Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 10—OCTOBER 1956—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
Delaware Public Opinion
Sampled on Segregation
Talmadge Says Separation
To Hold During ‘Lifetime’
WILMINGTON, Del.
public opinion sampling, taken in
the three counties of Delaware late
in summer, indicates that half of the
voters of the state disapprove of the
U.S. Supreme Court decision on inte
gration.
It also indicates that 83 per cent of
the Negroes are in favor of the decision;
8 per cent are against it and 9 per cent
have no opinion.
This poll also indicates that 55 per
cent of the voters who favor integra
tion are for gradual change, 23 per cent
for change “as rapidly as possible” and
22 per cent have no opinion on the
question, one way or the other.
The poll was taken by a nationally
recognized agency, on behalf of a polit
ical group in Delaware. The data re
garding integration have been made
available to the Southern School News
on the condition that neither the name
of the polling agency nor the political
group be made public. (See “Under
Survey.”)
READY FOR TRIALS
Other developments in Delaware:
1) The Federal court in Wilmington
is getting ready for trial and argument
in eight segregation suits. (See “Legal
Action.”)
2) A folklore problem has cropped
up in the integration picture, involving
a group of people in Delaware histor
ically known as “Moors” who have
been denied access to a white school
in their district. (See “School Boards
and Schoolmen.”)
3) The integration issue is still con
sidered one of the top five in Delaware
politics although so far it has been the
least discussed. (See “Political Activi
ty”)
4) Bryant Bowles, president of the
National Association for the Advance
ment of White People, has come back
to Delaware. (See “Political Activity.”)
The U.S. District Court of Delaware
will decide upon trial and argument
status of the eight integration suits now
on the court calendar, early in October
(Eyvonne Holloman et al v. Madeline
Buchanan et al, Civil Action No. 1819).
Six of the suits are going to be set
for trial while two will be listed for
formal arguments on motions by attor
neys.
The latter two involve the school at
Christiana, in upper Delaware, where
a partial integration plan has been ap
proved by the school board and the
State Board of Education, and the
Milton School in Sussex County where
a new school board wants to amend its
original answer from pro-integration
to pro-segregation.
CHRISTIANA STATUS
In the case of the Christiana school,
the question of the status of the
charges will be argued in light of the
willingness of the school trustees to
begin a partial integration program.
The trustees of the Milton school—
recently reorganized—have objected to
the original answer filed by a previous
board that was willing to begin inte
gration when there is room available
for Negro children.
The new board—after a community
uproar against this answer—takes the
position that it will be unwise to un
dertake any kind of integration and
wants to amend its answer.
The sampling of public opinion
among voters on various phases of the
integration picture in Delaware cov
ered each of the three counties in
Delaware and the city of Wilmington.
The group for whom it was made
expressed surprise at some of the re
sults, since there was less opposition to
integration than had been expected in
some quarters, such as southern Dela
ware, and more opposition in other
quarters, such as northern Delaware
where integration is already underway
on a varying pattern but without in
cident.
A resume of the poll questions and
answers follows:
“Name some of the main issues in
the political campaign of 1956.”
20 per cent singled out integration.
“Is integration one of the main is
sues in this campaign?” And here the
pollster mentioned 15 issues.
36 per cent—integration is the most
important.
13 per cent—all the issues (including
the strictly local ones) are important.
“As you know, the Supreme Court
has ruled that all children, white and
Negro, must be allowed to go to the
same schools. Do you approve or dis
approve?”
38 per cent approved; 50 per cent
disapproved; 12 per cent, no opinion.
This was broken down into the vari
ous areas of Delaware:
Ap-
Dis-
No
prove
ap- '
Opin-
prove
ion
New Castle County 43%
42%
15%
Wilmington
(alone)
....45%
47%
8%
New Castle County,
outside of
Wilmington .
....41%
37%
22%
Kent County..
....33%
59%
8%
Sussex County
....22%
75%
3%
This poll is considered quite impor
tant in view of the integration-segre
gation referenda held in Sussex Coun
ty and parts of Kent County in the
fall of 1952 when practically 99 per cent
of all those who voted were against
integration.
It is also noteworthy that Sussex
County has been considered the hard
core of anti-integration in Delaware.
The public opinion sampling among
voters of the following age groups re
vealed:
20 to 29 years of age: 48 per cent in
favor of integration; 41 per cent
against; 11 per cent no opinion.
30 to 44 years of age: 41 per cent in
favor; 47 per cent opposed; 12 per cent
no opinion.
45 years of age and over: 30 per cent
in favor; 57 per cent against; 13 per
cent no opinion.
EMPLOYMENT BREAKDOWN
And the breakdown among the vot
ers contacted in the following jobs:
Professional and managerial: 54 per
cent in favor; 32 per cent against; 14
per cent no opinion.
Clerical and sales: 38 per cent in fa
vor; 43 per cent against; 19 per cent
no opinion.
Skilled: 26 per cent in favor; 69 per
cent opposed; 5 per cent no opinion.
Unskilled: 26 per cent in favor; 48
per cent opposed and 12 per cent no
opinion.
Others and farmers: 25 per cent in
favor; 63 per cent opposed; 12 per cent
no opinion.
Negroes: 83 per cent in favor; 8 per
cent opposed and 9 per cent no opinion.
An interesting phase of the segrega
tion-desegregation issue in Delaware in
recent weeks was the application of
James Carney for the admission of his
three high school age children to the
white high school in the town of Smyr
na, located in Kent County, about 35
miles south of Wilmington.
Carney is known as “a Moor” and he
lives in what is known as the Cheswold
area of Delaware, the center of the
group of people in Delaware called
“Moors.”
The officials of the Smyrna white
school refused to admit the Carney
children on the ground that they were
Negroes.
Carney retorted that they are not
Negroes but Moors. He has threatened
court action but to date has not under
taken any suit.
APPEALS TO STATE
Instead, he appealed to the State
Department of Public Instruction. Dr.
George R. Miller, superintendent of
the State Department of Public In
struction replied:
“It has been customary over the
years for the children of the Cheswold
district to attend the Booker T. Wash
ington or the William Henry schools
(both Negro) in Dover.
“It would therefore seem that this
pattern should be followed until plans
for admitting your children to other
schools have been developed by those
schools.”
The Carney children had attended
Cheswold District School which the
state law designates as a school “for
the people known as ‘Moors.’”
FOLKLORE SURROUNDS ORIGIN
The Delaware Guide, the accepted
history of the state, says that the Moors
have been in Delaware since colonial
days and are of unknown origin. They
have skins varying from nearly white
to dark yellow.
They live by themselves, associating
little with white families or Negroes.
One legend that persists in Delaware
is that the Moors are descendants of a
wealthy Spanish senorita who was
banished from Spain and settled in
The Effigy
—Macon Telegraph
Delaware in colonial days and married
a handsome, dark skinned slave who
said he was a Moor and not a Negro.
Dr. Jerome H. Holland, president of
Delaware State College, near Dover
(one of the leading Negro educators in
the state) and William A. Gaines, re
search professor at the college, have
published, The Status of Negro Em
ployment in Delaware.
While there are few specific refer
ences to public school education in
this study, the authors do touch upon
the status of professional Negro work
ers in Delaware.
Some excerpts from their book:
NO TECHNICAL OPENINGS
“Persons trained in medicine, den
tistry and teaching can use their edu
cation to good advantage, but Negroes
who are trained professionally in other
technical fields have no place in
southern Delaware.”
“With the general plurality of Ne
gro teachers in Delaware, there is a
definite possibility that in the future,
the Negro college graduate may seek
employment in some of the positions
open in the lower echelons of profes
sional positions.”
“If the barriers to industrial em
ployment in the chemical industry are
lowered, there may be an opportunity
for the Negro college graduate in Del
aware to fulfill the need for such po
sitions.”
Leading political officials in Dela
ware do not expect the integration
question to pop up in the campaign
here until the last couple of weeks in
October or possibly a week before
election day.
Officials of both Democratic and
Republican parties say they will stand
by the civil rights planks for their re
spective national and state platforms.
While civil rights and integration are
being discussed in informal groups,
speakers have shied away from the sub
ject at open rallies.
However, C. Edward Duffy, chair
man of the Republican Party in Dela
ware, has indicated that the school dif
ficulties in Texas, Tennessee and Ken
tucky have reacted favorably for Gov.
J. Caleb Boggs (Republican) who is
running for re-election.
MILFORD HANDLING CITED
Duffy stated that segregationists in
southern Delaware, particularly in the
area of Milford, are now impressed
with the fact that Gov. Boggs had not
called out the National Guard when
trouble broke out at the Milford school
in the fall of 1954.
Gov. Boggs sent only a slightly above
normal complement of state troopers
to the scene, and none of the mass
meetings called by Bryant Bowles,
president of the NAAWP, were
stopped.
Republican leader Duffy now reports
that segregationists are looking with
favor upon Gov. Boggs.
BOWLES RETURNS
Bowles recently returned to Dela
ware from Texas with the boast that
he is going to be responsible for the
election of a governor, though he did
not reveal which candidate he would
support.
He added, “There’s no reason why
we can’t use the NAAWP as a pres
sure group to offset another pressure
group.”
MACON, Ga.
ormer Gov. Herman Talmadge,
elected by an overwhelming vote
to the U. S. Senate seat of Sen. Walter
F. George, said he does not believe seg
regation will break down in Georgia
during his lifetime. (See “Political Ac
tivity.”)
Gov. Marvin Griffin said peace would
be preserved in Georgia by the National
Guard if necessary, whether integration
or non-integration matters were in
volved. (See “What They Say.”)
A $232,000 Negro school building re
mained vacant as whites living near it
protested its location, and a white school
teacher awaited a decision as to whether
she would be fired for voicing a per
sonal opinion on racial matters before
her class. (See “School Boards and
Schoolmen.”)
A Georgia newspaper charged that
in at least two instances “spurious” ra
cial propaganda had been received
through the mails in the state. (See
“Miscellaneous.”)
Herman Eugene Talmadge, nationally-
known pro-segregation spokesman for
the South and former governor of Geor
gia, was overwhelmingly nominated to
fill the U. S. Senate seat of retiring Sen.
Walter F. George.
Talmadge took all of the state’s 159
counties and won a 498,327-122,152 pop
ular vote over M. E. Thompson in the
Sept. 12 Democratic primary, tanta
mount to election in Georgia.
The 43-year-old former governor had
asked the people for an “overwhelming
mandate” to carry his fight for states’
rights—and racial segregation—to the
Senate. His lone opponent received most
of the Negro votes cast.
Following his election victory, Tal
madge said he doubts there will be a
breakdown of segregation in Georgia
during his lifetime. He said Georgia
would avoid problems experienced in
desegregating some other southern
schools this month because Georgia’s
schools would be turned over to pri
vate operators to run if integration
threatens.
SPLINTER MOVE DISMISSED
In national political affairs state Dem
ocratic leaders dismissed any talk of
splinter parties and pledged support to
the Stevenson-Kefauver ticket.
A states’ rights group, however, is
attempting to have a slate of electors
pledged to Constitutional party Presi
dential and Vice Presidential nominees
placed on the Georgia general election
ballot.
The Miller County Grand Jury de
clared charges that Negroes had been
denied the right to register for voting
were untrue. The jury met to investi
gate the reported accusation by John
Wesley Dobbs, Atlanta Negro president
of the Georgia League of Voters. Dobbs
claimed he was misquoted concerning
the accusation.
A check of vote registration lists
showed six Negroes registered to vote
in Miller County this year. The 1954
list also showed only six Negroes reg
istered. The 1950 census gives Miller a
Negro population of 2,686.
Gov. Marvin Griffin said he would
favor using National Guard troops on
“integration or non-integration” mat
ters if necessary to keep the peace in
Georgia.
The governor’s remarks were in an
swer to newsmen who asked him to
comment on racial disorders accom
panying the integration of some schools
in Tennessee, Kentucky and Texas.
“I’d favor using National Guard
troops insofar as it was necessary to
preserve the peace,” Griffin said. “The
Constitution says that among the pri
mary duties of the governor is that he
shall be preservator of the peace. Inte
gration or non-integration has no bear
ing on my keeping the peace in accord
ance with my oath.”
‘NO PROBLEMS’
Asked about the possibility of federal
courts assigning marshals to enforce
integration laws, Griffin said, “We can
handle our own problems.” Asked if
there were any segregation problems
in Georgia, he said, “We’ve got none
and we want none.”
The Rev. George O. King, pastor ol,
East Point Methodist Church, joined
several ministers who have endorsed
segregation from their pulpits recently.
King told his congregation that segre-,
gation was created by God.
SCHOOL BOARDS
AND SCHOOLMEN
State Department of Education offi
cials said they were unable to esti
mate 1956-57 term school population '
totals at this time because of shifting
populations. An unofficial estimate was
made that some 947,000 white and Ne
gro children are enrolled. ,
Last year, 626,680 white children and
290,585 Negro children were enrolled
for a total of 917,265 students.
John J. Medlin Jr., supervisor of ,
teacher certification, said there is a
shortage of teachers for white schools
but an oversupply of Negro teachers.
The State Board of Education ordered ,
that the pay of Mrs. Colleen Marie
Wiggins, a teacher at Bethesda School
in Gwinnett County, be held up pend
ing an investigation of her race views.
150 SIGN PETITION
Some 150 persons signed a petition
asking that Mrs. Wiggins be discharged
because of her “personal” views on seg- ’
regation. Bethesda citizens appeared
before the state board and claimed they
had been denied a hearing by the Gwin
nett County Board of Education. A 1
spokesman for the state board said the
pay suspension action was taken to
force the county board to conduct a
hearing on the matter.
Mrs. Wiggins said she was asked to
sign a statement saying she does not
believe in racial integration but refused.
She said she was told the statement 1
was dictated to county school Supt. R. C.
Wilbanks by James S. Peters, a member
of the state board. Peters refused to
comment on the assertion.
The teacher said she obeyed Georgia
laws on segregation but felt her own
views are a private matter.
PERSONAL VIEWS TOLD
She said she told her high school class
last year that she would not object to
teaching whites and Negroes together
if that were the accepted practice. She
said she also told the class that she
would not consider race a barrier in
the marriage of her daughter if the man 1
was honest and decent and they loved
each other. She added, however, this
does not mean she wants her daughter,
now 17 months old, to marry a Negro. '
Mrs. Wiggins emphasized that she
was giving her personal views only be
fore the class, she said.
One Georgia law requires employes '
of the University System to sign a loy
alty oath specifying that they will up
hold the laws of the state. Another pro
hibits teachers from advocating integra
tion or belonging to such groups as the
NAACP.
LEGAL ACTION IF NEEDED ,
The Gwinnett teacher who says she
does not believe the South is ready for
integration said she will take legal ac
tion “if need be” to prevent the county ,
board from firing her because of her
private opinion on race matters.
Atty. Gen. Eugene Cook disclaimed
responsibility for distribution of a Cit
izens Council report purporting to be •
quotations from a talk on intimate in -
terracial relations by a Negro professor
to an NAACP chapter.
Cook said one of his staff members
assumed the document was authentic
and distributed it without his know!'
edge. The attorney general’s comments
were made after the Columbus Ledger' >
Enquirer editorially charged the report
was “spurious” and “trashy, inflamma
tory” propaganda.
Copies of the mimeographed “text
in which a “Prof. Roosevelt Williams o
Howard University” allegedly claimed
sexual superiority for Negro males an
an affinity for them among white women
were purportedly sent out from Jackson.
Miss. The Ledger-Enquirer said it made
inquiries at Howard University in Wash
ington, D. C., and discovered that there
is not now nor has there ever been 8
“Prof. Roosevelt Williams” there.
Cook said he telephoned Robert ?•
Patterson, executive director of the Mis'
sissippi Citizens Council at Greenwood'
Miss., and was told, “We never claimed
it (the speech) to be authentic.” He sai
(Continued on Next Page)