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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—DECEMBER 1957—PAGE 5
AUSTIN, Texas
rpHE Texas legislature ap-
! i proved measures to have
public schools closed where troops
are employed, and provided for
continuing state financial aid for
0 ff-campus instruction. (See “Leg
islative Action.”)
A three-judge federal court was
asked to give Dallas at least until
the summer of 1958 to complete
its school integration plan. (See
“Legal Action.”)
A damage suit against the federal
government, involving traffic deaths,
brought argument that the Little Rock
incident shows National Guardsmen
are “federal forces.” (See “Legal Ac-
non. )
Houston school board members re-
i jected a proposed conference with news-
' paper editors to discuss implementation
of a federal court decree to integrate
“with all deliberate speed.” (See “Legal
Action.”)
bill offered
A bill to let county judges require
listing of membership of any organiza
tion was offered in the legislature. It
was aimed at the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored Peo
ple. (See “Legislative Action.”)
A Longview city ordinance requiring
registration is being tested in court by
four NAACP officers. (See “Community
Action.”)
The superintendent of Dallas schools
called interference of the federal gov-
| emment the biggest threat to public
education. (See “What They Say.”)
A well-known Texas historian said
that segregation, like slavery, threatens
disaster for the South. (See “What They
Say.”)
BARNS OF ‘FORCE’
A Washington, D. C., educator warned
that integration should “take time and
shouldn’t come about by force.” (See
"What They Say.”)
The Texas chairman of the Republi
can Party charged that “states’ rights
will suffer for years to come” because
of a “crisis deliberately created in Ar
kansas.” (See “Political Activity.”)
Pleasanton school integrated peace
fully under a new Texas election law.
(See “School Boards and Schoolmen.”)
A Negro student asserted that Ne
groes at the University of Texas “have
been desegregated but not integrated.”
(See “In the Colleges.”)
-
is
ey
a- >
ij
i The Texas legislature in a special ses-
dt j° n ended by Gov. Price Daniel passed
f. ®ese bills:
t 1 by Sen. Wardlow Lane of
Center, authorizing closing of any
y *hool to prevent use of troops. It
e "ould continue state financial aid to
■* r* district and allow the local board
i provide for “out-of-classroom in-
t Action.”
1,1 , jf ‘ ^ by Lane, appropriating $50,000
, . e attorney general to use in de-
ding state laws when attacked in lo-
^ school districts.
1 * tWo acts sponsored by East Texas
£®nlators originated after the Little
AOc k troops episode.
conduct filibuster
■ « e principal opposition came in the
be, where two members filibustered
ccessfully for more than 20 hours
j, 0r ® die bills were passed.
! pqI, • T directs the governor to furnish
1 peace*’ • <prevent violence and maintain
;
c
r
i * operating schools, when re-
¥ t»oui7i ^ local authorities. It would
* ' Dot i e bhab the Texas National Guard
* ‘be used.
*” jy ^ an y instance where the governor
^ (Wj^ben proclamation, or the school
t jurisdiction finds that vi-
’• p^ v . or bhe danger thereof cannot be
force nte< ^ exce Pt by resort to military
14 “ i°l occu P a tion of the school, the
aoard may
Provides.
school / occu P a tion of the school,
i ai 'd may close the school
bU1 provides
^’ST
“hs
close school
f‘ ^4rd“‘stance where the school
• <dce aVing jurisdiction finds that vio-
***** danger thereof cannot be
■“tee 0®“ exce pt by resort to military
'•M occupation of a public school
5 shall u GS suc h Let to the governor
E hse su 1® bhe duty of the governor tc
*tion e t sc h°°l and suspend its oper-
such time as the aforesaid
that ° ai |^ s ^ a h certify to the govern-
i *ty _ such closing is no longer neces-
th e ^ an '®^’ w h° will sign the bill,
m 0 ^bi-troops measure “protects
I need r ? tlori °f our schools and sets
*°op ocp 6 Procedures for preventing
upation and control by state or
Texas Legislature Approves Measure
To Close Schools If Troops Appear
federal military forces.” He said even
“temporary closing” would be “a last
resort.”
An 81 to 56 majority in the House
defeated an effort to strike out the pro
vision for school boards to provide out-
of-classroom instruction while schools
are closed. State funds would continue
to the district and compulsory attend
ance laws set aside.
CRITICIZES PROVISION
Rep. Oscar M. Laurel of Laredo said
the provision would wipe out the gains
made by Texas public schools under the
Gilmer-Aikin program. “It is doing away
with our best opportunity to raise edu
cational standards,” said Laurel. “The
South is a tiny island in the Western
world, crying for equality of opportu
nity. The South will soon be inundated
again.”
Also defeated was a proposal to strike
out the power for the governor to close
the schools whenever a local board de
clares that violence can be prevented
only by military force.
HELD CONSTITUTIONAL
Atty. Gen. Will Wilson had ruled
that a discretionary anti-troop bill
would be constitutional, although one
for automatic closing would not. He
said that the bill would be constitu
tional only if there is an official deter
mination that “the presence of the
troops rendered the school inefficient
and ineffective.”
Churchmen were the leading oppon
ents of the anti-troop legislation in
committees. A leader was Dr. Das Kel
ley Barnett, faculty member of the
Episcopal Theological Seminary in
Austin and chairman of the Austin
Commission on Human Relations. Dr.
Barnett charged that the proposal was
“anti-school, pro-mob.”
The House State Affairs Committee
members questioned several witnesses
about their views on racial intermar
riage. This prompted Dr. J. M. Dawson,
of Austin, a retired Baptist minister, to
complain that the committee was ask
ing prejudicial questions.
COMPLAINTS HEARD
There were complaints from legisla
tors that the witnesses as well as com
mitteemen were straying from the
main subject. “These witnesses seem
more interested in cramming social
dogma down our throats than they do
in educating children,” commented
Rep. Ben Ferrell of Tyler.
Advocating the anti-troop bill were
Dr. B. E. Masters of Kilgore, an edu
cator and active leader in the white
Citizens Councils of Texas, and A. G.
Morton Jr., Kilgore, father of three
school children.
Gov. Price Daniel called the special
session with a message stating: “I firm
ly believe that peace and order can be
maintained in this state through local
and state law enforcement without the
use of military forces. However, if vio
lence or the threat thereof should ever
occur to the extent that peace and
order at a public school cannot be
maintained without the use of military
forces, or if federal troops ever occupy
a public school in this state, I believe
it would be best for the school to be
closed until such time as peace and
order can be restored and maintained
without the use or occupation of mili
tary troops.
UP TO BOARDS
“I recommend that such actions be
left to the local school boards, and that
all state aid, accreditation, attendance
records, salaries of school officials,
teachers and employes should not be
affected thereby.”
The authority for the governor to
order the closing was inserted by leg
islators in the bill.
The legislature finally passed HCR 3
by Rep. Joe N. Chapman of Sulphur
Springs, telling President Eisenhower
that the state of Texas does not want
federal troops to enforce integration
orders in schools here.
The final version was more moder
ately-worded than the original pro
posal. Sen. Grady Hazlewood of Ama
rillo sponsored the substitute which
was adopted.
A three-judge federal court is ex
pected to make its decision in Decem
ber on the Dallas school integration
case that is looked upon as a guide to
the future course of some other segre
gated Texas schools.
In the case (Borders v. Rippy—see
Deliberate Speed
—Dallas Morning News
SSN, November 1957 and previous is
sues) U. S. District Judge W. H. At
well had ordered integration to begin
with the mid-term in January 1958.
Andrew J. Thuss, attorney for the
Dallas board, said Judge Atwell set the
date without hearing arguments or evi
dence. The Fifth Circuit Court, which
heard the appeal at Fort Worth on
Nov. 22, was reminded by the school
attorney that it had directed Dallas to
prepare for integration but had not set
a date.
TWO POINTS RAISED
Judge John R. Brown of Houston
showed concern at the hearing on two
points:
1) The lack of any showing that the
trial judge and attorneys had discussed
the mid-term integration date.
2) The lack of any statement from
the board as to when integration will
begin. The lawsuit was filed more than
two years ago.
Judge Warren L. Jones of Jackson
ville, Fla., asked Thuss when Dallas
will have its integration plan ready.
“I think this coming summer will
produce a plan,” replied Thuss.
W. J. Durham of Dallas, attorney for
the Negro plaintiffs, contended that
Atwell acted within his authority in
setting the date. “If the court does not
have this power, then the law is left
to the whims of a school board,” Dur
ham argued.
Thurgood Marshall, chief counsel for
the NAACP, filed a brief in the case.
ASK ‘SOMETHING BETTER’
The school board’s written brief as
serted that “to rule that scholastics
should be interrupted in the middle of
the school year is unthinkable and dis
ruptive of the school system. Some
thing better can be planned.”
The Dallas board meanwhile filed suit
in Judge Atwell’s court to determine
the district’s position under two new
state laws (Dallas ISD v. J. W. Edgar,
State Commissioner of Education). One
is H.B. 65, passed this year (see SSN,
June 1957), which calls for withdrawal
of state aid from any school district
which integrates hereafter without ap
proval of a majority of its voters. It also
provides for fines against the responsible
officials. The other is H.B. 231, a pupil
assignment act.
No date has been set for hearing this
case. The school district asked that it
be heard by a three-judge court. The
board asserted that conflicting state
law and federal court decisions put its
members in “a dilemma.”
NO ELECTION EFFORT
No effort has been made to hold an
election in Dallas under HB 65 nor has
either of the new acts been tested in
court. Pleasanton, the only district to
call on election under HB 65, integrated
this fall. (See “School Boards and
Schoolmen.”)
The Houston school board meanwhile
voted down, 5 to 2, a proposal by mem
ber Mrs. A. S. Vandervoort that it call
a conference with its attorney and local
newspaper editors to discuss implemen
tation of a federal court order that it
arrange for integration “with all delib
erate speed.” (Benjamin et al v. Houston
ISD—see SSN November 1957 and ear
lier.)
For the past two and a half years,
I ve tried to plant seeds leading to a
solution of this grave problem but the
seeds have fallen on very stony
ground, ’ Mrs. Vandervoort told her
colleagues on the Houston board.
“However, that solution is no longer
our business. The solution has been
handed down to us in the form of a
court order.”
The Houston board also registered a
5 to 2 vote against sending any of the
district’s personnel to any meeting of a
professional group affiliated with the
National Education Association.
The Houston board also received a
complaint from Mrs. Vandervoort
against permitting attendance of high
school band and choral groups at a
recent Houston appearance by Gov.
Marvin Griffin of Georgia, sponsored
by the Citizens Councils. Since the
Griffin program, permission was with
drawn for Lamar High School’s chorus
to sing at a church service sponsored
by the Council of Churches of Greater
Houston.
School authorities said the appear
ance was cancelled after it was learned
the program was to be “integrated”—
that both white and Negro teachers
had been invited to attend.
At Fort Worth, attorneys for two El
Paso women argued before the Fifth
Circuit Court that a $100,000 damage
award against the federal government
should be upheld because the Little
Rock episode proves members of the
National Guard are “federal” troops.
TWO WERE KILLED
In 1955, the husbands of Mrs. Mary
Mason Snow Burrough and Mrs. Mabel
Prager were killed when their cars
crashed into a National Guard anti
aircraft cannon near El Paso. The trial
court awarded them a $100,000 judg
ment against the federal government,
finding that the National Guardsmen
are “federal” soldiers.
The attorneys on appeal cited the
Little Rock federalization as proof that
National Guardsmen are under federal
control.
In Washington, the U. S. Supreme
Court reversed a federal district court
ruling and ordered trial on the merits
of a suit alleging that four Houston
Negroes were discriminated against by
their labor union.
The suit was brought by John D.
Conley and others alleging that the
discrimination occurred in the Brother
hood of Railway and Steamship Clerks,
on the Texas & New Orleans Railroad.
They charged that the railroad pur
ported to abolish 45 jobs held by Ne
groes, but actually filled most of them
with whites. The Negroes said their
union failed to represent them in good
faith.
Pleasanton integrated its 37 Negro
pupils with 1,476 whites after voting by
four to one for the move. (See SSN,
November 1957.)
The change was without incident. At
the high school, nine Negro students
were escorted to their first classes by
nine white members of the student
council. A pre-integration canvass at
the high school disclosed “no opposi
tion” according to Supt. J. D. Klinge-
man.
Newspapers quoted Pleasanton High
students as being enthusiastic over the
enrollment of one Negro boy who was
a basketball star.
Dr. W. T. White, superintendent of
schools at Dallas, told a luncheon club
that interference by the federal gov
ernment is the biggest threat to public
schools of the nation. “I had rather
have less money, not as good equip
ment and school houses less well built
-—as long as we keep it [control] at
the local level,” said Dr. White.
A noted Texas historian, Dr. Walter
Prescott Webb of Austin told the
Southern Historical Association that
segregation, like slavery, threatens dis
aster for the South.
“The South tried to escape the in
evitable once and has suffered for it
ever since,” said Dr. Webb, a Univer
sity of Texas professor and author. “It
cannot afford to make the same mis
take twice. It cannot afford to be di
verted by a cause already lost”
CITES PROGRESS
He spoke on economic progress of
the South during the last two decades.
“If the South in 1860 would have
looked at the world, it would have seen
that history had passed it by,” he said.
“Chattel slavery had been abolished
almost throughout the western world.
The South was already but a tiny is
land of slavery in a rising area of
freedom of sorts. The inundation was
inevitable.
“Today the South finds itself in the
same position. Again history has
passed it by, this time in reference to
educational practice. Nowhere else in
the western world, which is one com
munity, with the exception of parts
of Africa, is there such discrimination
as the South has used and continues
to use in many places. Again it is an
island in a rising sea and its inundation
is again inevitable.”
‘TAKE GENERATION’
Dr. Paul E. Slicker of Washington,
D.C., told the Texas Association of
Secondary School Principals that inte
gration “may take a generation.” The
official of the National Association of
Secondary School Principals said the
move “takes time and shouldn’t come
about by force.”
The official added that legislation is
no solution. “You can’t legislate social
reform and morality faster than the
people accept it.”
“States’ rights will suffer for years
to come” because of the Litte Rock
school dispute, State Republican Chair
man Thad Hutcheson predicted in a
letter to Texas GOP officials. Said
Hutcheson:
“Nobody can be happy that a crisis
was deliberately created in Arkansas
which set the stage for reluctant entry
of federal troops, an entry which few
will doubt was ordered with regret,
but in all good faith, by the Chief
Executive whose duties require him to
uphold the law of the land.
“In all likelihood, states’ rights will
suffer for years to come through the
precedent which Arkansas and its po
litical leaders created,” he said.
“They brought on the head-on clash
between federal and state power in
such special circumstances as constitu
tional and states’ rights lawyers have
long sought to avoid, because in such
a situation the answer will almost in
evitably be federal success or a civil
war.”
Hutcheson accused “Democrat poli
tical spokesmen” of trying “to put a
Republican twist on any unpopular
aspect of the Little Rock situation.”
A hearing is set for Dec. 16 at Long
view on a new city ordinance requiring
the National Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People to furnish
lists of its local members.
Officers registered under the ordi
nance but said the membership lists
were unavailable. The test case in
Judge Henry Atkinson’s state court is
against Rev. S. Y. Noxson, president
of the Longview NAACP, and other
officers. Penalty for violating the or
dinance is $50 a day. The Longview
Citizens Council filed a membership
list under the ordinance.
The NAACP held a state convention
at Dallas, where President H. Boyd
Hall of Corpus Christi charged that
Texas has a “hostile governor [Price
Daniel] and a good attorney general
[Will Wilson].”
U. Simpson Tate, an NAACP attor
ney at Dallas, announced that he plans
to protest to the city council because
the ticket seller refused to sell him ad
mission to the Ringling Brothers and
Bamum and Bailey Circus performed
in the city auditorium.
City Manager Elgin Crull said that
the circus makes its own racial policies.
Anthony Henry, a Negro sophomore
at the University of Texas, told the
campus paper that “Negro students
have been desegregrated but not in
tegrated ... We are cut off from the
general stream of university life.”
The student said that Negro stu
dents are restricted in a choice of
places to live, and that only three pub
lic places near the campus will serve
meals both to white and Negro stu
dents. “When we’re together, both we
and our white friends feel embarrassed
if service is refused us.”
The student added that a few cases
of overwhelming “welcome treatment”
to Negroes had embarrassed them al
most as much as discrimination.
The University of Texas has 173 Ne
groes among almost 17,000 students.
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