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UNIVER3J
Objective
VOL. 6, NO. 7
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
JAN 6
$2 PER YEAR
JANUARY, I960
Court Backs Stairstep, Clasmg Decisions
Little New Segregation Legislation
Proposed by Southern Lawmakers
W ith more than 230 bills and
resolutions pertaining to
school segregation enacted since
the U. S. Supreme Court’s 1954
desegregation ruling, southern
lawmakers have little additional
legislation on the subject planned
for 1960.
Legislatures in eight southern and
border states—Georgia, Kentucky, Lou
isiana, Maryland, Mississippi, South
Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia—
have sessions scheduled for early 1960.
No legislation on the segregation-de
segregation issue appears likely in Ken
tucky, Maryland and West Virginia.
Some segregation legislation is expect
ed in most of the other states, but no
major legislative programs have been
announced.
Efforts may be made to revive “mas
sive resistance” in Virginia, but chances
for such legislation are not regarded as
strong.
A federal court hearing in Atlanta
has focused considerable attention on
Georgia’s Legislature, which meets Jan.
11. The Georgia lawmakers are expect
ed to have placed before them a pupil
placement plan drawn up by the Atlanta
school board in response to a federal
judge’s order to produce a desegregation
program. At present, all Georgia
schools are segregated, and state law
calls for closing any school told to de
segregate.
National legislators also will go into
session in January. Civil rights bills are
expected to stand high on the agenda
when Congress reconvenes.
Here’s a state-by-state summary of
the legislative picture in the 17 south
ern and border states and the District
of Columbia:
years, including many at the 1959 ses
sion of the General Assembly.
The next regular session is in Janu
ary 1961, and so far there is no prospect
of a special session before then. There
was much special session talk last Aug
ust, when the Little Rock school board
was getting ready to reopen the high
schools that Gov. Orval Faubus had
closed, but none was held. At the time,
some legislators commented, “What can
we do that we haven’t already done?”
The most important desegregation
laws so far are two pupil assignment
acts, now being used by both the Little
Rock and Dollarway districts. One is
Act 2 of 1956, adopted by vote of the
people, and the other is Act 461 of 1959.
They are virtually identical.
Almost all of the Arkansas desegrega
tion laws when attacked in court have
been held unconstitutional. Exceptions
so far are the pupil assignment laws,
the “Bennett” ordinances adopted by
cities to require disclosure of member
ship and financial information of tax-
exempt organizations, and Act 10 of
1958, requiring teachers under oath to
list their memberships and contribu
tions.
Delaware
There haven’t been any segregation-
desegregation laws added to the books
in Delaware since the Supreme Court
decision-in 1954, and it appears unlikely
that the 120th General Assembly will
take any action.
The General Assembly, faced with an
ever-increasing fiscal crisis, appears
content to leave the matter to federal
courts. The district court in Wilmington
on July 6 approved a grade-a-year de
segregation plan submitted by the state
Board of Education which went into
effect without incident in September.
When the 120th assembly convened in
January 1959, many legislative leaders
predicted a spate of legislation dealing
with school desegregation. But not one
measure has been introduced in the first
12 months. (The Assembly does not
meet for any fixed period.)
Previous attempts to pass legislation
dealing with segregation failed in the
119th General Assembly, which met in
1956-57 and 1957-58.
A proposed law, commonly called the
“Little Rock Bill,” was introduced but
failed to pass in the House of Repre
sentatives. The bill would have forced
schools to close if federal troops ap
peared on school grounds.
District of Columbia
School desegregation and civil rights
bills, which preoccupied Congress dur
ing the final hours of the last session in
September, stand high on the unfinished
business agenda as the House and Sen
ate reconvene this month.
On the record in the upper chamber
is Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson’s
pledge that the racial measures will be
(See LEGISLATION, Page 15)
GEORGIA
U. S. District Judge Outlines
Alternatives In Atlanta Case
M ajor segregation-desegregation developments occurred in the
courts during December. Chief among these developments were:
1) The outlining by a federal judge of the choice given Georgia
between closing public schools or desegregating.
2) The U. S. Supreme Court’s re
fusal to review lower court approval
of Nashville’s “stairstep” desegregation
plan. This was the first high court rul
ing on a desegregation plan of this
nature.
3) The Supreme Court’s 8-1 vote to
uphold a lower court which struck
down an Arkansas school closing law
invoked 16 months ago to close Little
Rock high schools. States may not close
some schools and leave others open to
avoid desegregation, the court held.
After the Atlanta hearing, the next
move appeared to be up to the Geor
gia Legislature, which convenes Jan.
11. An 18-point pupil placement plan
drafted by the Atlanta school board
would have to receive legislative ap
proval, since present Georgia law calls
for closing public schools ordered to
desegregate.
Other developments by states:
Alabama
Martin Luther King Jr., who will
move to Atlanta to direct a South-wide
fight against segregation, said steps ap
parently will have to be taken in fed
eral court to get Montgomery schools
desegregated. (Page 9)
Arkansas
Two “moderates” were re-elected to
their seats on Little Rock’s school
board, and a white school board mem
ber in the Dollarway District defeated
a Negro challenger. (Page 5)
Delaware
The state attorney general and law
yers for five school districts filed briefs
in defense of a grade-a-year desegre
gation plan for Delaware. Oral argu
ments will be heard by the Third Cir
cuit U. S. Court of Appeals on Feb.
15. (Page 8)
District of Columbia
The U. S. Supreme Court agreed to
sneed up consideration of a lower court
decision which has put a halt to Civil
Rights Commission hearings on voting
restraints. (Page 6)
Florida
School authorities face the possibili
ty that all schools in Dade County
(Miami) may be thrown open to Negro
students. This prospect was raised by
the Fifth Circuit U. S. Court of Ap
peals’ ruling that Florida’s Pupil As
signment Law cannot be used as an
excuse to delay desegregation. (Page
14)
Georgia
Gov. Ernest Vandiver said Martin
Luther King Jr. will not be welcome
when he moves to Georgia. (Page 1)
Kentucky
With a new governor, Bert Combs,
in office. Kentucky moved toward a
constitutional convention. School de
segregation, among other issues, would
be excluded from the agenda. (Page
13)
Louisiana
New Orleans Mayor deLesseps Mor
rison and former governor Jimmie
Davis ran one-two in the state Demo
cratic primary for governor and
promptly launched drives for votes in
the Jan. 9 runoff. Segregation figured
prominently in the campaigning. (Page
11)
Choice Lies Between Closed Schools
And Desegregation, Georgians Told
Maryland
The Montgomery County school su
perintendent sought construction funds
that would make complete desegrega
tion of the county’s schools possible by
the fall of 1961. (Page 12)
Mississippi
Alabama
Alabama’s Legislature met almost
constantly during the first 10 months of
1959 and doesn’t have another session
scheduled until 1961.
To more than a score of measures
adopted since the U.S. Supreme Court’s
1954 desegregation decision, the 1959
Alabama lawmakers added two acts on
the subject of school segregation.
One would permit integration-threat
ened schools to withdraw from state
and local control and set up their own
independent districts.
The other authorizes the use of state
funds to finance private schools.
Arkansas
Arkansas has adopted numerous laws
related to desegregation the last three
BY OVERTON JONES
FARMVILLE, Va.
HAT DOES A SCHOOL-LESS
school board do?
The answer can be found at only
one spot in the United States—
here in the governmental seat of
Prince Edward County.
And the answer here is that the
board is as busy now as it was
when it was running a school sys
tem for 3,200 children.
In fact, says Chairman L. E. An
drews, the problems of a school
board with no schools to operate
are in some ways more perplexing
than those of a board carrying out
normal routine functions.
Prince Edward went out of the public
school business as of July 1, 1959. The
action was the county board of super
visors’ answer to federal court orders
directing admission of Negroes to white
schools.
MACON, Ga.
losing public schools or ac
cepting integration was the
choice given legislators and Geor
gians by a federal court judge in
Atlanta, after hearing Negroes ob
ject to a pupil placement plan
advanced by the Atlanta Board of
Education. (See “Legal Action.”)
The placement plan, as well as
other proposals dealing with the
impending school crisis, is expect
ed to be submitted to the Legisla
ture after it convenes Jan. 11. (See
“Legislative Action.”)
Today the school board’s No. 1 prob
lem is money.
The board doesn’t need much, but it
doesn’t have any, except for about
$3,000 which may be retrieved by the
shuffling of insurance policies.
NO FUNDS
There’ve been no funds to pay salaries
of the superintendent and the clerk. Nor
have the six board members themselves
been able to collect their due $20 a
month plus travel expense.
The board has appealed to the county
supervisors for $27,500 to pay salaries
and maintain the closed school build
ings. The supervisors have said no.
The supervisors fear that any ap
propriation to the school board might
jeopardize the county’s legal standing
in the segregation situation. They don’t
want to have even a remote connection
with the public school system.
The supervisors did suggest that the
school board could get its hands on some
money by canceling the five-year in-
Various groups urged that the
schools be kept open. (See “Commun
ity Action.”)
A Montgomery integration leader,
the Rev. Martin L. King Jr., said he
will move to Atlanta, but Gov. Ernest
Vandiver said he would not be wel
come in Georgia. (See “Miscellane
ous.”)
The Georgia Legislature prepared to
convene Jan. 11 with the school de
segregation issue squarely in its lap.
It was put there by U. S. District
Court Judge Frank A. Hooper, who
surance policies on the schools and tak
ing out one-year policies.
According to the quoted figures, the
board could get a $16,576 refund by
canceling and then could get one-year
policies for $7,747. Added to that would
have to be about $5,600 in vacancy en
dorsements, since the buildings are now
unoccupied. The net result of all this
would be that the board would be left
with about $3,000 to spend.
SCHOOLS WINTERIZED
Despite the lack of public money, the
county’s 22 schools have been winterized
—water pipes drawn and the buildings
otherwise prepared for cold weather—
through a donation from a private con
struction company.
What will happen if some youthful
passer-by tosses a rock through a school
window, as occasionally happens?
Chairman Andrews says there’s a sup
ply of glass on hand and that he sup
poses the former maintenance man
(See PRINCE EDWARD, Page 2)
gave members of the Legislature and
all Georgians a clear-cut choice: Accept
gradual integration of the public
schools or prepare to have them all
closed.
“The decision of closing the schools
is on the people of Georgia, and not
on this court,” Hooper said at a hear
ing on objections of Negro plaintiffs to
a desegregation plan offered by the
Atlanta Board of Education.
The plan, submitted on the court’s
demand by Dec. 1, is similar to the
Alabama pupil placement plan, but it
would apply only to the 12th grade
the first year of operation and move
down, reverse stairstep fashion, one
grade a year thereafter. The plan does
not mention race as a factor in pupil
placement but, to be valid, the Legis
lature would have to eliminate exist
ing public school segregation state laws
(See Southern School News, December
1959).
Support for the plan appeared to be
forming in Atlanta—which has 116,000
school children, 41 per cent of them
Negroes. To a lesser degree, other
support developed among legislators,
most of them from urban counties.
But Gov. Ernest Vandiver stated:
“The people of Georgia overwhelming
ly elected me governor on a platform
which, among other things, made my
views upon school segregation well
known, clear and unmistakable. Those
views have not changed.”
PLEDGED SEGREGATION
Vandiver pledged continued segrega
tion of public schools in his 1958 gub
ernatorial campaign. But his opponents
were equally strong in their segrega
tion views.
The Atlanta board was unanimous in
signing the proposed placement plan,
but Dr. Rufus Clement, president of
Atlanta University and only Negro
member of the board, issued a clari-
(See GEORGIA, Page 16)
Mississippi begins 1960 with a new
state administration pledged to pre
serve segregation. Gov. Ross Barnett
will be inaugurated Jan. 19. (Page 7)
Missouri
The shift of St. Louis’ Negro popu
lation was reflected in a report recent
ly submitted to the city’s Board of
Education. (Page 10)
North Carolina
The Yancey County Board of Edu
cation was formally made party to a
suit filed on behalf of 27 Negro stu
dents seeking admission to the county’s
white schools. (Page 4)
Oklahoma
An organized neighborhood-stabili
zation effort appeared in the making
for Oklahoma City’s uneasy northeast
residential sections. (Page 8)
South Carolina
Negro organizations scheduled a
march on the Greenville airport to
protest segregation of waiting rooms.
(Page 2)
Tennessee
New moves to bring about classroom
desegregation were made in Knoxville
and Memphis. (Page 3)
Texas
The Dallas school board announced
that it plans to take “positive action”
in January toward initiating petitions
for a desegregation referendum. (Page
10)
Virginia
A group of white residents of Prince
Edward County, where public schools
are closed, formed a corporation to
provide private schools for the coun
ty’s Negro children. First public reac
tion from Negroes was negative. (Page
2)
West Virginia
A feud between two Charleston high
school students, one white and one
Negro, almost exploded into a full-scale
riot. (Page 12) # # #
School-less School Board Kept Busy