Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—JANUARY 1961—PAGE 5
Alabama Would Close
Its Schools: Patterson
(Continued From Page 1)
try integration here. There’ll be hell
to pay”
He said the ultimate choice facing
Alabamians would be private- schools
or no schools at all. He has previously
warned the state that such measures as
the placement law are not perfect bar
riers against integration. And even
token integration is intolerable, he
said, repeating his absolute opposition
to integration in any degree:
“There is no such thing as token in
tegration or planned desegregation.
Once you let the bars down, it’s all
over.”
Closed Schools
The governor has said that he would
not permit the operation of any mixed
schools in Alabama- “If the federal
government continues its present
course,” he repeated, “the only solution
will be to close the schools.”
While asserting his opposition to mob
violence, Patterson warned that when
a showdown comes, “I’ll be one of the
first ones stirring up trouble, anyway I
can.” By that he said he meant any
thing to harass or thwart the federal
government.
“You’re going to have rioting on your
hands if they try forced integration.
Then it ceases to be a school matter
and becomes a police matter. And we
will have to shut down the schools
or somebody will get killed or hurt.”
Support Private Schools
Patterson repeated his conviction that
the state can and should support pri
vate schools, either through grants-in-
aids or by withdrawing from the field
of education and financing privately
operated schools with money now used
to pay taxes for education.
Referring to the U. S. Supreme
Court’s decision prohibiting segregation
at restaurants in interstate bus termi
nals, the governor said this was another
example of “pure judicial legislation.”
He added:
“Congress had better do something to
curb the powers taken by the Supreme
Court. If they don’t the people will, and
the riots in Little Rock and New Or
leans will be just a forerunner of things
to come if the Supreme Court continues
to legislate.”
Patterson conceded that while most
of the people of Alabama will not stand
for integration, “there are a few who
will fight to protect the public schools
at all cost.” But these are misguided
in their belief that integration can be
limited to a token basis, he added.
Most Alabama Negroes know that
‘the only way they are going to have
public education is in a segregated sys
tem,” he continued- “They know they’ll
come out on the short end if they try
to integrate.”
★ ★ ★
Robinson Says Alabama
Governor Hurts America
Jackie Robinson, the former Brook-
tegration suit); our airport facilities
are desegregated; our schools inte
grated; our people have the ballot; our
people are able to hold decent jobs; in
fact, until segregation is eliminated
from every phase of our community
life.”
Abernathy recommended that the
Montgomery City-County Board of
Education again be called on to an
nounce “its plans for the desegregation
of schools here in Montgomery.” Re
calling that such a demand was made
more than a year ago (Southern School
News, September, 1959), Abernathy
said “up to this date, the Board of
Education has not even been courteous
enough to acknowledge our request.”
Too Much Money
Alabama Negroes should take ad
vantage of the rights they have already
won, the Negro minister continued.
Specifically he reminded his people
that they are spending too much money
sending students out of the state for
college training not available to them
in Negro schools in the state.
“Remember,” he said, “we have Au
burn and the University of Alabama
and they were built and are still sup
ported by our tax money also. The
University of Alabama was opened to
us several years ago through the Auth-
erine Lucy case. Let us make use of
it.”
(In that case the university was en
joined against discriminating against
applicants because of their race. The
injunction still stands, though the Ne
gro co-ed in whose name it was won
was subsequently expelled for accusing
the university of conspiring in the riots
which drove her from the campus
shortly after her admission in 1956. Her
expulsion was upheld by the same
federal court that had ordered her ad
mitted.)
Urges Federation
Abernathy also urged the formation
of a statewide federation of all organi
zations now working for integration in
Alabama. “This would give us co-ordi
nation and co-operation as we seek to
defeat this evil system of segregation in
our state-”
Referring obliquely to racial troubles
at Alabama State College in Mont
gomery, scene of protests by Negro
students early this year, Abernathy
said the MIA had no quarrel with the
college or its administration.
‘We love, admire, cherish and re
spect the leadership of the college (Dr.
H. Councill Trenholm, president). Our
fight is not with the college, but with
the segregationists of this state and the
forces of evil who would deny us our
God-given rights. The Negro must not
get bogged down in fighting one an
other. Let us keep our eyes focused on
the target and refuse to dissipate our
energies fighting our fellowman.”
Ouster Necessary
This was an apparent reference to Dr.
Trenholm’s action, directed by the
and go to work and produce. Let us
stop trying to be white, buying all oint
ments and creams to change the color
of our skin; let us stop getting our
hair conked (sic), trying to make it
look like something it ain’t. God has
given us something and all you got to
do is, ‘use what you get.’ We are some
body.”
Yet there is an opposite danger, Ab
ernathy warned. Negroes should refuse
to co-operate with the “evil system” of
segregation, he said, but:
“By this I do not mean that we
should buy black, think black and talk
black as some advocate. . . . Black su
premacy will be just as bad if not
worse than white supremacy. We do
not believe in white, black or any other
kind of racial supremacy. (But) we
must stop paying for segregation.”
SOUTH CAROIINA
Negro Parents Protest
Policies In Charleston
SCHOOL BOARDS
AND SCHOOLMEN
A prominent Mobile Negro leader,
the Rev. J. E. Lowry, has asked the
state Board of Education to expand an
all-white state vocational school in the
city and open it to Negroes-
A suit pending in the U. S. District
Court in Mobile demands an injunction
opening the school to Negroes.
The state, partly in response to the
court challenge, has set aside $439,000
for construction of a new vocational
school for Negroes in Mobile. The City
Commission and the County Board of
Revenue recently put up $25,000 each
to buy the site for the school.
In a letter directed to the state
school board and the Mobile city and
county governing bodies, Lowery said:
“In view of the financial crisis now
existing in education in our state (cur
rent operating funds have been pro
rated 9.4 percent because of declining
school revenues), is it wise to expend
funds to duplicate facilities already
available?
“Would it not be a more judicious
plan to provide for the expansion of
the present trade school facilities, which
should be open to all citizens without
regard to race or color, rather than
an entirely new segregated facility...”
The County Board of Revenue adopt
ed a resolution critical of Lowery’s
proposal and there seemed little possi
bility that the state Board of Education
would take a different view. The board
earlier had decided to go ahead with
plans for the new school when funds
and a site are available.
COLUMBIA, S. C
Parents of Negro students at
-*• Charleston are protesting loca
school policies in two major
courses of action—one aimed at
halting by court action the con
struction of additional classrooms
at a Negro school, the other seek
ing transfer of a number of Ne
gro children into white schools.
City school officials are opposing
both efforts. (See “Legal Ac
tion.”)
Spokesmen for the National Associa
tion for the Advancement of Colored
People say that lawsuits will be com
menced soon to effect integration at
both the college and public school level
in South Carolina. (See “What They
Say.”)
School expansion plans continue on
a statewide basis, but with especial
emphasis on improving conditions at
Charleston. (See “School Boards and
Schoolmen.”)
m
LEGAL ACTION
A group of Charleston Negroes is
appealing to the State Supreme Court
to halt a construction project which
enlarges a Negro elementary school.
The appeal follows a circuit court dis
missal of the original petition, which
seeks to halt the construction.
The school in question is Courtenay
demonstrators and ordering an end to
such activity. Six of the expelled stu
dents appealed to the U. S. District
Court in Montgomery to order their
Dodgers star, told a Negro audi- State Board of Education, in expelling
ence ( in Montgomery Dec. 11 that it
^ a “disgrace for a state like Alabama
0 be represented by a man like (Pat
terson).” a __
Robinson was addressing the annual | readmission, but the court said their
refute of Non-Violence and Social
Mi I* 6 , inaugurated in the city by Dr.
f Luther King Jr., and sponsored
r the Montgomery Improvement Asso-
jb°n, the organization formed by Dr.
j V ^ len the Montgomery bus
- ^be things your governor does,”
^ 1113011 said, “will make or break
tj 0 Wlt b the people of the African na-
tourt’h they represent about one-
ouster was a necessary use of admin
istrative discipline to maintain order.
Abernathy said the white man is mis
taken when he professes to know that
most Negroes prefer segregation:
. I happen to know that the Negro
now and has always wanted to be free.
And this even includes the Aunt Janes
and Uncle Toms- ... It is true the Ne
gro has used deception as a weapon
in his struggle to survive and get ahead
Ratio 1 s *- ren gth of the United | here in the South. But the time has
*** kng as he continues to be the
have ]■ k 111 ^ of man that he is, we
Ro l c4lance to continue to be the
y nation of the world.”
Go v l 115011 also derided the actions of
j“ UIlm i e Davis of Louisiana. Men
Arn er - avis and Patterson are hurting
Gab-;he said. By contrast, “the
^ 0r «tna ” k* Orleans and Rev.
'#hite ^ are an inspiration for other
again P^Ple in the South to speak out
(jT 4 ^justice.”
f’or etl ^ es Gabrielle and the Rev. Lloyd
Parent^ ^fused to join other white
leayy m boycotting one of New Or-
tvv ° desegregated schools.)
The
‘Segregation Dead’
®av. Ralph Abernathy, Dr.
Mont UCCeSSor 33 fhe president of
told 801 ? 61 ^ improvement Associa-
55 Jean Institute “segregation is
1 soihp ^ a < h° or nail, but the problem
- Re don’t believe it.”
N°Ub] P M on Montgomery Negroes to
reol their efIorts “until our parks
a ha r p * ned on an integrated basis
'nosed as the result of an in
come for us to throw deception out of
the window and let the world know
just where we stand. So often in our
attempt to get ahead we have said what
we knew the segregationist wanted us
to say. . . . But what the white man
doesn’t know is that after we were
through saying, acting and doing what
he wanted, then we went our way and
thought as we pleased and dared him
to do a dam thing about it.
Moral Obligation
“We have a moral obligation to make
our desires and wishes known. . . . Be
a good cook if you must, but if asked
in the kitchen, stop cooking long
enough and look them dead in the
eyes and tell them you want to be
free. If you are a street sweeper, then
sweep the streets well, but let the
world know that you may be a second-
class citizen now, but you don’t like
it one bit- This is the meaning of the
sit-ins.”
Abernathy urged his fellow Negroes
to show pride in their race:
“Let us stop being ashamed for our
heritage, culture, race and background,
Huntingdon College in Montgomery
reprimanded five white men students
for attending the Negro Institute on
Non-Violence and Social Change. (See
“What They Say.”)
The five were identified by Dean of
Students Charles C. Turner Jr. as Bob
Zellner, Townsend Ellis and Joe
Thomas, all of Mobile, William Head
of Union Springs, and Jon Hill, Au
burn.
The students were called before the
full administrative staff of the college
(which is supported by the Methodist
Church) Dec- 13 and given the option
of refraining from such activity or re
signing. They had been restricted to
the campus after college authorities
learned they attended Dec. 10 sessions
of the institute.
After they agreed to the terms for
their remaining in school, the restric
tion was ended. Dean Turner issued a
statement saying, “The administration
does not feel that activities related to
racial agitation are a valid part of its
program.”
COMMUNITY ACTION
Sullivan Family Subjected
To Harrassment Campaign
Montgomery Police Commissioner L.
B. Sullivan and his family have been
subjected to a campaign of harassment
as a result of his Thanksgiving protec
tion for Negroes attending the annual
football game between Tuskegee Insti
tute and Alabama State College in the
city. (SSN, December, 1960).
Sullivan at first had recommended
that the game be cancelled because of
rising racial tensions. The game has
been played for 37 years. When the
public athletic board declined to cancel
the contest, Sullivan said he would do
everything possible to preserve the
peace.
Police surrounded Cramton Bowl in
force. Several groups of whites were
dispersed, a nearby cafe was ordered
closed when two many white men gath
ered in it and five white men were ar
rested for disorderly conduct. Police
dogs were used against the few jeering
whites who gathered at the bowl.
Mounted deputies were in reserve in
case of a serious outbreak.
Played In Peace
There was no serious incident and
the game was played in peace, but it
was evident that the whites resented
the formidable protection provided the
Negro community-
Sullivan received a number of threat
ening and profane phone calls, hoax
messages and other annoyances.
“I don’t know whether extremist
groups are responsible or whether the
actions are politically inspired,” Sulli
van said. “But regardless of the source,
I have a sworn obligation to uphold
the law and this I intend to do.”
Three of the white men arrested
Thanksgiving near the stadium were
convicted of misdemeanors. Charges
against the other two were dismissed.
LEGAL ACTION
The New York Times has filed a mo
tion for a new trial after losing a
$500,000 libel verdict Nov. 3 to Police
Commissioner L. B. Sullivan (SSN, De
cember, 1960).
The Times called the verdict “grossly
unjust.” The Montgomery Circuit Court
jury, all white men, granted the full
amount Sullivan asked as damages for
statements in an advertisement in the
Times last March. The ad was an ap
peal for defense funds for the Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr., then facing
trial but later acquitted of falsifying
Alabama state income tax returns.
A hearing on the motion for a new
trial was set for Jan. 14. A similar suit
by Mayor Earl James is docketed for
Jan. 30. The third city commissioner,
Frank Parks, also is suing the Times,
as are city officials in Birmingham and
Bessemer.
POLITICAL ACTIVITY
Six of Alabama’s 11 electoral votes
were cast for Sen. Harry F. Byrd (D-
Va.) for president and Sen. Strom
Thurmond (D-S. C.) for vice presi
dent Dec. 19.
The remaining five votes went to
Kennedy-Johnson.
In spring primaries, Alabama elected
the six states’ rights electors and the
five party loyalists. The independents
were pledged to withhold their vote
from any candidate they considered
hostile to the South.” The loyalists
were pledged to vote for the national
party ticket.
Gov. John Patterson had attempted
to persuade the independents that the
Nov. 8 vote in Alabama was a Demo
cratic mandate. # # #
elementary school, a relatively new
school built several years ago as a
white school but since transferred to
Negro patronage because of shifts in
population. The school is overcrowded,
and two sessions are being held. It was
boycotted briefly last October when
Negroes protested the crowded con
ditions there and in other schools.
When the Charleston school board
initiated a building program to add 12
classrooms to the school, the group of
Negro parents sought to halt con
struction on grounds that the school is
already overcrowded and that a new
school is needed on the west side of
the city. (The school is located on the
eastern side). They contended that the
Courtenay lunchroom and other facili
ties would not be adequate for an ex
panded enrollment. The action of the
school board in seeking to enlarge the
existing school, they argued, was “ar
bitrary and capricious.”
Complaint Dismissed
In dismissing the complaint, Circuit
Judge John Grimball called attention
to the allegations of overcrowding and
the expectations of increased enroll
ment:
“In the light of these allegations, it
would appear that the trustees are
obligated to take some action to re
lieve the apparently crowded situation
at Courtenay school and the addition
of classrooms thereto certainly appears
a logical and reasonable step to take.”
The judge also observed that the
complainants had not exhausted all
available administrative remedies be
fore seeking judicial action.
On Dec. 12, Attorney Russell Brown
filed in behalf of the petitioners notice
of intention to appeal the Judge Grim
ball ruling to the State Supreme Court.
(For other items affecting Charleston
schools, see “School Boards and
Schoolmen.”)
WHAT THEY SAY
Alfred Baker Lewis, a Connecticut
man who is treasurer of the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People, said in Columbia on
Dec. 1 that “a strong integration ef
fort” soon would be made in South
Carolina. His prediction was seconded
by the Rev. I. DeQuincy Newman, state
NAACP field secretary. Newman said
integration suits soon would be initi
ated at the University of South Caro
lina and in the Charleston city schools.
★ ★ ★
David Carter, a divinity student at
a Negro college in Columbia, said Dec.
15 that sit-in demonstrations against
racial segregation would continue in
definitely. The Benedict College stu
dent, speaking to newsmen after the
third of three successive days of dem
onstrations at Columbia, said:
In this struggle we are undergoing,
we have no goal of impeding the busi
ness of the stores, nor to disturb the
peace. But what we are aiming for is
a better South Carolina, a better Amer
ica, not a land of the free but a land
of freedom, not freedom for some but
freedom for all.
SCHOOL BOARDS
AND SCHOOLMEN
The Charleston city school board has
asked the County Board of Education
to dismiss a petition of 11 Negro par
ents who seek the admission of their
15 children to white schools of the
city. The city school board earlier had
rejected requests for transfer, after
which the petitioners appealed to the
county board, next in line of admin
istrative procedures. The city board
contends that applications for transfer
came too late this year for considera
tion under existing rules affecting such
transfers.
Meanwhile, the city school board has
announced plans for a $1,250,000 school
expansion program. The majority of
this amount will go for a new Negro
high school—long requested by both
school authorities and many Negro pa
trons. A 1957 bond issue was defeated
by the voters.
In Columbia, the State Educational
Finance Commission approved on Dec.
8 an allocation of $570,121 for school
construction projects. This latest allo
cation brings to $203,850,762 the total
approved since the state’s expansion
and equalization program was launch
ed in 1951—simultaneously with in
auguration of a three per cent sales
tax. # # #