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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—APRIL 1957—PAGE 9
S. C. Legislature Acts to Strengthen Resistance to Desegregation
COLUMBIA, S.C.
he South Carolina General
Assembly, in annual session at
Columbia, continued to enact, or
consider the enactment of, legisla
tion designed to strengthen the
state’s resistance to efforts at de
segregating the schools and other
traditionally separate institutions.
(See “Legislative Action.”)
On the legal front, the state su
preme court sent back for further
circuit court proceedings the case
involving the flogging of a high
school bandmaster accused by his
assailants of having made pro-in
tegration remarks.
South Carolinians from public
and private life appeared before
congressional subcommittees to
give additional testimony in oppo
sition to pending civil rights leg
islation.
The South Carolina Senate approved
and sent to the House of Representa
tives a bill (S.197) conferring broad
powers upon the governor “for the pro
tection of persons and property.” The
measure was sponsored by the five Sen
ate members of the continuing Special
Segregation Committee headed by Sen.
L. Marion Gressette, of Calhoun Coun
ty-
The bill brings into one proposed act
a strong declaration of gubernatorial
authority to “control violence or threat
ened violence.” Besides granting the
governor broad general powers to “take
such measures and to do all and every
act and thing which he may deem nec
essary in order to prevent violence or
threats of violence,” the governor is
specifically authorized to take the fol
lowing actions (some of which are per
mitted him under existing statutory and
constitutional provisions):
FOUR POINTS
1) Call out the militia or any parts
thereof.
2) Order any and all law enforcement
officers in the state to “do whatever
may be deemed necessary to maintain
peace and good order.”
3) Order the discontinuance of any
transportation or other public facili
ties, or, alternatively, direct that such
facilities be operated by a state agency.
4) Authorize any state, county or city
official to enforce the provisions of such
Proclamation as the governor may have
issued with reference to the state of
emergency; and to provide that the en
forcement be accomplished, if necessary,
by injunction, mandamus or other legal
action.
Under the broad section granting him
the power to issue proclamations when
danger exists to persons or property,
the governor is empowered to order
“any person, corporation, association, or
group of persons” to do, or refrain
from doing, specific acts which the gov
ernor deems necessary in the preserva
tion of public tranquility.
APPROVED IN HOUSE
Meanwhile, the House has approved
and sent to the Senate several measures
aimed at preserving racial segregation,
restricting the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People,
promoting states’ rights, or otherwise
solidifying the state’s resistance to fed
erally-directed integration. Among such
measures are the following:
1) A bill (H.1462) authorizing state,
county, school district and municipal
officials and agencies “to require appli
cations in writing for employment by
them, upon such application forms as
they may severally prescribe, which
may include information as to active or
honorary membership in or affiliation
with all membership associations and
organizations.” This bill also includes a
section repealing Act 741 of 1956, which
forbids the employment of NAACP
members by public agencies of the state
or its political subdivisions. (That par
ticular act currently is being tested for
constitutionality by a suit brought in
federal court. It has been stayed at least
temporarily in federal court by an order
that the plaintiffs seek further adminis
trative or state court relief.)
2) A concurrent resolution (H.1230)
creating a State Sovereignty Commis
sion “to foster the preservation of the
sovereign rights of the states.” The com
mission would comprise the governor,
the president of the Senate (lieutenant
governor), the speaker of the House,
a senator and another representative. It
would be authorized to appoint persons
to make speeches, appear before groups,
and do other things designed to foster
states’ rights. The resolution permits the
commission to cooperate with other
states in fulfilling its mission and car
ries with it a $5,000 appropriation.
MARKED ROOMS
3) A bill (H.1395) requiring all pub
lic carriers in Florence County to mark
waiting rooms and rest rooms so as to
designate which are for white and
which are for colored passengers.
4) A bill (H.1510) requiring member
ship solicitors to obtain permission for
such solicitation in Abbeville County,
except that the act would not apply to
organizations made up of persons en
gaged in “hazardous occupations” there
by exempting railroad unions.
5) A bill (H.1560) requiring members
of organizations advocating “equal
rights” to file their names with the su
pervisors of Laurens County. This bill
likewise excludes organizations which
limit membership to one hazardous oc
cupation.
Other measures which still are pend
ing in the House include these:
1) A bill (H.1282) to permit the at
torney general to investigate the records
of foreign and domestic nonprofit cor
porations doing business in South Caro
lina.
2) A bill (H.1403) to require any
blood bank in South Carolina to label
all blood so as to indicate white or col
ored.
Both the governor and the House of
Representatives took favorable notice
of an Indiana legislative resolution
which denounces federal aid to educa
tion on the grounds that it usurps the
rights and responsibilities of the sev
eral states. The House’s action came by
way of approval of a concurrent resolu
tion (H.1480) commending the state of
Indiana for its stand.
UGAt ACTION
Criminal proceedings against several
men charged with flogging a Kershaw
County man for alleged pro-integration
statements were sent back to the Fifth
Circuit (state) Court in mid-March
by the South Carolina Supreme Court.
The case grew out of the late-De-
cember beating of Camden High School
Bandmaster Guy Hutchins by a group
of masked men. In February, the Ker
shaw County grand jury refused to re
turn true bills against the six defend
ants, who had been charged with con
spiracy to commit assault and battery;
assault and battery of a high and ag
gravated nature; and pointing a firearm.
Instead, the grand jury returned, on its
own volition, a true bill for simple as
sault and battery against the four men
who police officers said actually took
part in the beating.
Subsequently, Circuit Judge William
H. Grimball ordered the case of simple
assault and battery referred to the
magistrate’s court level, where such
offenses fall under South Carolina law.
Before trial could be held on that level,
however, Circuit Solicitor T. Pou Tay
lor got an order from the state supreme
court, staying proceedings in the case.
Thereafter, the solicitor and the de
fense counsel reached an agreement
(issued in the form of an order by the
supreme court) that the case be sent
back to the circuit court so that the so
licitor might once again seek indictment
of the defendants on the more serious
charges.
SOLICITOR’S POSITION
The solicitor has publicly taken the
Louisiana Decision
(Continued From Page 8)
traits might well be considered legiti-
mate within the normal constitutional
requirements of equal protection of the
*aws it is unthinkable that an arbitrary
classification by race because of a more
Irequent identification of one race than
pother with certain undesirable quali-
les would be such reasonable classifi
cation.
The use of the term police power
"°rks no magic in itself. Undeniably the
states retain an extremely broad police
P°wer. This power, however, as every-
“oe knows, is itself limited by the pro
active shield of the Federal Constitu-
hon . . .
From what we have said the con
cision is obvious that the state con
ditional provisions as to maintaining
separate schools for white and colored
children is in direct conflict with the
®9ual protection clause of the Four-
e hth Amendment and is void and of
0 affect. The same is true of the statute
desij
honal
We
Shed to implement this constitu-
requirement, Act 555, of 1954.
w next come to the Pupil Assign-
hi Law. Although we have already
ho? I u SSe d v * ew that this statute did
c have the effect of preventing the
a .'hencement and maintenance of this
(u 10 h- the role it might have in the fu-
Co e ^Position of the case by the trial
C Wakes it appropriate for us to an-
court a PP e ffant’s contention that the
erre d in holding it invalid.
th e “ a W y er might be the holding as to
assi Va ''dity of an administrative pupil
abl ^ nrne nt statute containing reason-
to Cer tain or ascertainable standards
P®rfru^ e °® c ial conduct of the su-
aj^iehdent of the local school board
a Pt)p ? hfford the basis for an effective
hot 3 ^ rom arbitrary action, Act 556 is
ir,g ^ c h a statute. The plaintiffs, seek-
Segj. ass ert their right to attend non-
e gated schools as guaranteed them
under the Constitution, would be re
mitted to an administrative official
guided by no defined standards in the
exercise of his discretion. In such cir
cumstances no number of hearings or
appeals would avail them anything be
cause it would be impossible for them
to bring forward any proof bearing on
whether they possessed those attributes,
qualifications, or characteristics that
would bring them within the group of
students permitted to attend the par
ticular school or schools. Attempts by
statute to give any official the power
to assign students to schools arbitrarily
according to whim or caprice are legal
ly impermissible, especially if consid
ered in light of the history of assign
ments made in a manner that has now
been held to be unconstitutional and
of the recently readopted requirement
of the state constitution reaffirming
such unconstitutional standards, which
is reinforced by the heavy sanctions
against any official permitting a de
parture therefrom contained in a
companion statute. Such a statute is
unconstitutional either because it has
on its face the effect of depriving ap-
pelees of their liberty or property
without due process of law or as hav
ing implied as its only basis for assign
ments the prohibited standard of
race . . .
There remains the complaint of the
appellant that this is not truly a class
action. What we have heretofore said
with respect to the nature of the relief
sought makes it clear that there is no
merit in this contention. Here is a well-
defined class whose rights are sought to
be vindicated . . .
Moreover, it is worthy of note that
the series of cases generally known as
the School Segregation cases themselves
were all class actions in the same sense
as is the one before us.
In sum, therefore, we find no basis for
the appellant’s attack on the order en
tered by the trial court. The able and ex
perienced trial judge gave full recogni
tion to the administrative difficulties at
tendant upon changing the schools of
the parish of Orleans, from the estab
lished pattern of segregation on account
of race. Although requiring immediate
acceptance of the principle of non-seg-
regated schools be started at once, he
nevertheless fixed the date after which
there were to be no further distinctions
based on race at “such time as may be
necessary to make arrangements for ad
mission of children to such schools on
a racially non-discriminatory basis with
all deliberate speed as required by the
decision of the Supreme Court in
Brown v. Board of Education.”
It is evident from the tone and con
tent of the trial court’s order and the
willing acquiescence in the delay by the
aggrieved pupils that a good faith ac
ceptance by the school board of the
underlying principle of equality of edu
cation for all children with no classifi
cation by race might well warrant the
allowance by the trial court of time for
such reasonable steps in the process of
desegregation as appears to be helpful
in avoiding unseemly confusion and
turmoil. Nevertheless whether there is
such acceptance by the board or not, the
duty of the court is plain. The vindica
tion of rights guaranteed by the Con
stitution can not be conditioned upon
the absence of practical difficulties.
However undesirable it may be for
courts to invoke federal power to stay
action under state authority, it was
precisely to require such interposition
that the Fourteenth Amendment was
adopted by the people of the United
States. Its adoption implies that there
are matters of fundamental justice that
the citizens of the United States con
sider so essentially an ingredient of
human rights as to require a restraint
on action on behalf of any state that
appears to ignore them.
The orders of the trial court are af-
firmed. # # #
position that the men are either guilty
or innocent of assault and battery of a
high and aggravated nature, and that a
watered-down charge of simple assault
should not enter the picture. He also
has declined to seek a change of venue,
saying, “This is a Kershaw County
matter and ought to be handled in
Kershaw County.”
Meanwhile, conflicting opinions in
Kershaw County have been manifested
by the circulation of two opposing types
of petitions, each of which has been
signed by a considerable number of
county residents. One petition calls for
better administration of justice and was
occasioned by the grand jury’s reduc
ing the charges against the men ar
rested for flogging Hutchins. The other
petition cites confidence in the grand
jury and expresses resentment against
“insinuations” to the contrary.
A group of Kershaw County ministers
joined in early March in signing a letter
which conveyed these sentiments to the
solicitor:
“We wish to express to you our deep
concern that every possible effort be
made by your offices to assure the
greatly concerned citizens of this coun
ty that the effectiveness of law enforce
ment and the administration of justice
shall be maintained in the matter of
the flogging incident.”
Gov. George Bell Timmerman Jr., in
a detailed memorandum intended to
correct misinterpretation of South Car
olina school needs, as portrayed in a
compilation made for the subcommittee
of the U. S. House Education and Labor
Committee: “Despite our disproportion
ately heavy educational burden, we in
South Carolina are meeting our school
needs . . . We . . . are opposed to federal
aid for education ... If the federal gov
ernment can tell a state where and how
to build a school, it can tell a state who
can teach in that school, and it can tell
a state what can be taught in that
school . . . The public school exists for
one basic purpose. It is to help the par
ent in the education of the child . . .
The surest way to undermine the pub
lic school is to deny to the parent the
right to a voice in the school which his
child attends . . .
“With a blind prejudice against rep
resentative government, the moguls of
centralization go left-winging along in
a frenzied rush to outdo the other side
of the Iron Curtain in nationalizing
everything presently involving a free
people’s choice.
“First, in the name of ‘democracy’ the
Bible was expelled from our public
schools. Then Myrdal’s American Di
lemma was enrolled. Next the states
were denied the legal right to prohibit
subversive activities. Now comes the
effort to nationalize our public schools,
and, under the guise of civil rights,
abolish the right of trial by jury. His
tory already records the tragedy of the
Reconstruction era. A similar niche in
future history awaits our present day
resurrected-reconstructionists.”
Dr. Samuel L. Gandy, of Dillard Uni
versity, New Orleans, at an NAACP
meeting in Greenville on March 18: “We
found out that there could be no equali
ty under segregation,” (referring to the
beginning of the Negro movement for
equal facilities). He said that at first
“nobody wanted integration. It just sort
of cropped out. We were working for
equality.” He said the NAACP seeks to
provide changes through the orderly
processes of government, not through
the use of bombs and bullets.
SCHOOL BOARDS
AND SCHOOLMEN
The latest allocation by the State Ed
ucational Finance Commission for
school construction amounted to
$1,345,699. That amount brings to
$172,226,632 the total of state funds ear
marked for school projects since the
state’s expansion and equalization was
begun in 1951. Of that amount, nearly
$90 million (52.1 per cent) has gone for
Negro schools, with the balance for
white schools.
COMMUNITY ACTION
The Association of Citizens Councils
of South Carolina in early March gave
its endorsement to a proposal by Rep.
F. Mitchell Ott, of Orangeburg County,
calling for a Southwide movement to
spur national interest in states’ rights.
The Ott proposal was revised by the
Ways and Means Committee of the
House so as to establish a State Sov
ereignty Commission, aimed at accom
plishing the same purpose. (See “Legis
lative Action.”)
The Orangeburg chapter of the
NAACP on March 19 published as a paid
advertisement in the Orangeburg Times
and Democrat the following objectives
of the organization:
1) To obtain full rights and oppor
tunities for all people;
2) To oppose injustice in courts when
based on race prejudice;
3) To gain protective legislation and
oppose discriminatory bills;
4) To secure the full right to vote;
5) To remove barriers to the intel
lectual and cultural advancement of
Negroes;
6) To achieve full economic oppor
tunity for all;
7) To eliminate racial segregation.
The advertisement was carried over
the name of the Rev. M. D. McCollom,
president, Orangeburg chapter, NAACP.
The Parent-Teacher Association of
the C. A. Johnson (Negro) High School,
of Columbia, is seeking to stimulate bet
ter attendance at school. Members of
the PTA’s Better School Attendance
Committee are working through local
churches in an effort to persuade par
ents to send children to school reg
ularly and punctually. The committee
recently has been inquiring into a de
cline in school attendance since repeal
of the state’s compulsory attendance
law.
Citizens of the Florence County town
of Lake City said in early March that
approximately $400 had been sent from
that community to help finance the de
fense of the Clinton, Tenn., men
charged with contempt of federal court.
The donors, a spokesman said, are Lake
City people “who believe in constitu
tional government.”
The South Carolina Council on Hu
man Relations held its annual meeting
in Columbia on March 27. The inter
racial organization, which seeks to bring
whites and Negroes together in joint
discussion of mutual problems, has local
chapters in several South Carolina com
munities but has a limited membership.
Its current president, the Rev. J. Claude
Evans, editor of South Carolina’s Meth
odist Advocate, will retire soon as pres
ident of the council.
At the March 27 meeting, the princi
pal address was by James McBride
Dabbs, of Mayesville, farmer, writer
and former college professor.
A panel discussion of “Developing the
Human Resources of South Carolina”
was moderated by E. Grenville Seibels,
II, news director of WIS-TV. Partici
pants were city manager Irving McNayr,
of Columbia; Traugott Kern, executive
director of the Columbia Chamber of
Commerce; Dr. Robert W. Paterson, of
the University of South Carolina, and
Dr. C. A. Johnson, Negro field con
sultant for the State Educational
Finance Commission.
SEEK FUND HALT
At Rock Hill, a committee of Negroes
led by the Rev. C. A. Ivory initiated an
appeal in late March for an injunction
to prevent the use of public funds for
the support of the York County Nature
Museum. The Negroes complain that
their race is not allowed to use the mu
seum, and that no Negro has been
named to the five-man commission for
the museum.
A meeting of the North Charleston
Citizens Council on March 26 was told
by a former northern high school stu
dent that the only advantage he gained
from attending an integrated school in
Pennsylvania was learning to fight so as
to protect himself from gangs of Negro
students. Ray Metzer, a former resident
of Johnstown, Pa., said: “I’m not trying
to say I know all the answers but I do
know that integration didn’t make any
one any happier in Johnstown that I
knew about. Another thing, it didn’t
improve my education and I don’t think
it helped the Negroes any either.”
Considerable dissension within Ku
Klux Klan ranks in the York County
area has been reported by the Rock Hill
Evening Herald in a series of news
articles describing KKK procedures,
activities and meetings in the area. The
news stories report that Klansmen have
been attempting to recruit young men
in the 18-year-old range, but that quar
reling among KKK leaders currently is
retarding organizational efforts.
In mid-March, an estimated 35 auto
mobiles carrying robed but unmasked
Klansmen paraded through the upper
Pee Dee section communities of Society
Hill, Cheraw, Chesterfield, and Ruby.
# # #