atty. Gen. George F. Mc
Canless that interposition is “wish
ful thinking.”
Gov. Frank G. Clement reported
his mail has been running better than
10 to one in favor of his refusal to take
strong action to preserve segrega
tion in Tennessee schools. In the week
following a meeting with pro-segre
gationists who converged on his office
to demand the state block desegrega
tion, the governor estimated he had
received 150 to 200 letters comment
ing on his stand.
E. D. Chappell, chairman of the
Davidson County Board of Educa
tion, said some members of the board
have seen merit in the idea of start
ing to integrate white and Negro
children on the first grade level.
Chappell said the board would
continue to work on the problem and
might discuss it at its March meeting.
“I don’t anticipate any trouble at all
in the county,” he said.
Both county and city (Nashville)
school officials met privately with
Baltimore and St. Louis superin
tendents earlier this month to learn
of desegregation methods used in
those cities.
Chappell said he felt most Negroes
in the county would prefer to con
tinue attending their present schools
if they were given a choice of re
maining there or enrolling in white
schools.
NO ADJUSTMENTS
He added that with gradual inte
gration from the lower grades up,
students would need to make no ad
justments because they would never
experience segregation.
In the city system, Chairman Neil
H. Wright of the Nashville Board of
Education’s instruction committee
said there are no current plans for
holding school-by-school meetings
with parents to discuss desegregation.
Wright said he felt little in the way
of helpful suggestions came from the
one meeting already held.
Wright and W. A. Bass, city super
intendent of schools, confirmed, how
ever, that the board’s instruction
committee is considering two deseg
regation proposals. One, similar to
the county’s plan, would desegregate
the schools one class a year, begin
ning in the first grade. The second
plan would reverse the procedure,
desegregating senior high school
classes first.
Under the county plan now being
discussed Negro schools would be
maintained and as classes become
integrated Negroes would have the
option of attending these schools or
those open now to whites, it is said.
Schools would still be zoned accord
ing to residences. White students
would continue to be required to at
tend the schools in their residential
zones, though Negroes would have
the options of attending white or
Negro schools.
Construction of new units for Ne
groes would continue as now planned.
Under the plan, integration would
take 12 years. However, it is said,
integration may be speeded up if
there are no incidents during the
early years.
VOTE SCHOOL
The Anderson County Board of
Education Feb. 9 voted to build an
elementary school for Negroes at
Lake City. A group of Lake City Ne
groes requested the action.
Twenty-four Negro pupils in the
community have been attending
classes in the Mt. Morain Baptist
church. But the church said the
building would not be available next
year.
Carl Locke, school principal, told
the board Negro parents “are pri
marily interested in equal school fa
cilities for their children rather than
integration at this time.”
Anderson school authorities are
under federal court order to open
high school in the county to Negroes
next fall.
A hearing was scheduled in chan
cery court in Nashville on a suit seek
ing to bar state aid to Austin Peay
State College, Clarksville, because it
has admitted two Negro students.
The suit, filed by 16 members of the
Tennessee Federation for Constitu
tional Government, said the 1953
legislature appropriated money to
maintain white state colleges.
Donald Davidson, Nashville, Fed
eration president, said the suit was
not an official act of the Federation
(formed in 1954) but that the 16 de
fendants were acting as individuals.
The first edition of a pioneer legal
publication on the law of race rela
tions, published by Vanderbilt Uni
versity School of Law, came off the
press in Nashville in February.
Dean John W. Wade of Vanderbilt
School of Law said the journal—Race
Relations Law Reporter — will be
“strictly objective” and “will not
editorialize or express opinions” on
racial integration or the “legal feasi
bility of particular plans or proced
ures.”
Four major fields are covered:
education, recreational facilities,
transportation and juries.
While the Fund for the Republic
supplied the money for the project,
Sanders said “complete responsibili
ty for the contents of the magazine,
including editorial policy in general,
lies with Vanderbilt University
School of Law and particularly with
those members of its regular staff
who are working on this publication.”
CANCEL ACCOUNTS
M. C. Jolly, operator of the Dr.
Pepper Bottling Company plant at
Jackson, said “12 or 13” Negro mer
chants had cancelled accounts with
his firm because he was among 16
leaders of the Tennessee Federation
for Constitutional Government listed
as plaintiffs in a suit seeking to bar
state aid to a college which has ad
mitted two Negro students.
Isaiah Savage, Negro merchant in
Jackson and a member of the Na
tional Association for the Advance
ment of Colored People, said the boy
cott was a spontaneous movement.
Fourteen hooded members of the
Ku Klux Klan burned a 24-foot cross
near Maryville in East Tennessee
before 150 spectators in an “educa
tional public demonstration” to which
newsmen were invited.
Nashville’s four public golf courses
were desegregated Feb. 12. Nashville
leaders of the Tennessee Federation
for Constitutional Government is
sued a statement criticizing the City
Park Board for their decision.
The Memphis City Commission
unanimously approved a Memphis
Park Commission recommendation to
make available an 18-hole white
municipal golf course for a Negro
golf tournament to be held in June.