Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

ill 10 Factual Southern Schodl News c*.(. Objective ; 0 l. 7. NO. 10 hi NASH.i° ' N:,-3AlNft 9002-b- 13 APRIL, 1961 2 Mississippi P State Education leader Opposes Closing Schools Pa.-. ! i Ul(( tan ti« si* hoc 1 i :an- )pt ! br re- JACKSON, Miss. rjiATK Education Supt. J. M. ^ Xubb said March 16 that aboli tion of public schools as a last ^sort to prevent desegregation Tfould be to close the door of hope for many ambitious youth •n this state.” It was his first comment on that ;SUe since legislative passage of bills authorizing the governor or local school ioards to take that action as a “last resort.” Supt. Tubb’s position was expressed lufore the 75th annual convention of ie 12,000-member Mississippi Educa- j on Association of white educators meeting in Jackson. iffi itie aw- dit m- sla- I a ad- the hit ion er- :iee the re- the cly pel an d Superintendent’s Statement Tubb said: “No problems have ever faced the uembers of any convention in the long fetory of the MEA greater than those that face us during this year, 1961. Hie fate of the great public school system founded 91 years ago perhaps hangs in the balance in the months ahead. “In Mississippi, a dual, segregated program of education has been oper ated for all the children. It is the belief a! an overwhelming majority of our people that this type program, con sidering the background and traditions of our people, is the best for us. “If, however, this system of operation is challenged, the solution must be found through the efforts of dedicated leaders who put the welfare of the children and the future of our state and nation above everything else. “In the day of last resort, our people must know that to abolish the public schools would be to close the door of hope for many ambitious youth in this state. It would bring to a halt the wheels of industry on the borders of •nr state, and destroy the dreams we have had for a great state whose •conomy would be based upon agri- DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Segregation Is Issue In Federal Aid Debate After SERS Directors Meeting From left, John Scanlon, program associate in education for the Ford Foundation; Frank R. Ahlgren, re-elected chairman of the SERS board; Dr. Luther H. Foster, president of Tuskegee Institute; Thomas R. Waring, vice chairman; Reed Sarratt, executive director. SERS Officers, Members Of Board Are Re-elected NASHVILLE, Tenn. fficers and board members whose terms expire this year were re-elected at the annual meeting of the Board of Directors of Southern Education Reporting Service here on March 26. Returned to office for another year were Frank Ahlgren, editor of the Memphis (Tenn.) Commercial Appeal, chairman; Thomas R. Waring, editor of the Charleston (S.C.) News and Courier, vice-chairman; and Reed Sar ratt of Nashville, executive director. Directors re-elected for three-year terms were Dr. Harvie Branscomb, chancellor of Vanderbilt University; Dr. Luther H. Foster, president of Tus kegee Institute; Bert Struby, general manager of the Macon, Ga., Telegraph and News; Don Shoemaker, editor of the editorial page of the Miami (Fla.) Herald; and Ahlgren. Sarratt was elected to the board for a three-year term. Fisk Made Repository meeting in October, had instructed Chairman Ahlgren to request. The grant was made to George Peabody College for Teachers, which serves as fiscal agent for SERS. In the event that this proves to be a terminal grant, the SERS directors at their meeting March 26 asked their executive committee to make a study of the feasibility of continuing the li brary beyond June 30, 1963, and to submit their recommendations at the next annual meeting. Format and Content The directors approved the report of a committee appointed last October to study the format and content of Southern School News. The commit tee recommended that efforts be con- (See SERS BOARD, Page 15) WASHINGTON, D. C. HE MUSHROOMING DEBATE Over aid to private and parochial schools overshadowed the usual “Powell Amendment” discussions, but the question of government funds for segregated schools was raised in House and Senate hear ings and appeared likely to come up again before there is a final vote on President Kennedy’s $2.3 billion school aid program. Administration spokesmen and con gressional managers for the president’s bill warned that any attempt to with hold aid from segregated schools would endanger passage of the school assist ance program. But Clarence Mitchell, director of the Washington Bureau of the National Association for the Ad vancement of Colored People, urged inclusion of a “Powell Amendment” and said there was no evidence it would hurt the bill’s chances. ‘Forget Court Opinion’ Mitchell told the Senate Education Subcommittee March 10 that the argu ment that an anti-segregation amend ment would kill the school bill “is an attempt to persuade the colored citizens of our country to forget that the United States Supreme Court has declared that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional.” He said those who would be en trusted with the expenditure of fed eral funds in Southern states “do not have the slightest intention of using such money to promote the education of all children,” and added: “Governors are busy issuing flaming statements of defiance, state legisla tures are cluttering the statute books and courts with unconstitutional laws and mobs are chasing white parents out of town in New Orleans just be cause two public schools have been opened to a handful of colored chil dren. ‘Segregation Extended’ “All of this represents action that the states promote or at least tolerate. In addition, the federal government is busily extending racial segregation in schools through the Department of Health, Education and Welfare under the defense impacted area program.” Mitchell said segregation of children of military personnel at the Redstone Arsenal in Alabama amounts to “a par ticularly flagrant example” of federal involvement with racial bias. Sen. Wayne Morse (D-Ore.), chair man of the Education Subcommittee, asked the Defense Department to fur nish a report on the situation at Red stone Arsenal and other federal in stallations, but made it clear that he would not favor an anti-segregation rider to the school bill. He said the matter should be taken up separately later as an amendment to the Civil Rights Act. Administration Position Presenting the Administration’s case for the school bill to Congress, Secre tary of Health, Education and Welfare Abraham Ribicoff warned that any at tempt to withhold federal funds from schools practicing racial segregation “would definitely weaken prospects for the legislation.” Ribicoff called the Supreme Court’s 1954 desegregation decision “legally and morally correct.” but added: “I can imagine no greater tragedy than to place every problem facing America on the back of education. We can do no greater disservice to the fu ture of education than to try to solve all our problems through this bill and in the process not solve any of them.” THE REGION Federal Pressures Increase l it? it! for ie to •ulture and a great industry.” Relative to private schools, Tubb said: A private school system on a state- ’ide level simnlv would not work, fl’ink of all the experience which t0 "ld be lost if our public schools are <W” noted that “other states have ne d, and failed, with school-closing “Tempts.” it It! Ie! it i! i- t! 1 It 1- rd i- es se it it if i t ie i t it 5 l j ! : f I Negro Leader Agrees Echoing those sentiments was L. S. JTcxander, executive secretary of the ■ssissippi Teachers Association com- '"'jh of 7,000 Negro educators. _° close the schools would penalize , e innocent,” Alexander said. “Closing it ^ools would be to punish children ,' h ° had no part whatsoever in the ’°hlem.” ■ 5 f e asser ted that “there’s no logical ; f( f° n why both races working to- 5 jf r cannot solve every educational lem.” He said “all such problems (See MISSISSIPPI, Page 15) 5^ The Inside la te Reports Alabama j^kansas ?*kware E'orida ^rgia ^ntucky {fuisiana Upland . ^ssouri ' ° rt h Carolina ^homa ut h Carolina lessee ... r *xas iw::;:;;;;;;;;;;; Virginia Wt 8 Rock .... Articles Dure >, Helena Parish gr ° Population 6 10 2 4 16 6 8 2 13 14 14 14 3 12 7 9 11 7 9 5 For Desegregation of Schools A major action by the board was the designation of Fisk University as re pository for the SERS library upon ex piration of the project. This action was recommended by Chancellor Brans comb. In 1955 the board had named the Joint University Library (Vanderbilt, Peabody and Scarritt) as repository. The change was made with the con currence of JUL and Fisk, the princi pal reason for it being lack of space at JUL to house the SERS collection, which already contains more than 800,- 000 separate items. The SERS library is microfilmed annually, and a part of the new agreement is that the micro film negative and a set of positive prints will go to JUL. Fisk will receive the original materials. The directors were informed of ficially that the Ford Foundation has made a grant of $390,000 to SERS for the biennium 1961-63. The Foundation last December approved the grant, which the SERS directors, at a called What Is By DR. BENJAMIN E. MAYS N ow that the Supreme Court has made compulsorily segre gated education unconstitutional, the question is constantly asked: What will happen to the predomi nantly Negro college? Does it have a future? Will it be needed? Before I attempt to give answers to these questions, I would like to make an observation which has seldom been made but an observation which is mighty important. Although the white colleges in the South have always been far more segre gated than the Negro colleges, no one has ever asked the question: What will happen to the predominantly white colleges? It is assumed that the white colleges, regardless of quality, will sur- Dr. Mays is president of More house College in Atlanta and of the United Negro College Fund. F ederal pressures for increased school desegregation came from the courts and the executive department during March. In Congress, at the same time, the aid to education proposal became embroiled in a controversy over whether federal funds should be available to segregated schools. The U. S. Justice Department re versed its policy in entering four Louisiana school desegregation cases as a friend of the court. The department previously had intervened only after trouble developed in enforcing court orders. U. S. District Attorney M. Hepburn Many obtained permission to enter the vive and grow in strength and in fluence. No such assumption is ever made where the Negro colleges are involved — not even the best Negro colleges. Oddly enough, this question is raised not only by well-meaning white people but by well-meaning Negroes as well. It is an unfortunate question because it may reflect an attitude that could mean the death of a college now predominantly Negro, however excel lent it may be. Different Sources The question may arise from different sources in the Negro and white minds but the implication is the same. The question reflects the belief that colleges for Negroes, even the best of them, are uniformly inferior to any white college and that white colleges, even poor ones, are uniformly better than any Negro college. It implies further that nothing that Negro educators have built is good enough to survive in a suits in which St. Helena and East Baton Rouge parishes and six state- supported trade schools have been or dered to desegregate “with all de liberate speed!” Attorney;General Rob ert F. Kennedy explained the move would “assist the* court.'in preventing potentially dangerous and critical situ ations from coming to a head.” Many had entered file New Orleans desegregation suit as amicus curiae last year after opposition developed over that court order. In March the U. S. Supreme Court upheld three de cisions in which three-judge courts had thrown out a series of segregation laws trying to halt the Orleans Parish desegregation. Another policy of the new attorney (See THE REGION, Page 5) desegregated society. In the Negro mind, it may be an expression of the inferiority complex and in the white person it may be a sign of the superiority complex. It is important, therefore, that we write about the future of the Negro college. In preparation for this article, we sent a questionnaire to the presidents of the 33 colleges that make up the United Negro College Fund and 10 of the largest predominantly tax-sup ported colleges for Negroes. An analy sis of the answers reveals what most people do not know: Negro colleges have been “segregated” institutions but they have never been “segregating” institutions. The Negro colleges have had to restrict their enrollment to Negroes by custom and law and not by any desire or design to exclude white students. Most of the Negro colleges had to confine their student bodies to Negroes in order to be chartered by the states. No one can predict with mathematical ★ ★ ★ Justice Department Follows New Policy in Louisiana In a sharp reversal of policy, the Justice Department stepped into four Louisiana school desegregation cases March 17. Previous practice has been for the Department to intervene only after trouble developed in enforcing court orders. The Louisiana move, Attorney Gen eral Robert F. Kennedy said, was de signed to “assist the court in prevent ing potentially dangerous and critical situations from coming to a head.” Kennedy pointed out that in author izing the department to intervene, Judge J. Skelly Wright gave it a more active role than is normally allowed to groups which enter cases as “friends of the court.” This is necessary, Kennedy (See D. C., Page 5) certainty the future of the predomi nantly Negro college. Three assumptions have been made which this writer believes are false. It has been said: • That when integration comes in full force, the colleges now serving Negroes will not be needed; that they will go out of existence. • That when white colleges in the South open their doors to Negroes, they will make a straight line to the white institutions, thus leaving the Negro colleges empty. • That white students will not matri culate in colleges that are now serving mainly Negroes. I would like to comment on all three assumptions. To Serve All People Will the Negro colleges go out of existence? The colleges now designated as “Negro colleges” will go out of existence. They will become colleges (See DR. MAYS, Page 12) The Future of Negro Colleges?