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Factual *V0 * S N 3 H1V v«o«o3o jo -a,in joanoo mo ioj 3n fen q go • jl • « 2 i I o i - b - 6 s 3 f. n r Objective VOL. 5, NO. 6 NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE $2 PER YEAR DECEMBER, 1958 Lasl Days? ‘Johnny CAN Read!’ —Atlanta Journal —Atlanta Constitution Three New Court Rulings; Virginia Debates Policy T he South moved toward year’s end with three newly-issued federal court decisions on segregation- desegregation and with one southern state debating whether to revise its massive resistance stand against school integration. While these provided the main spot developments in November, some Deep South states prepared to buttress their pro-segregation stand with new statutes when their assemblies meet in 1959, a survey by Southern School News indicated. (See Legislative Roundup this page.) Latest legal rulings included: New Segregation Statutes In Prospect For 1959Amid Deep South Assem blies T he legislatures of 15 southern and border states will meet next year in regular and special sessions with the results expected to be additions to the 200-odd seg regation measures in some of the resisting states, a stand-pat atti tude in others and a continued aloofness toward the issue in the desegregating states. Regular sessions of lawmakers are scheduled for 14 states—Ala bama, Arkansas, Delaware, Flor ida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Okla homa, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. Special sessions are anticipated in January in Virginia, where the regular ses sion is not due until 1960, and in Alabama where the 1959 regular session will not convene until May. Most of the others convene in regular session in January. Besides Alabama the exceptions are Florida, where the lawmakers will meet in April, Louisiana in May, and North Carolina in February. OFFICIALS QUERIED For a legislation preview, Southern School News correspondents contacted administration and legislative officials in their various states. In sum, they found new legislation designed to further pre vent or control desegregation is almost certain to be enacted next year in Ala bama, Arkansas, Florida, and in Vir ginia if a special session is held. Such legislation may be introduced in the assemblies of Georgia, South Car olina, Tennessee and Texas. But since all these states have segregation laws, new proposals may or may not have the sponsorship or support of legisla tive and administration leaders neces sary to secure their adoption. No new bills along this line are planned in Louisiana or in North Caro lina, where the Pearsall Plan (adopted M 1956) is undergoing court test. Nor is legislation either for the purpose of cur tailing or fostering desegregation likely w the border states of Delaware, Mary land, Missouri, Oklahoma or West Vir ginia. A state-by-state recap follows: Alabama—Gov.-elect John Patterson said he will call a special session soon after taking office in January. Top pri- 0r ity will be given the state road pro gram. Consensus among legislators and administrative officers is that the reg- u ^ ar session in May will be soon enough for new segregation measures. school closing ideas Patterson favors a stronger law to require a school threatened with deseg regation to close. The present school posing legislation permits a degree of °eal option on this matter. Some legis- ators go still farther and suggest laws c °sing all schools, white and Negro, in any school district threatened with de segregation. They have intimated they "dll offer such legislation in May or ev en i n the earlier special session. MacDonald Gallion, newly elected at- rney general, said a plan for refund- j 8 school tax money may be proposed ^ districts where schools close because a desegregation order. Under his pro- sal taxes would be rebated to parents on a pro rata basis, the money to be used for education of their children in private schools, or for any other pur pose. Gallion also has promised to estab lish a special staff in the attorney gen eral’s office to handle segregation mat ters. Presumably, this will require at least legislative appropriations. MAJOR PROBLEMS Arkansas—School segregation-deseg regation will be one of the two major problems facing Arkansas lawmakers in January. Leading members of the as sembly and top administration officers expect segregation measures to be in troduced and at least one influential representative expects some desegrega tion measures, though the form such bills would take is uncertain. In general the pro-segregation meas ures likely will deal mainly with school financing. A bill or bills is expected to provide for tax money to be diverted to private schools or to private school stu dents or both, in the same way the fed eral GI bill of veterans’ educational benefits operated. Another possibility would be to make legal payment to out- of-state schools for the education of stu dents whose home schools are closed by the segregation-desegregation crisis. Also mentioned is a bill to relieve school district taxpayers of financial burdens where schools are closed. One suggested remedy would be to allow credit on state income taxes. Another proposal would provide tax relief to persons contributing to the support of private schools by making such con tributions deductible for state income tax purposes. NONE EXPECTED Delaware—There have been no sug gestions for legislation to promote seg regation or desegregation, either from legislators or administrative officers. Both the chief sponsor and the chief opponent of the “Little Rock” bill in troduced earlier this year were de feated in recent elections. Chances for introduction of bills deal ing with the school issue exist in (1) independent action of individual legis lators to accommodate a constituent, and (2) the court-ordered state Board of Education desegregation plan, which may or may not require implementing legislation. Florida—Temper of the legislators, as indicated by pre-session talks, foreshad ows some stringent new laws. Rep. Tom Beasley, speaker of the House, said, “We must do everything possible, by all honorable and legal means, to prevent integration against the will of the peo ple.” But he had no specific legislation to suggest. PRIVATE PARTICIPATION Dewey Johnson, president-designate of the state Senate, said, “Plans are be ing worked out to provide a parallel system [of education] where private en terprise can help.” Other legislators have proposed renewal of the fight for enact ment of the “last resort” measure, ve toed in 1957, which would allow local ities to close schools threatened with integration. Atty. Gen. Richard W. Ervin said his staff has been working with various legislators discussing and preparing segregation measures. He listed five areas for legislative consideration: (1) to permit “token” desegregation in se lected schools under the pupil assign ment law; (2) to segregate by sex; (3) to establish “voluntary” integrated schools open to all pupils on the choice of their parents; (4) to amend the state constitution to permit state support of private schools; (5) to strengthen laws permitting the state to close schools to avoid violence. Georgia—Gov.-elect Ernest Vandiver has been conferring with “some of the most eminent constitutional lawyers in the state relative to our legal position” on the school segregation-desegregation issue. From these conferences, he said, are expected to come recommendations for the Legislature when it convenes in January. The nature of legislation un der discussion has not been disclosed. PLANT, DEBT PROPOSALS Two possible bills have been dis cussed among legislators. One would permit publicly-owned school facilities to be sold if closed for any reason. The other would permit the state to assume the State School Building Authority’s bond obligations. Some opposition to the school-sales proposal can be expected from the Fulton County (Atlanta) del egation. Also, Mayor William B. Harts- field of Atlanta has urged a local ref erendum on school property disposal and other educational questions in that city, a demand which presumably would require legislation. Louisiana—The legislative session scheduled for May is a fiscal session, and a three-fourths vote of both houses would be required before “emergency” legislation on matters other than fiscal could be discussed. State Sen. William Rainach, who has been the leading seg regation spokesman and sponsor in the Legislature, says no additional bills have been drafted for the 1959 session, and unless some unforeseen circumstance occurs in Louisiana no new segregation measures will be offered before the regular general session in 1960. Maryland — Segregation-desegrega tion is not expected to become an issue when the Maryland General Assembly meets for its long (90-day) session. Del egate Jerome Robinson, who in the past has advocated various types of civil rights legislation, said, “I couldn’t imag ine the desegregation issue arising at the coming session.” Nor does he anticipate any pro-integration activity. NOTHING ANTICIPATED State Sen. George W. Della who has been identified with segregation senti ments in the past, said he has not heard of, nor does he expect, any segregation proposals to be made. C. Maurice Weidemeyer, who in the past prepared and lobbied for segrega tion bills on behalf of the Maryland Petition Committee, reported there are no plans in that group as yet for legis lative action. He said, however, that whatever else the committee may do, it surely would actively oppose any in tegration bills that might be introduced. Missouri—No legislation bearing on the subject is expected. The Missouri assembly in 1957 formally repealed laws requiring segregation in the schools— laws viewed as unenforceable since 1954. North Carolina—Both the state ad ministration and the Pearsall Commit tee, the continuing body which designed North Carolina’s 1956 segregation pro gram, have indicated they will await the outcome of court tests of this pro gram before considering other legisla tive steps. None is anticipated this year. Nor have foes of the “token” integra te LEGISLATION. Page 2) 1) The Supreme Court held on Nov. 24 that Alabama’s Pupil Placement Law was constitutional on its face. 2) A three-member federal court in New Orleans on Nov. 26 held unconsti tutional the 1956 Louisiana legislative act prohibiting athletic competition among whites and Negroes. 3) A U. S. district court on Nov. 19 ordered the Delaware state Board of Education to submit a plan for general statewide desegregation by March 3. OLD DOMINION WATCHED Virginia, with schools still closed in three communities rather than obey fed eral integration decrees, was the center of speculation over whether its general assembly might be called into a special January session to draft new laws in its stalemated resistance program. The Southern School News survey showed 15 of the 17 southern and border states will hold 1959 legislative sessions with new anti-integration measures slated to be added to the more than 200 already on the books. Regular legislative sessions will begin next month in Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. Regular sessions also will be held in North Carolina in Feb ruary, Florida in April, Alabama and Louisiana in May. In addition, special sessions probably will be held next month in Alabama and Virginia. Since 1953, the year before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled school segregation unconstitutional, 11 states have enacted more than 200 new measures designed to prevent or control desegregation of the public schools. Other developments by states: Alabama Democrats won statewide races, as usual, in the Nov. 4 general election but the vote was more lopsided. Democrats and Republicans agreed this represent ed a strong protest by white voters against the Eisenhower administration’s intervention at Little Rock in particular and racial developments in general. Arkansas Dr. Dale Alford, a last-minute write- in candidate, upset veteran Rep. Brooks Hays in a congressional election in which desegregation was the only issue. Hays has been a “moderate” in the seg regation _ desegregation controversy, Alford a staunch segregationist. Delaware The state Board of Education meeting a day after the district court ordered it to submit a desegregation plan, an nounced it would comply and set an other meeting for Dec. 6. District of Columbia District schools reported a record en rollment, including 84,650 Negroes and 29,569 white pupils. Negro enrollment increased to 74.1 per cent. Florida With a legislative session approaching in 1959, indications were that pressure is growing for stronger segregation measures. The state Parent-Teacher Association convention rejected an effort by segre gationists to win endorsement of private segregated schools. Georgia The demand of Atlanta’s Mayor Wil liam B. Hartsfield for a local option vote on the question of school closings in the face of desegregation sparked debate throughout Georgia. Kentucky Louisville for the first time in history elected a Negro to the city Board of Education. Louisiana Voters overwhelmingly approved a state constitutional amendment aimed at preserving segregation through pub lic fund contributions to private schools. Maryland Fall enrollment figures showed more than one-fourth of Maryland county schools now enroll both white and Ne gro pupils. Mississippi Gov. J. P. Coleman, taking cognizance of mounting agitation on the segrega tion-desegregation question, urged the people to “keep clear heads and calm minds.” Missouri A public housing project in St. Louis County developed into a political issue with a racial undertone. Residents of Jefferson Barracks area organized to oppose proposed multimillion dollar de velopment. North Carolina North Carolina officials reacted with expressions of satisfaction at the U. S. Supreme Court ruling that Alabama’s Pupil Placement Law is valid on its face. North Carolina has a law patterned pretty much along the lines of Ala bama’s. Oklahoma Oklahomans were told their state was well on the road to compliance with de segregation and that the question would occupy a role of only minor importance in the 1959 legislature. South Carolina Farm Bureau and Citizens Council groups at separate meetings proposed that the state get on with plans for pri vate schools in the event of closures re sulting from forced integration. Tennessee A Nashville jury sentenced John Kas per to six months imprisonment and fined him $500 for his part in disturb ances at the opening of integrated city schools in 1957. He continued at liberty under bond pending an appeal. Texas Dallas prepared an appeal from a state district court’s dismissal of its suit seek ing clarification of its status under new state laws. Virginia Gov. J. Lindsay Almond said that if and when the state’s present anti-inte gration laws are nullified he would ap point a legislative commission to look into suggestions he would make. West Virginia Officials, mystified at the dynamiting of the integrated school at Osage, said they still were without clues as to the reasons behind it. # # # Alabama 3 Arkansas 12 Delaware 9 Dist. of Columbia , . 7 Florida 5 Georgia 15 INDEX Kentucky 8 Louisiana 8 Maryland 2 Mississippi II Missouri 16 North Carolina .... 10 Oklahoma 14 South Carolina ... 16 Tennessee 13 Texas 14 Virginia 6 West Virginia .... 4