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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—MAY 1958—PAGE 7
Virginia Appeals Arlington Case; Northern Section Is Spotlighted
RICHMOND, Va.
he state of Virginia appealed
the Arlington County deseg
regation order to the U. S. Su
preme Court. This move, along
( with a series of other events, last
month focused major attention in
the school segregation dispute on
that northern Virginia county.
(See “Legal Action” and “School
Boards and Schoolmen.”)
The racial controversy was
cited in both Richmond and Ar-
* lington as a reason for delaying
proposed school construction.
(See “School Boards and School-
, men.”)
CURRENT STATUS: Desegrega
tion by specific dates ordered in
Charlottesville, Arlington County,
Newport News and Norfolk, but or
ders stayed pending appeals. New
hearing and “prompt and reason-
‘ able start” order directed in Prince
Edward County case. Four cases
pending attacking pupil placement
act.
For the second time, the state asked
the U. S. Supreme Court to overrule
desegregation orders applying to Ar-
' lington.
In a petition filed April 2, the state
contended that Federal District Judge
Albert V. Bryan improperly took over
i the local school board’s function when
he ordered admission of seven Negro
students to four white county schools
(Arlington County School Board v.
, Thompson).
The state argued that by placing the
Negro children in schools closest to
their homes, Judge Bryan discriminated
, against white students who do not enjoy
the same privilege.
EXAMPLES CITED
The petition cited numerous examples
( of white children who are living just
inside the boundaries of one school
district but who are geographically
closer to other white schools than the
ones they are required to attend.
These other points were made by the
state:
1) A three-judge federal court should
have been convened to handle the case,
since constitutionality of the state’s
pupil placement law is involved.
2) The Negro students should have
. proceeded as individuals, and not in a
class action, since federal rules of civil
procedure do not permit the prosecu
tion of a class action suit “for the sole
purpose of enforcing alleged claims of
individuals when there is no common
question of fact and when no common
relief is sought.”
j STATE DECISION CITED
3) Judge Bryan’s ruling conflicts with
the decision of the Virginia Supreme
Court of Appeals in the DeFebio case.
(See Southern School News, January
1958.) In that case the state court ruled
that two Fairfax County white children
had to comply with the pupil place-
( went law.
Negro attorneys will go before Fed
eral District Judge John Paul on May
12 to ask for an order to desegregate
Charlottesville’s public schools begin-
' Ning in September. (Allen v. Charlot
tesville School Board.)
In August 1956, Judge Paul issued an
order directing a start toward desegre-
i Sation of Charlottesville schools in
September of that year. This order was
stayed pending appeals to higher courts.
In July 1957, counsel for the Negro
Arkansas
(Continued From Page 6)
ar >d might take it. He had once been
mentioned as a possible candidate for
governor.
( Mrs. Clyde Y. Thomason, an officer
of the segregationist Mothers League of
Central High, filed as a candidate for
representative from Pulaski
( bounty. She has two opponents so far,
deluding the incumbent. She ran for
a place on the Little Rock City Manager
oard in November and was barely
, r ea *- en by a former member of the
ittle Rock School Board.
^■1 a state Democratic Party fund-
faising dinner, several of the leaders of
, >, e se gregationist element at Little
*™ok walked out when they noticed
at a Negro was attending. The Negro
as Fred W. Martin of Hot Springs, a
ember of the Democratic state corn
el 6 segregationists said they
(at know it was to be an integrated
Oner and one of them, the Rev. Wes-
y Pruden, president of the Capital
students asked Judge Paul to order full
desegregation in Charlottesville begin
ning in September of that year. The
judge, however, said he would await a
final Supreme Court ruling on Vir
ginia’s pupil placement law.
MOOT POINT
Whether the Supreme Court has now
ruled the law unconstitutional is a
moot point among lawyers. (See SSN,
January 1958.)
Negro attorneys appearing before
Judge Paul this month are expected to
argue that regardless of whether the
pupil placement law has been declared
unconstitutional, the statute provides no
remedy for Negroes who want to attend
white schools. The state is expected to
reply that the law was amended by the
recent session of the General Assem
bly to remove objections which had
been raised by the courts.
CURRENT STATUS: Segregation
retained in all of the state’s 114
school districts.
Aside from the legal developments
(see “Legal Action” above), these
events kept Arlington County in the
spotlight during April:
1) School Supt. T. Edward Rutter re
signed to become superintendent of the
Radnor Township School District near
Philadelphia. He said he was quitting
because he had been offered a higher
salary and unusually attractive working
conditions at Radnor. However, the
Washington Post quoted friends of Rut
ter as saying he had told them morale
among his staff and teachers had
plummeted because of criticism from
two school board members—Robert
Peck and Mrs. Helen S. Lane—and that
“he believes Arlington County, with
sharp divisions, will be in an intoler
able position if desegregation of the
schools is ordered in September as ex
pected.”
2) Segregationists in Arlington and
elsewhere in the Tenth Congressional
District began setting up the Tenth Dis
trict Fundamental Education Organiza
tion of the Commonwealth of Virginia,
purpose of which is to operate private
schools if integration is ordered in the
public schools. The plan is patterned
after that being used in Prince Edward
County, where funds have been ra’sed
to operate private schools for white
children as a last-resort defense against
integration.
BOND ISSUE OPPOSED
3) The pro-segregation Arlington De
fenders of State Sovereignty and Indi
vidual Liberties tried unsuccessfully to
delay a bond referendum for $3,500,000
to build a new white high school.
County officials had asked the court to
designate May 13 for the referendum,
while the Defenders asked that the
voting be held at the same time as the
November general election. The De
fenders expressed “extreme alarm” over
the proximity of the proposed school to
a Negro residential community about
five blocks away. Circuit Judge Walter
T. McCarthy set the referendum for
May 13.
In a related development, the De
fenders asked the state Pupil Placement
Board to withhold approval of a pro
posal to shift about 700 students to
other schools. The Defenders said the
shift is an attempt to panic voters into
approving the school bond issue. Fami
lies of about 700 Arlington elementary
and junior high pupils have received
letters from the school superintendent’s
office announcing plans to send the
children to schools outside their neigh
borhoods next September. Sunt. Rutter
said the Defenders’ charge “obviously
Citizens Council, said, “We think this
was planned by the other side to em
barrass us.” Later it turned out that
Martin and five other Negro members
of the Democratic state committee, all
appointed to the committee by Gov.
Faubus, also had been invited by him
to attend the dinner meeting.
Sen. Sam J. Ervin Jr. (D-N.C.), chief
speaker at the dinner meeting, said
racial problems could be solved only
by good will and patience, not by
“iudicial or military coercion.” He said
that the day the federal troops arrived
at Little Rock was “one of the most
tragic days for constitutional govern
ment in American history.”
CURRENT STATUS: 3 measures
approved by referendum, 4 acts
adopted by the legislature to
strengthen school segregation.
Meeting at Little Rock April 18, the
Legislative Council, which acts between
Major Developments
Since 1954
1) State adopted policy of “mas
sive resistance” to integration;
the General Assembly enacted
series of laws to carry it out, in
cluding one to close any schools
that are integrated.
2) Federal courts issued deseg
regation orders to Prince Edward
and Arlington counties and to the
cities of Charlottesville, Norfolk
and Newport News.
3) White citizens of Prince Ed
ward County set up an organiza
tion to operate private schools for
white children if public schools
of the county are integrated.
Some residents of northern Vir
ginia began a similar move.
4) Democrat J. Lindsay Almond
Jr., who advocates “massive re
sistance,” was elected governor
by a nearly 2-to-l margin over
Republican State Sen. Ted Dalton,
who opposes the state policy and
favors leaving the question of in
tegration to local option.
5) State’s policies have been
successful in preventing any in
tegration in public schools any
where in Virginia.
is not true.” He said the shift is needed
to equalize the student load in the
schools.
TEACHER GUARANTEE
4) The Arlington school board adopted
a statement promising to do its best to
continue teachers’ salaries during any
racial crisis. Later, Gov. J. Lindsay Al
mond Jr., said that under Virginia law,
Arlington teachers would continue to
receive their salaries if county schools
were closed because of integration.
5) The Arlington school board re
fused to permit the Community Council
for Social Progress to hold a racially
integrated meeting in a school building.
6) The Rev. Ross Allen Weston,
speaking from the pulpit of his Uni
tarian Church in Arlington, denounced
“witch hunting” in the county’s schools
and described the resignation of Supt.
Rutter as “heartbreaking.” He declared:
“There seems some reason to believe
that tho c e who attack Drogressive edu
cation under the protective coloration
of patriotism . . . really desire . . . the
economic status quo, a low tax rate,
white supremacy, and their own brand
of Americanism.”
7) State Del. Omer Hirst of Fairfax-
Falls Church predicted in a speech that
Arlington County will comply with a
federal court order to integrate public
schools, even if it means losing state
financial aid.
8) The Arlington County Council of
Parent-Teacher Associations voted to
oppose the closing of public schools in
the event of integration. The group set
up a special committee to study methods
of keeping the schools open, or of re
opening them “without delay” if they
are closed.
RICHMOND SCHOOL ISSUE
Richmond’s five-year capital budget
adopted a year ago included an item
of nearly $6 million to be spent during
the 1958-59 school year for two new
white high schools. However, to be bind
ing, City Council would have to ap
prove the item again this spring as part
of the capital budget for the ensuing
12 months.
In presenting his recommendations to
council last month, City Manager
Horace Edwards included the proposed
expenditure for the two schools, but
he also told the councilmen:
‘TROUBLE IN JUSTIFYING’
“In all candor, I must say this [rec
ommendation] has been made with
sessions of the General Assembly,
adopted a resolution suggesting that
Little Rock change its city motto from
“City of Roses” to “City of Daisy Blos
som,” a reference to School Supt. Virgil
T. Blossom and Mrs. L. C. (Daisy)
Bates, state NAACP president. Four
Little Rock legislators were present.
One of them signed it, one of them
objected to it and the other two did
nothing.
CURRENT STATUS: 9 of 228 bi-
racial school districts desegregated
in practice or policy.
For four years the state Board of
Education has held itself aloof from the
integration problem, although its chair
man Marvin E. Bird of Earle did take
part in drawing up the segregation
measures proposed by Gov. Faubus two
years ago. This month it has been
drawn at least partially into the situa
tion, once by receiving Herbert L.
some reluctance, in view of the legal
uncertainties which cloud the future of
our public schools. The present state
policy to close the schools in localities
where the courts order integration gives
me trouble in justifying a $6 million
investment in facilities of unpredictable
use. This is a serious policy question
that council should review carefully
before passing upon.”
Council will hold public hearings on
the budget before acting on it.
In a news conference later, Gov. Al
mond was asked whether he would of
fer any advice to the Richmond officials
on the question raised by Edwards. He
replied that it is up to the officials of
each locality to make the decisions in
such matters and that he would not
offer any suggestions.
Generally, he said, if local authorities
feel new schools are needed and if these
schools can be so located as “to meet
the impact” of any integration crisis,
they might proceed with construction.
The Virginia Education Association
reported that one out of every four
teachers in Virginia’s public schools
lacks a college degree. The VEA said
68.8 per cent of the white teachers hold
degrees, while the figure for Negro
teachers is 91 per cent. The figures
showed further that 10.5 per cent of the
state’s white teachers hold substandard
certificates, compared with only .75 per
cent of the Negro teachers.
The Virginia Council of Unitarian
Churches and Fellowships, meeting in
Charlottesville April 12, adopted a res
olution urging the General Assembly to
repeal laws designed to maintain segre
gation in the schools. The resolution
said the Assembly “should return to
the localities the right to assign pupils
in accordance with local conditions.”
The resolution was submitted by the
Rev. James Brewer of Norfolk.
Several Negro candidates failed to
win nomination in Democratic prima
ries last month, while several other Ne
groes have entered contests for city
council seats in elections June 10.
In Charlottesville, in a contest be
tween three white candidates, two in
cumbents won Democratic Party nom
inations. They are Thomas J. Michie
and Louie L. Scribner. Both endorsed
segregation but neither favored closing
the schools to avoid integration. The
losing candidate, Robert R. Ready, a
real estate salesman, based his appeal
on firm resistance to integration, in
cluding closing of the schools, if neces
sary.
A new book, The Testing of Negro
Intelligence, written by Dr. Audrey M.
Shuey, chairman of the department of
psychology at the Randolph-Macon
Woman’s College, and published last
month by J. P. Bell Co., Inc., of Lynch
burg, Va., concludes there are some na
tive differences between whites and
Negroes in intelligence.
Reviewing 240 studies of Negro intel
ligence made over a period of 44 years,
Dr. Shuey says in a concluding state
ment:
“The remarkable consistency in test
results, whether they pertain to school
or pre-school children, to high school or
college students, to draftees of World
War I or World War II, to the gifted or
the mentally deficient, to the delinquent
Thomas Sr., with permission from Gov.
Faubus to hear him present his plan,
and again by summarizing integration
progress in the public schools. The sum
mary was the first of its kind from the
board and carefully drew no conclu
sions. Education Commissioner Arch
W. Ford said it was drawn up solely
for the information of the board.
After listing the places where inte
gration has been started it ended with
this paragraph: “The Department of
Education has no knowledge of specific
plans which have been approved by
local boards for integration of the races
in 1958-59. It is our policy to work with
local boards and administrators in a
consultative capacity on all problems
having to do with their schools. It is
probable that we would be aware of
plans of local boards in this delicate
area if such plans were in the making.”
NO NEW STARTS
So, as far as the state knows, there
will be no new integration starts next
September.
The summary contained the same in-
or criminal, the fact that the colored-
white differences are present not only
in the rural South and urban South, but
in the border and northern areas; the
fact that relatively small average differ
ences are found between the IQs of
northern-born and southem-bom Ne
gro children in nothern cities; the evi
dence that the tested differences appear
to be greater for the abstract than for
practical or concrete problems; the evi
dence that the differences obtained are
not due primarily to a lack of language
skills, the colored averaging no better
on non-verbal tests than on verbal tests;
the fact that differences are reported
in all studies in which the cultural en
vironment of the whites appeared to
be no more complex, rich or stimulating
than the environment of the Negroes;
the fact that in many comparisons (in
cluding those in which the colored ap
peared to best advantage) the Negro
subjects have been either more repre
sentative of their racial group or more
highly selected than have the compara
ble white subjects; all point to the pres
ence of some native differences between
Negroes and whites as determined by
intelligence tests.”
Mrs. Sarah Patton Boyle, wife of a
University of Virginia faculty member
and one of Virginia’s most widely
known integrationist leaders, said in an
address in Washington that Negro citi
zens are revitalizing the ideals that
made America great.
She told an audience at Shiloh Bap
tist Church that “there is no white
leader in our nation today that can ap
proach the stature of Martin Luther
King” of Montgomery, Ala., and other
Negro leaders.
She expressed the belief that south
ern opposition to integration is waning.
IMMEDIATE INTEGRATION ASKED
Dr. Alonzo G. Moron, president of
Hampton Institute, a Negro college, has
called for immediate integration of the
schools. He told about 100 delegates at
tending the second annual Hampton In
stitute conference of public school per
sonnel:
“We must not wait until Mr. Almond,
former Gov. Stanley or Mr. Byrd dies.
A situation now exists that deprives
thousands of children of a fair educa
tion. There is no excuse for delay.”
The Rev. John Q. Beckwith of Alex
andria told a Charlottesville audience
that the church has not provided lead
ership in the field of race relations be
cause “at the grass roots there is no
distinction in the South between church
people and non-church people on this
matter.”
Four white students, appearing on a
panel at a meeting of the Richmond area
chapter of the Virginia Council on Hu
man relations, said students are ready
for integration. They said integration is
being held up by parents, laws and
churches. One student was from a white
private high school, another from an
integrated Catholic high school, the
third from a training school for Chris
tian workers, and the fourth from a
private college. The panel, which also
included two Negro students, agreed
that there should be more contacts be
tween intelligent whites and intelligent
Negroes.
CURRENT STATUS of Colleges:
4 of 10 public colleges or institutes
desegregated.
CURRENT STATUS of Legisla
tion: 28 laws or amendments, two
resolutions enacted to strengthen
school segregation.
# # #
formation on eight Arkansas school
districts that has been reported pre
viously in Southern School News.
No troops were inside Central High
School at Little Rock on Thursday,
April 24, for the first day since troops
arrived Sept. 24 to enforce the federal
court order. No incident was reported.
Next day the Arkansas Military Dis
trict, in charge of federalized National
Guardsmen who serve at the school,
said there was a new “come and go”
policy and that troops would be in and
out of the school from time to time.
Since the Sammie Dean Parker inci
dent early in March—when she was
expelled, then reinstated—only one in
cident has been reported at Central
High School. That was a scuffle in front
of the school the morning of April 10
between a white girl and a Negro girl.
The police said the Negro girl was on
her way to the Negro high school with
a group of friends and was passing
through a group of white girls when
the scuffle began. Both girls were
turned over to juvenile authorities.
# # #
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