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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—MAY I960—PAGE 15
FLORIDA
More School Desegregation Suits Indicated
MIAMI, Fla.
West Virginia
(Continued From Page 13)
minority group just because he was a
member of that group. He called such
actions “not fair to the man or the
group.”
He said he considered one of the
failures of American foreign policy its
reluctance to utilize the great diversity
of racial, national and ethnic groups
among the U.S. citizenship.
Asked if he thought such a stand
was, in effect, to abandon the South
in event of his nomination, Humphrey
replied “not at all.” He said he always
had been outspoken on such matters
as civil rights and southerners knew
how he stood.
“I find I have popular support in any
area that needs help,” he added. “When
I go into the South, not to punish
them but with their growth and eco
nomic development in mind, I feel
they’ll listen.”
PRAISES DESEGREGATION
In another statement later in the
campaign Humphrey praised West Vir
ginia’s progress in desegregation of its
public schools and singled out the
Charleston Gazette for its role. Speak
ing at the meeting of the American So
ciety of NewsDaper Editors in Wash
ington, Humphrey said in discussing
integration in the southern and border
states:
“West Virginia is contributing more
than its share to solving this most
urgent moral and social problem. In
this struggle the Charleston Gazette
has plaved a constructive role.
“It did not retreat behind the cold
wall of objectivity which helps deaden
human compassion in our society. It
avoided these sensationalisms that too
often fan the flames of bigotry. It spoke
up calmly and courageously for the
dignity of man.
Following the traditional pattern of a
political campaign, the five candidates
for governor do not see eye-to-eye on
most issues. But there is one thing on
which they are in agreement—educa
tion.
Each one of the three Democrats and
two Republicans concedes that public
schooling in West Virginia leaves
much to be desired. But when the
question of correcting this situation
comes up, the five once again go their
separate ways.
All five have solutions in one form or
another, mostly the expenditure of
more money. None of the candidates
has taken a stand on speeding up de
segregation in the state.
The State Board of School Finance
made public April 22 tentative state
aid allocations to West Virginia’s 55
counties for the new fiscal year begin
ning July 1.
At the same time it turned back to
11 counties state aid penalties originally
totalling $394,552 which had been
assessed for the current year under a
statute repealed by the 1960 Legisla
ture.
The tentative state aid allocations
totalled $58,987,420 and represented in
creases to 23 counties. # # #
T WO COURT ACTIONS RAISED the
prospect that a number of
additional suits to desegregate
schools will be filed in Florida
state and federal courts. (See
“Legal Action.”)
The appellate court decision in
a Hillsborough County case was
interpreted by lawyers of the Na
tional Assn, for the Advancement
of Colored People as requiring the
acceptance of Negro students in
white schools on the simple show
ing that a pattern of segregation
exists. They said several suits
will be filed in other counties to
test this theory.
In Volusia County, the school
board asked Circuit Court to de
clare a group of Negro and white
citizens had no right to file a peti
tion for school integration, and
that the school board was not re
quired to consider it. (See “Legal
Action.”)
Both Dade and Palm Beach
counties postponed action on long-
pending applications by Negroes
to enter white schools. (See
“School Boards and Schoolmen.”)
A ruling in the Hillsborough Coun
ty suit to desegregate public schools
raised the possibility that additional
suits will be filed in at least four
counties in a concerted effort to end
segregation in populous areas.
The Tampa case (Myers, Cannon et
al v. Board of Public Instruction of
Hillsborough County) was dismissed
by District Judge George W. White
hurst on grounds that the plaintiffs
had not exhausted all administrative
remedies under the pupil assignment
law.
The parents of the plaintiff children
had presented evidence that they
lived only two blocks from a white
school. Despite this the pupils were
transported over 10 miles to an all-
Negro school. The suit asked an in
junction against the school board’s seg
regation policies, which would, as at
torneys pointed out, have affected all
schools in the county.
SUIT REJECTED
Attorneys for the school board con
tended the plaintiffs had not sought
specific relief by applying to the white
school of their choice and following
the course of appeals set up by law.
The suit was rejected on this point.
Studying the case on appeal, the
U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
ruled the plaintiffs were entitled to
have their case heard on its merits,
whether or not they had followed the
procedures in the pupil assignment
law. The case was remanded to Judge
Whitehurst for further proceedings.
Francisco Rodriguez, Tampa NAACP
attorney who filed the suit, said this
raised a new point in the legal situa
tion in Florida.
“This seems to apply to any class
action against racial segregation in
schools where Negro plaintiffs charge
that a school board is operating a pol
icy of segregation,” he said.
ADDITIONAL SUITS
Because of this interpretation, said
Rodriguez, additional suits were being
prepared in counties where the ques
tion of bi-racial classes has not been
raised before. The attorney said he
could not disclose the counties at this
time.
Attorneys for the school board took
a different view. They said the ruling
meant merely that the case must be
brought up for trial again. No date
has been set for this but Rodriguez
said he would press for an early hear
ing.
Asst. Atty. Gen. Ralph Odum, who
handles school and racial litigation for
the state, said he hoped the appellate
decision applied only to Hillsborough
County.
VOLUSIA COUNTY
Shortly after this development, Rod
riguez filed a petition with the Volusia
County (Deland) school board in be
half of 32 Negroes and two white per
sons, asking for county-wide desegre
gation, including both pupils and
teachers.
The school board responded with a
suit asking the Circuit Court to de
clare the petition signers had no right
to make such demands. It was the first
time that school boards have taken the
initiative in the courts and the action
is unique in Florida.
The suit was filed by John R. God-
bee Jr. and Warren E. Hall Jr., school
board attorneys. They said the peti
tion signers lived in a school district
where no applications had been made
by Negroes for admission to white
schools, therefore they had no question
to decide.
FOR TEACHERS
As for teachers, the board said: “The
school board has had no application,
complaint, charge or protest by or in
behalf of any teacher in the county
school system.”
All assignments were made under
the pupil assignment law, said the
school board, denying that any deci
sions had been made on the basis of
race.
Therefore, the plaintiff school board
said, it has “no duty, obligation or
responsibility to act on the petition.”
It asked for a declaratory decree to
settle the matter, with all costs of liti
gation to be assessed against the pe
tition signers.
A lawyer associated with the Negro
petition signers said the suit was an
effort to harass persons who seek to
end school segregation.
The Dade County school board
again postponed its decision on the
application of six Negro pupils to enter
white schools. The matter has been
pending since last September. Public
hearings were held in October.
Although the board had promised
the petitioners a definite answer by
April, and its attorney urged that there
be no further delay, the board deferred
action until May. In the discussion, it
developed that elections involving four
board seats will be held early in May.
Another board member is seeking
statewide office. The new date is three
weeks after the primary.
MEMBERS DECLARE
Members of the Palm Beach County
school board declared they “will not
be rushed” into making a decision on
William Holland Jr., a Negro youth
seeking to enter an all-white school.
The Holland case, which was filed
by the boy’s father, a West Palm Beach
lawyer, has been in the courts and
pending before school administrators
for more than four years.
The board’s statement was in re
sponse to a demand by Holland’s
father for speedier action.
Holland’s suit was decided in his
favor on two occasions by the Circuit
Court of Appeals. The school board
was ordered nearly two years ago to
produce a plan for desegregation. Since
then Holland has taken his plea to the
county and state school authorities
without success.
LATEST APPLICATION
The latest application for admission
to a specific school was filed last June.
“They waited so long that I finally
wrote them,” said Holland. “If we
thought their decision would be favor
able, we should not rush them. But if
they deny it, we want time to appeal
to the state board before the next
school year.”
In reply to Holland’s letter, the
school board said:
“The board is conscious of the fact
that allegations were made by persons
appearing in behalf of the applicant to
the effect that the board is operating
one or more inferior schools within
its system.
“The board is considering the feas
ibility of further investigation of this
accusation, if the transcript (of the
earlier hearing) discloses a reasonable
basis for the charge.
“In any event the board is wholly
aware of the importance of its decision
in this regard and they will not be
hurried into a decision which could
adversely affect the applicant or, on
the other hand, adversely affect the
public school system of this county.”
Tension over demonstrations at seg
regated lunch counters in Tallahassee,
in which both white and Negro college
students were involved, abated some
what during April.
Officials of Florida State University
said they had investigated reports that
faculty members of the all-white in
stitution had encouraged participation
in the demonstrations.
Dr. Robert Strozier, FSU president
(who died April 20), said he had found
no evidence to support the charges.
“I would feel disturbed if any fac
ulty members had been engaging in
such activity,” he said.
FSU PROFESSORS
Some FSU professors did discuss the
developments with their students, the
university president said, adding: “But
this sort of thing goes on all over the
country because the sit-in situation is
not unique in Tallahassee.”
When Negro students from nearby
Florida A&M University demonstrated
in downtown Tallahassee on several
successive Saturdays, several FSU stu
dents marched with them. Six white
youths were arrested, along with 29
Negroes. Cases of the white students
have not yet been set for trial.
Some members of the Legislature
called for an investigation, urging that
white students or professors who par
ticipated or encouraged the demon
strators should be dismissed.
CRITICIZES PRESS
Coverage of the demonstrations by
the Florida press was criticized by Ira
A. Robinson, president of the FAMU
student body, in a talk before the
Florida chapters of Sigma Delta Chi,
professional journalism fraternity,
meeting in Orlando.
Robinson said the newspapers “spent
too much time reporting on what hap
pened, and gave too little space to why
it happened.”
The student leader also said the
press overemphasized the role of Ne
groes in the disorders and ignored the
presence of white groups, including
some carrying weapons.
BREITLER DRAFTED
The application of Alan Breitler,
white student at Florida State Uni
versity, to enroll at Florida A&M Uni
versity, has been withdrawn. Breitler,
a senior from Miami Beach, was called
by his draft board for two years of ac
tive duty in the Army.
Breitler suggested, however, that the
Board of Control proceed to set policy
covering such situations and urged
other white students to apply for stud
ies at FAMU as a matter of principle.
# # #
Text Of Court Decision On Hillsborough County Case
On April 13, the U. S. Fifth Circuit Court of
Appeals at New Orleans ordered the case of Man
nings et al v. The Board of Instruction of Hills
borough County, Fla., et al returned to the U. S.
District Court for the Southern District of Flor
ida. The opinion follows in part:
“Appellants complain of the judgment of the
trial court dismissing their suit for an injunc
tion seeking an order enjoining the Board of
Education from ‘continuing to pursue the policy
of operating public schools of Hillsborough
County, Florida on a racially segregated basis.’
We conclude that the trial court erred in dis
missing the complaint on the ground that ‘it does
appear from the complaint, and it does appear
from admissions made before the Court, that the
plaintiffs have not exhausted the administrative
remedies under the Florida Pupil Assignment
Act.’ . . .
“This suit was originally filed on December 12,
1958. It alleged that the minor plaintiffs and their
parents were Negro citizens of the State of Flor
ida eligible as patrons or students of the public
schools of Hillsborough County. They alleged
that ‘defendants, acting under color of the au
thority vested in them by the laws of the State
of Florida have pursued and are presently pur
suing a policy of operating the public school sys
tem of Hillsborough County, Florida, on a racially
segregated basis’; that they had formally peti
tioned defendants to abolish the segregation pol
icy; that despite this petition and several subse
quent letters requesting defendants to desegre
gate the public schools, ‘the defendants have
refused to discontinue the policy of operating the
public schools of Hillsborough County, Florida,
on a racially segregated basis.’ . . .
NARROW COMPASS
“The dismissal of the complaint without the
plaintiffs being afforded the opportunity of mak
ing proof of their allegations necessarily brings
the question before us within narrow compass.
“We have repeatedly said that under the Fed
eral rules, ... a complaint may not be dismissed
. . . for a failure to state a claim upon which re
lief can be made out by the proof. . . .
“It is equally well understood that in constru
ing a complaint to test out its sufficiency to with
stand a motion to dismiss for failure to state a
claim upon which relief can be granted, all of
the facts pleaded must be taken to be true.
“Applying these principles to the complaint be
fore the Court, we think it clear that the follow
ing issue is presented: Are the plaintiffs, in a
class action in a school segregation case, denied
the right to have the trial court enjoin a local
board of education from continuing to operate
the local school system in a racially segregated
basis, solely because the individual plaintiffs have
not exhausted administrative remedies made
available to them to seek admission to certain
designated schools?
SUBSTANTIAL PART
“We have answered a substantial part of this
question in a case decided after the order of the
trial court in this case. In Gibson v. Board of
Public Instruction, Dade County, Florida, we
held:
“ ‘. . . we cannot agree with the district court
that the Pupil Assignment Law, or even that the
Pupil Assignment Law plus the Implementing
Resolution, in and of themselves, met the re
quirements of a plan of desegregation of the
schools or constitutes a ‘reasonable start toward
full compliance’ with the Supreme Court’s May
17, 1954, ruling. That law and resolution do no
more than furnish the legal machinery under
which compliance may be started and effectu
ated. Indeed, there is nothing in either the Pupil
Assignment Law or the Implementing Resolution
clearly inconsistent with a continuing policy of
compulsory racial segregation.’ (Emphasis
added). . . .
“There still remains for our consideration ap
pellants’ contention that they are entitled to an
inj unction against a continuation of the policy of
segregation, if they are able to prove, as alleged
in their complaint, that the Hillsborough Board
of Public Instruction is, notwithstanding the Pu
pil Assignment Statute, continuing to operate the
schools confided to its care on a racially segre
gated basis.
WRONG ASSUMPTION
“The Board seems to proceed on the assump
tion that the presence of the Assignment laws on
the statute books legally excludes the possibility
of the Board’s continuing policy of racial segre
gation in the county schools. It follows, it says,
that injunctive relief would be inappropriate.
This, of course, does not follow. . . .
“The basic charter under which the school chil
dren in this action seek to vindicate their rights
is the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitu
tion, which, as interpreted by the Supreme Court
in the Brown case, declares that the maintenance
of racially segregated public schools by any state
is unconstitutional. . . .
“We, of course, do not know what proof would
be put forward by the appellants had this case
not been dismissed by the trial court, but, under
the allegations of the petition, if proved, it is cer
tain that the plaintiffs could have shown that in
the sense used by us in the Gibson case, neither
the State nor the appellee Board of Education has
devoted any effort ‘toward initiating desegrega
tion.’ . . .
INDIVIDUAL APPELLANTS
“We conclude that, without being required to
make application for assignment to a particular
school, the individual appellants, both for them
selves and for the class which they represent, are
entitled to have the trial court hear their evi
dence and pass on their contention that the pupil
assignment plan has not brought an end to the
previously existing policy of racial segregation.
In the event proof of this fact is made then ap
pellants would be entitled to their injunction as
prayed. The court should also, in such circum
stances, afford relief of the kind suggested in our
opinion in the Gibson case. In the meantime the
court should retain jurisdiction of the cause.
“The judgment is REVERSED and the cause
REMANDED to the trial court for further pro
ceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.”
# # #