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PAGE 12—JULY I960—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
ROUSING VOTE DEFEATS MOTION TO ADJOURN
P-TA President, Mrs. Edwin R. Guidry, Left, Offered Motion
Louisiana
(Continued From Page 1)
outspoken of the board members on
demands for continued segregation.
Wagner said:
“Interposition is just about the
harshest remedy that could ever be
called into play. I would be very
hesitant to use this method, as I be
lieve the board has not completely ex
hausted other methods open to it.”
But Rittiner, who expressed the be
lief that New Orleans schools will be
integrated after some period of closure
in September, declared at the board
meeting that the people of New Or
leans should be informed “what is
ahead.”
GOVERNOR’S STATEMENT
Davis, at a weekly press conference,
said interposition would be the last re
sort.
He declined to say whether he would
use interposition or whether he would
close New Orleans public schools if all
other legal steps fail to prevent inte
gration.
Davis said he was working with Atty.
Gen. Jack P. F. Gremillion in the belief
that several legal avenues may yet be
open to the school board.
“Interposition would be the last thing
right before secession,” Davis said.
The governor avoided a direct an
swer on whether he would close the
schools (rather than have integration)
as he is empowered to do under state
law.
SETS OFF CONTROVERSY
Rittiner touched off a controversy
with a statement in a television news
conference that integration in New Or
leans public schools cannot be avoided
and there is no answer to the problem
except to comply with Judge Wright’s
order if schools are to remain open.
Despite his declaration that he be
lieves integration is coming, Rittiner
also expressed the opinion that schools
will not open their doors in Septem
ber.
But he said under state law this de
cision is up to the Legislature and not
up to the school board. A legislative
committee has the right to designate
whether schools are for white or Negro
students. The state courts say the law
is constitutional, the federal courts say
it is not.
Wagner, in an equal-time interview
following Rittiner’s appearance on the
city’s educational
television channel,
declared:
“I feel the
schools will open
in September if on
no other basis
than under
the sovereignty of
the state of Louis
iana and the cloak
of the governor.”
Wagner de- wagner
dared that Negroes have not earned
first-class citizenship.
“First-class citizenship is earned,” he
said. “I can’t confer it. And what I am
trying to do, and want to do, is help
the Negro earn his first-dass citizen
ship. White citizens have carved out a
rugged empire from the wilderness.
You can’t say that of the Negro.”
SITUATION CLOUDED
The Catholic school situation was as
clouded as was that in the public
schools.
A group of New Orleans Negro par
ents said Archbishop Rummel refused
their request to enter a group of
“above average ability” Negro boys in
the new Christian Brothers school
scheduled to open in September in city
park.
The group said that the archbishop
in several conferences “reiterated that
this isn’t the time to integrate due to
material losses that may be incurred
by the Catholic school and church.”
Archbishop Rummel replied in a
statement to Catholic Action, a publica
tion of the archdiocese of New Orleans,
in which he set out his position on the
long-debated question of whether
Catholic schools should integrate.
“The conferences to which the au
thors refer were hdd,” the archbishop
said, “not with the general view of in
tegrating Catholic schools in September
1960, but simply with the possibility of
procuring the admission of several stu
dents of the colored race into a special
school newly organized for opening this
coming year.
“The issue was discussed by a com
petent committee with the result that
the students in question could not be
admitted since no definite plan for in
tegrating Catholic schools was at the
moment anticipated.
NO DATE SET
“Archbishop Rummel has not up to
the present time set a definite date for
the integration of the Catholic schools.
His reference in a pastoral letter to the
possibility of integration in September
1957 clearly stated that integration
would be postponed at least until Sep
tember 1957. This does not imply that
integration would actually take place in
September 1957, certainly not as long
as the difficulties referred to in the
context had not been overcome. The
procedures which we are at the present
time witnessing in the controversy over
the integration of public schools cer
tainly prove that our misgivings are not
imaginary.
“The archbishop has given no intima
tion to the authors of the letter that
Catholic schools would definitely be in
tegrated in September 1960.”
The belief in New Orleans is that
Catholic schools will follow the same
plan of integration used for public
schools but that Catholic schools
would not close if the public schools
do so.
New Orleans, suddenly awakened to
the school issue, flooded newspapers
with statements.
The majority of statements from
clerical and school groups favor a
policy of keeping schools open despite
integration of the first grade, a plan
ordered by the federal district court.
Citizen Council groups, however,
stood firmly against any form of inte
gration. And the only poll of any
magnitude, taken in May by the school
board, showed white parents stood
eight to one in favor of school closure
rather than integration.
DEVELOPMENTS
Here are some of the developments
in June as New Orleanians awaited a
final decision from the school board,
the Legislature, or the governor on
what will happen in September.
1) Bishop Girault M. Jones and 25
other members of the Episcopal clergy
in New Orleans adopted a resolution
urging schools be kept open. The re
solution said in part:
“The present crisis in Orleans parish
is making our parents more and more
aware of the dilemma we face in the
event closure of our schools is forced
by a rule of fear ... We believe that
interposition by the governor is but a
prelude to the complete collapse of
local initiative in the administration of
our schools.”
2) Sixteen ministers from 13 of the
14 churches of the United Church of
Christ Ministerium declared “we be
lieve that to close the schools rather
than obey the law would bring nothing
but disaster to our community.”
3) The Committee for Public Educa
tion was organized with the purpose
of preserving New Orleans Public
schools and of pursuing “every legal
means to prevent the closure, temp
orarily or otherwise” of the schools.
4) The Presbytery of New Orleans
of the Presbyterian Church urged the
governor and the school board to “use
every expedient at their command to
keep the public schools open.”
“To withhold the benefit of a public
school education from any child, to
prevent any community by punitive
means from carrying out its educational
responsibilities is an unwise and dan
gerous expedient,” the church group
said.
5) The President’s Co-operative
School Club, representing 52 parent
groups, failed to take action when
pushed for a vote on whether schools
should be opened or closed. Mrs. Adam
Cooper held that all clubs were not
represented and suggested individual
clubs make their wishes known to the
school board.
6) The South Louisiana Citizens
Council suggested the sale of Orleans
public school properties to private
corporations to avoid integration.
“The school board can sell school
buildings and facilities to interested
corporations for private school conver
sion,” said the council. “The same
teachers can teach in the private
schools with the same pay. The state
simply picks up the tab at no extra
cost. This program is now operating
in Prince Edward County, Va.”
7) The Southeastern Louisiana Chap
ter of the National Assn, of Social
Workers went on record “strongly rec
ommending the maintenance of our
public education system.”
P-TA CLASH
The New Orleans Council of the Pa
rent-Teacher Assn, had a major clash
over the question of whether schools
should be kept open despite integra
tion.
On May 31 the council adopted a re
solution calling for a concerted effort to
keep the schools open.
But on June 8 the council met and
declared the passage of the resolution
null and void.
Mrs. Edwin R. Guidry, president, was
upheld in a ruling, 44 to 37, that the
resolution had been improperly sub
mitted and was not in accordance with
club rules. She maintained that the
merits and demerits of the resolution
were not in question.
As tempers flared there were charges
that “this is not democracy.”
“There is a proper way of doing
things,” declared Mrs. Guidry.
She had the edge in vote but a rump
session was held by dissatisfied council
members who sought to face the issue
head-on so that what they termed the
“tragedy” of closed schools could be
avoided.
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Ap
peals denied a request by the Orleans
Parish school board for a stay of a
district court order to desegregate the
first grade of public schools in Sep
tember.
Judges Elbert Parr Tuttle and John
Minor Wisdom concurred in the de
cision and Judge Ben F. Cameron dis
sented.
In Washington, the U.S. Supreme
Court struck down a lower court ruling
that prevented the Civil Rights Com
mission from pursuing its inquiries in
Louisiana.
A challenge to the commission was
made by Louisiana Atty. Gen. Jack P.
F. Gremillion. But the lower court de
cision which Gremillion had won in
Louisiana was upset by a 7-2 vote of
the Supreme Court.
At Shreveport, U.S. Atty. Gen.
William P. Rogers filed a voter referee
suit against Mrs. Pauline Culpepper,
Bienville Parish registrar of voters, and
the Assn, of Citizens Councils of Lou
isiana, Inc.
It was believed the suit was the first
time the 1960 civil rights act has been
put into action by the federal govern
ment.
Louisiana Atty. Gen. Gremillion filed
a counter suit seeking to dismiss the
suit against Mrs. Culpepper and the
Citizens Council and further to ward
Maryland
(Continued From Page 11)
no man is unjustly discriminated against
socially or politically or in his business
or in the schoolroom of his children.
That is the core of the ideal toward
which our republic has groped, haltingly
sometimes, but persistently ever since
its beginning.”
Acts of discrimination against Ne
groes, Seaton said, “have long kept this
nation involved in a profound struggle
for the mastery of its own soul.” Point
ing as well to acts of religious discrimi
nation “for which we must be ashamed,”
off referee suits in the 63 other parishes
of Louisiana.
The Louisiana House of Representa
tives passed 82-0 a bill authorizing the
governor to close any or all public
schools in Louisiana if one of them is
integrated.
Explaining the law which awaits
Senate action, Rep. John S. Garrett,
chairman of the joint legislative com
mittee on segregation, said:
“The present law gives the governor
the authority to close any parish school
system ordered integrated by federal
courts . . . Under the new bill he could
close all the public schools in the
state.”
Gov. Davis signed into law one bloc
of the mass of segregation bills intro
duced in the Legislature since it opened
in May.
SOVEREIGNTY COMMISSION
One of the bills now law establishes
a sovereignty commission of 13 mem
bers to protect states’ rights and segre
gation against federal encroachment.
The governor has not said how
much money he will give the commis
sion to operate. The commission would
have broad powers to subpoena wit
nesses and conduct investigations and
to maintain secret records.
Other bills signed by the governor
provide penalties for unlawful activi
ties around business establishments.
Others in the package make it a
crime to give birth to an illegitimate
child, make a common-law marriage a
crime, and would discourage Negro
voting complaints by making it illegal
to make false statements in such cases.
KEY MEASURE
The bill which Davis forces say is
the key to their legislative package is
past the House but not the Senate.
It sets up new voter qualifications in
the state and would bar the registration
of illiterates to vote after the Nov. 8
general election.
The bill is a constitutional amend
ment requiring a two-thirds vote of the
Senate before it can be voted on in
the Nov. 8 general election.
The bill would deny franchises to
persons who have been convicted of a
felony and have not received a pardon,
who have been sentenced to 90 days
in jail more than once for a misde
meanor other than a game or traffic
violation; lived in a common law mar
riage or sired or given birth to an il
legitimate child within five years.
Camille F. Gravel Jr., Louisiana
Democratic committeeman, and two of
the state’s principal segregation lead
ers head for Los Angeles and a fight
at the Democratic national convention.
Gravel, a segregation moderate, has
announced he will challenge the cre
dentials of Leander H. Perez, who was
a leader of the States Rights Party in
1948, and of William M. Rainach, who
has been advocating that unpledged
electors be placed on the Louisiana
ballot.
According to Gravel, both men have
taken action contrary to the good of
the Democratic party.
The Democratic state central com
mittee adopted a resolution which
would pledge the delegation to stand
behind Perez, district attorney of St.
Bernard and Plaquemines parishes, and
Rainach, former chairman of the joint
legislative committee on segregation.
The resolution was interpreted as a
move to draw Louisiana out of the
Democratic ranks, but Gov. Jimmie H.
Davis, chairman of the 26-vote Louisi
ana delegation to Los Angeles, said he
is opposed to any walkout.
# # #
Seated added: |
“We also know that successive waves "
of immigration from Europe and else
where have had to endure, for a time, 4
discriminations which certainly were
not a credit to the people from other
nations who had arrived before them.
“Despite these derelictions in citizen
ship, however, the American record in i
human relations has been a good one; "
even a superb one when compared to
that of the other nations of the world. 1
We can be proud that, bit by bit, all j
through our history we have persist
ently engaged in reducing the gap be
tween what we believe and what we \
practice toward our fellow men.”
1
Mayor J. Harold Grady in June ap
pointed four new members to the Balti- '
more Board of School Commissioners,
including Mrs. Frank Phillips, a Negro. •
She is mother of two public school chil- ,
dren and works for the Afro-American
newspapers. '
Mrs. Phillips became the sole repre
sentative of her race on the nine- (
member board. A previous Negro mem
ber had resigned. The city school enroll
ment is 50 per cent Negro and will be
above that mark next fall.
Other appointees were Samuel Ep
stein, president of a department store;
Mrs. M. Richmond Farring, who is ac
tive in civic affairs; and Henry P. Irr,
president of Baltimore Federal Savings
and Loan Assn, and Colonial Title Guar
antee Co.
Organized picketing during June put
more than the customary heat on the
Baltimore City Council to pass the
Dixon bill aimed at eliminating racial
discrimination in employment and pub
lic accommodations. A hardy proposal
of several years’ standing, the Dixon
bill has had the formal support of up
to 100 civic and brotherhood organiza
tions. But more recently, it has been
taken up by a younger group of backers,
mainly students at Morgan State Col
lege.
The students, under the banner of the
Civic Interest Group, have picketed not
only City Hall but also several down
town restaurants, including the favorite
meeting place of politicians. They have
filled the City Council gallery, placards
in hand, on successive Mondays, urging
support of the bill that would give sub
poena and enforcement powers to the
Equal Employment Opportunity Com
mission, created in 1957, and extend its
province to restaurants, hotels and
places of entertainment and recreation.
In a flurry of compromise moves the
City Council on June 27 gave a 14-to-7
vote of approval to a stripped-down
Dixon bill that eliminated the public-
accommodations provisions and gave the
EEOC subpoena power under court
supervision. The compromise version
had the support of Mayor J. Harold
Grady and the Sunpapers. The bill itself
bears the name of Councilman Walter
Dixon, only Negro member of Balti
more’s 21-man legislative body.
# # #
Books And
The Issue
The library at Southern Education
Reporting Service recently received
these books:
LAW AS LARGE AS LIFE
by Charles P. Curtis. Simon and Schus
ter, 211 pp., $3.50.
Charles P. Curtis, a Boston lawyer
and author of a study of the Supreme
Court, proposes a new Natural Law for
today and the Supreme Court as its
prophet. The proposal is made in a con
text of quotations from poets and
judges, philosphers and wits, and theo
logians.
GO SOUTH—WITH CHRIST
by Vetress Bon Edwards. Exposition
Press, 85 pp., $3.00.
Traces the history of the Negro from
1he first slaves arriving in 1619 to th e
present, and argues in favor of inte
gration.
SOUTHERN TRADITION AND REG
IONAL PROGRESS
by William H. Nicholls. The University
of North Carolina Press, 202 pp-’
$5.00.
Analyzes non-economic factors h 1
southern tradition that have been bar
riers to material progress in the South-
The author finds that the race issue has
dominated all aspects of southern tradi
tion- # # #
RITTINER