Newspaper Page Text
MARYLAND
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—NOVEMBER I960—PAGE 3
]Teachers Call for ‘Complete Integregation’ of Schools
BALTIMORE, Md. the local level, inoludincr mppfinop I L!j •. ■
; at
BALTIMORE, Md.
aryland teachers at their
j\l annual convention urged
Rol separate white and Negro local
M units to study the advantages of
** merger, and also repeated the
3 p previous convention’s call for
:y ; ‘complete integration” of public
schools.
i’ s In a confused floor fight that
id | seemingly placed integrationists in
at an anti-integration position, the
teachers narrowly defeated a pro
posed recommendation that inte-
i § gration of both schools and teach-
Ne ers associations be “speedily ef-
; fected.” (See “School Boards and
01 Schoolmen”.)
er\
Is. Some 2,300 students at Morgan
a!t State College were told by their
^president, Dr. Martin D. Jenkins,
app that their studies must be put
[ b ahead of sit-down demonstrations.
*1 (See “What They Say.”)
i o Attention was called by a Ne-
actigro newspaper to two white-only
private law schools in Baltimore
in ' (See “In The Colleges.”)
the local level, including meetings at
a camp where white and Negro teach
ers share the same dormitories. Ne-
p-oes have served as MSTA officers,
including one on the executive board
in the current year. The local units
are encouraged to integrate, Raver
said, pointing to the merger of the
white and Negro associations in Anne
Arundel County this past summer.
The defeated resolution read as fol
lows:
“We believe that the ideals of human
justice, individual liberty and democ
racy demand the completion of deseg
regation in our public schools. We be
lieve further that our local professional
organizations should reflect the same
ideals by unifying on an integrated
basis. We recommend complete inte
gration of both the Maryland public
schools and local professional associa
tions be fairly and speedily effected.”
The delegations that supported this
resolution represented six of the com
bined county units, all of the separate
Negro units with the exception of one
abstention, and two of the separate
white groups—from Charles and Tal
bot counties. Four integrated locals
were opposed, along with most of the
separate white units.
The resolution approved with one
dissenting vote read:
“We believe that unified effort will
solve the problems facing the educa
tional profession and its members more
readily than will fragmented effort.
This has been borne out by the ex
perience of those local associations
which have integrated formerly sepa
rate groups into one association. We
therefore recommend that, in those
counties where separate local associa
tions still exist, these associations study
the advantages which would accrue to
them by combining into one larger as
sociation. We charge the staff of the
Maryland State Teachers Association
with providing whatever help these
associations may request in making
such a study and also to provide what
ever assistance may be needed in ef
fecting such a combination.”
The separate resolution on school de
segregation, passed unanimously, said:
“We believe that the ideals of hu
man justice, individual liberty and de
mocracy demand the completion of de
segregation in our public schools. We
recommend that complete integration
in Maryland public schools should be
lawfully and fairly effected.”
A move to change the “fairly” to
“speedily” was lost.
WHAT THEY SAY
Studies at Morgan State College
should come ahead of sit-in demon
strations, President Martin D. Jenkins
told his 2,300 student body. Leaving no
doubt in his convocation address that
he himself supported the aims of the
sit-down movement, Dr. Jenkins told
his predominantly Negro students
(some of whom have been leaders in
Baltimore restaurant picketing) that
this was not their “principal task at
this point in your careers.”
Sit-downs are “an outside activity
. . . not conducted by or with the
blessings of the college,” Dr. Jenkins
said, describing the movement as hav
ing had “beneficial results” but re
maining a “preliminary rather than a
constructive and final solution to the
problem of racial discrimination.”
Addressing his remarks primarily to
“Negro students both here and else
where,” Dr. Jenkins said:
“One of the basic objectives of in
stitutions of higher education, such as
Morgan State College, is to prepare
students to contribute to this construc
tive and final solution by enabling
them to prepare themselves for full
participation in American life.
“This is not as glamorous or excit
ing as carrying a placard in front of a
restaurant, or of getting your picture
in the paper, or of going to jail. This
is sometimes pure drudgery. But, this
is your fundamental responsibility. And
if you feel that you have made an
adequate contribution to the removal
of racial restrictions in American life
by sitting down, you are wrong. You
must stand up!”
With nondiscrimination policies pre
vailing in all of the leading public and
private institutions of higher learning,
the Baltimore Afro-American turned its
attention to two of the lesser known
private institutions, both in Baltimore:
the Eastern College of Commerce and
(See MARYLAND, Page 4)
Maryland teachers in their 93rd an-
eujnual convention gave the appearance
;rK j of voting both for and against integra
t^tion in a series of confused actions,
itt® The confusion stemmed from the
fact that the Maryland State Teachers
Boa Association appeared to favor, by a
:t\fl narrow margin, a resolution recom
o amending that “complete integration of
re I both the Maryland public schools and
d fliocal professional associations be fairly
yaand speedily effected.” The conven-
ffidtion had, in fact, voted to make the
affirmative position unanimous before
a Jit was discovered that the votes had
Mbeen miscounted. The resolution, it
e (turned out, had actually lost by a vote
Inf 235 to 241.
| The convention then took up segre
gation in local teachers associations,
apart from school desegregation. It
voted almost unanimously for a sub
stitute resolution recommending “that,
in those counties where separate local
associations still exist, these associa-
J tl °ns study the advantages which
»ould accrue to them by combining
■”! mto on e larger association.” The con-
p,'h :i *i.°n adopted another resolution
Pflrnat “complete integration in Maryland
Public schools should be lawfully and
fairly effected.”
otf ABSOLUTELY FALSE’
ui<
The extensive press reports of the
eeting placed their opening emphasis
n the vote against the initial resolu-
Bt° n ’ ? ne Preliminary “flash” being that
ant * teac ^ ers had voted against
tR H e ^ ra ^ on within their own organiza-
W Oil. This interpretation of the action
" UST deSCribed as “ abs °l utel y false” by
S or i °®cials in a special bulletin to
^ ,uca l members.
quite ironic tha t this mistake
< have been made,” the bulletin
. j. ’ because MSTA led the way in
hs ranks in 1951, three
.ioftk, S before the Supreme Court de-
11 which brought about
iff* bop
integra
ls the public schools. Within
itUSTA • -.
Id ’ integration has been function-
jjiitpjj 50 srno othly for the past nine years
no further comment is necessary.”
I ^ hA is the statewide parent body
6 local teachers associations. On
'".01 icduicis associations,
level, Baltimore city and n
tjlfoj, les have single teachers organi
nine
—tvavucio organiza-
'V lL°i w hi c h both white and Negroes
1*5 belong. In the 14 remaining Colin
s'- “ere are two separate organiza-
jViT’ ° ne w hite and the other Negro,
convention issue was the contin-
School Official Cites ‘So Much Progress
With So Little Friction ’ in Maryland
By EDGAR JONES
BALTIMORE, Md.
rpHE satisfaction of Maryland
school officials over having
made “so much progress (in de
segregation) with so little fric
tion” was expressed by David W.
Zimmerman in an interview for
Southern School News.
Zimmerman is assistant state super
intendent of schools and informal co
ordinator of desegregation activities.
The Supreme Court decision has been
accepted in “good faith,” Zimmerman
says, noting: “Every school district in
Maryland has said that segregation is
out and that applications of Negro pu
pils to attend white schools will be
honored.”
Asked if there was a distinction in
his mind between desegregation and
integration, Zimmerman replied, “Well,
we think so.” Desegregation he de
scribed as “the elimination of compul
sorily segregated schools.” Integration
he described as something “more com
plete,” “a matter of degree” and a
“term we do not ordinarily use, al
though some people seem to use the
words desegregation and integration in
terchangeably.”
DR. DAVID ZIMMERMAN
‘So Little Friction’
APPLICABLE DISTINCTION
The distinction that Zimmerman be
lieves to be more applicable to Mary
land is that between desegregation by
districting and desegregation by per
mitting pupils to attend the school of
their choice. Under the districting
method, pupils in a given attendance
area are required, regardless of race,
to attend the school serving that area.
Under the free-choice system that is
more common in Maryland, Negro pu
pils in a given area may continue to at
tend an all-Negro school, if they so de
sire, or transfer to a white school.
nuon issue was the cont
Wj* Paration of these local units.
jJHi explanation for the benefit of
j~ er n School News readers, Milson
ver, MTSA executive secretary,
tt 6 rhe . big question was, does the
.^sociation have the right to force
’ote i 10n °n the local units? The
55 nothing to do with how
integration. We are for inte-
b Both the Baltimore city and
( , Hnndel county delegations, for
, voted against the resolution,
Sn integrated themselves, on the
not telling the locals what to
*»v*r
i-My jj Pointed out that the parent
° n N holds its own integrated
i Kw bUt a b° organizes integrated
Ps and leadership sessions on
Examples of districting, Zimmerman
noted, are Baltimore, Frederick and
Montgomery counties (Baltimore Coun
ty is a separate jurisdiction from Balti
more city). All three school districts
have been methodically closing out all-
Negro classes and requiring attendance
at a given school without regard to
race. All three have less than 10 per
cent Negro enrollment.
The most significant new development
in Montgomery County, in Zimmerman’s
opinion, is the termination of all sep
arate classes for Negroes above the
sixth-grade level. The last Negro sec
ondary school, closed in June, is in the
process of being converted to office
headquarters of the county school ad
ministration. The three remaining Ne
gro elementary schools are scheduled
for closing as soon as construction else
where is completed, by which time de
segregation will be full and final.
Negro teachers to predominantly white
classes “without incident.”
The third example of districting—
Frederick County—involves a more
rural population than in the other two
counties, yet the approach has been
much the same. The school superin
tendent there, Dr. James A. Sensen-
baugh, is described by Zimmerman as
having “taken the Baltimore County
plan” to Frederick.
Sensenbaugh was an assistant super
intendent in Baltimore County and had
experienced some desegregation before
assuming the Frederick post. The plan
has worked to the extent that this fall
more than half of the Negro pupils in
Frederick County are enrolled in for
merly all-white schools without out
ward indications of opposition.
regation plan that allows Negro pupils
to seek admission to white schools or
to remain in all-Negro schools. Ticking
off the districts, apart from Baltimore
city, where some actual desegregation
has occurred, Zimmerman noted these
changes in the current semester:
TWO OTHER SYSTEMS
ONE NEGRO HIGH SCHOOL
Baltimore County, by Zimmerman’s
informal log on desegregation, has only
one Negro high school still in operation
and not much in the way of separate
Negro elementary schools. Like Mont
gomery, it, too, has reassigned displaced
Two other county school systems
have, in effect, districting programs in
that their formerly voluntary desegre
gation programs have reached the ad
vanced stage at which Negro pupils no
longer have a choice between segregat
ed or desegregated classes.
One is Allegany, which last year
closed out its last remaining all-Negro
school and achieved 100 per cent de
segregation.
The other is Washington County,
which has terminated separate classes
for Negroes above the sixth grade and
has remaining only one Negro elemen
tary school serving an all-Negro resi
dential area.
Districting is a workable plan, in
Zimmerman’s opinion, as long as rela
tively few Negroes are involved, as is
the case in the five counties mentioned
above.
“But the districts with large numbers
of Negroes can’t do it,” Zimmerman
says. “You can’t close the Negro
schools, for example, on the Eastern
Shore. Those schools are needed.”
Instead of districting, the remaining
counties of Maryland and Baltimore
city operate under a voluntary deseg-
• ANNE ARUNDEL—Desegregation
has advanced gradually from the lowest
grades into the junior high schools
with a substantial number of Negroes
making the shift to predominantly
white classes.
• CARROLL—Negroes in a generally
rural area gradually are eliminating the
long pull by bus to a centralized con
solidated school by attending white
schools closer to home. All grades are
open for transfers.
• CECIL—With all grades open, Ne
groes are continuing the slow change
that last year saw about 10 per cent of
the Negro enrollment in formerly all-
white schools.
• CHARLES—Grades five and six
have been added to the four lowest
grades previously desegregated, and a
few Negroes have entered one white
school. The county two years ago es
tablished a community junior college
and made it available from the outset
to both races.
• HARFORD — Desegregation has
moved upward to the ninth grade, with
a continuing show of interest among
Negroes in non-segregated education.
• HOWARD—Desegregation has also
reached the ninth grade here, with
little indication of Negro interest in
making a change.
• PRINCE GEORGE’S—Slow gain
recorded each year in the number of
Negroes attending formerly all-white
schools, mostly in the up-county sec
tions that lie in the Washington metro
politan area. All grades desegregated.
• ST. MARY’S—Back in the deseg
regation column with entrance of Ne
gro fifth grader to otherwise white
school serving the naval base. All
grades open, but only previous bi-
racial situation was in 1958-59 school
year.
• TALBOT—Desegregation has moved
upward to the seventh grade with only
a few Negro applicants. Still an under
current of opposition in a segment of
white community allied with Milford,
Del., segregationists.
Eight Maryland counties, while hav
ing desegregation transfer policies, have
had no Negro requests to enter white
schools. All are counties where Negro
pupils represent from a quarter to a
half of the total enrollment.
As of last year Howard had 10 Ne
groes in white schools, while Harford
had 195, and the pattern is continuing
this year.
“You may think of Howard as a cos
mopolitan area,” Zimmerman explained,
“but it is still rural in its traditions.
The rural Negro families have not
shown great interest in attending white
schools. Harford, on the other hand,
has the Edgewood Army Chemical Cen
ter and Aberdeen Proving Grounds,
which draw Negro military and tech
nical personnel from out-of-state. In
terest in desegregation has been strong
there from the start.”
As another example of rural versus
metropolitan influences in desegrega
tion, Zimmerman pointed to Prince
George’s County, which has had a slow
but steady movement of Negroes to
white schools in the upper, metropoli
tan half of the county, and very little
change in the lower, rural half.
THREE FACTORS
Rural traditions represent one of
three factors that Zimmerman believes
may account for Negroes not seeking
admission to white schools in some
areas. The factor he lists first is the
presence in the counties of “strong Ne
gro schools and good leadership” which
satisfy most of the Negro educational
needs. The factor he lists third is “eco
nomic and cultural pressure” or “cli
mate of opinion” that motivates against
disrupting established community pat
terns.
Asked if the counties where no ac
tual desegregation has taken place
could be considered to be acting within
the spirit as well as the letter of the
Supreme Court decision, Zimmerman
replied:
“The Supreme Court decision did not
mean that Negroes were to be forced to
enter white schools.”
While acknowledging that some coun
ty school systems “don’t go out of their
way to invite Negro transfer applica
tions,” Zimmerman said that public no
tices of transfer privileges were given
each year. He added, “The NAACP
knows the procedure.”
‘OPPORTUNITY THERE’
COMPARES COUNTIES
Asked for an explanation of why de
segregation was moving faster in some
counties than in others, Zimmerman
said that it depended to some extent
on the nature of the counties. He point
ed for comparative purposes to How
ard and Harford counties, both of
which lie fairly close to Baltimore, have
about the same proportion of Negroes
in their school systems and have simi
lar desegregation policies (grades one
to nine open to Negroes in each in
stance) .
In response to a question as to
whether some Negro youngsters might
be missing out on academic courses
given in white schools, Zimmerman re
sponded by referring to school curricu
lum data that shows most Negro high
schools offering the science, mathemat
ics and foreign language courses re
quired for higher education. In any
event, he noted, “the opportunity is
there,” and “gradually the brighter
ones want to transfer.”
The State Board of Education, Zim
merman said in conclusion, “called on
all counties in 1955 to take the steps
necessary to comply with the Supreme
Court s decision.” Since then, public
school systems throughout Maryland
have said, “We will honor Negro trans
fer applications.”
That, Zimmerman said, is showing
“good faith,” and the state board is
“pleased to have made so much prog
ress with so little friction.” # # #