Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4—APRIL 1961—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
FLORIDA
Escambia May Be First County
To Desegregate by Court Order
MIAMI, Fla.
"Florida’s first court-ordered
school desegregation may take
place in Escambia County. It’s
seat, Pensacola, is one of the
nation’s oldest cities.
Federal District Judge Harrold Cars
well gave the school board 90 days in
which to file an acceptable plan for
ending segregation of the school system.
If the plan is approved and carried
out, it will be the first in Florida
under court direction.
The ruling came in the class suit
(Augustus et al v. Board of Public In
struction of Escambia County) which
has been pending for more than a year.
Parents of Karen Renee Augustus had
been trying for months to enroll her
in the O. J. Semmes Elementary School,
only a block from their home. Instead
she was assigned to a Negro school
some distance away, school officials
explained that the Semmes school was
overcrowded. When the suit was filed,
11 other parents joined as co-plaintiffs,
making it a class action applicable to
all schools in the county.
In his order, Judge Carswell said
Escambia County has been excluding
Negro children from white schools
because of race in violation of the
1954 Supreme Court ruling.
‘Race and Color’
“Based on the depositions filed in
this case,” said the order, “and upon
the testimony presented at hearings on
Jan. 16, 1961, the court finds that
plaintiffs have established on the record
that applications
for admission to
and transfer with
in the public
schools of Escam
bia County, Fla.,
are acted upon by
the Board of Pub
lic Instruction on
consideration iof
the race and color
of the individual
applicants in vio
lation of the con
stitutional rights of said applicants as
provided by the Supreme Court of the
United States in Brown v. Board of
Education of Topeka and subsequent
cases.
“Therefore in consideration of the
foregoing the Board of Public Instruc
tion of Escambia County, Fla., is hereby
granted a period of 90 days from the
date of this order to submit to this
court for its consideration a plan
whereby the plaintiffs and members of
the class represented by them are here
after afforded a reasonable and con
scious opportunity to apply for ad
mission to or transfer to any schools
for which they may be eligible without
regard to their race or color and to
have their choice fairly considered by
enrolling authorities in accordance with
the U.S. Court of Appeals. Fifth Cir
cuit, opinion in Gibson v. Board of In
struction, Dade County, Fla."
The original suit asked that any
desegregation order apply also to
teachers. Judge Carswell eliminated
this part of the petition, and the
NAACP attorneys are appealing this
decision separately.
Assignment Law
Judge Carswell also said that Florida’s
Pupil Assignment Act is not an issue in
the case. It will come into play later
when any assignments are made in
accordance with his ruling.
The ruling referred to Dade County’s
Gibson case. The Dade school board
acted to desegregate several schools be
fore the court order could become
effective and has since assigned a Ne
gro child to a white school as a routine
matter without requiring any kind of
administrative hearing. Dade now has
three biracial schools, and studies are
under way for the voluntary desegre
gation of two others in racially chang
ing neighborhoods.
There was no official reaction to
Judge Carswell’s order in Escambia
County. None of the school board
members would comment. But Ralph
Odum, assistant attorney general who
has specialized in race litigation, said
in Jacksonville that the ruling was
to be expected. He forecast similar
action elsewhere.
“Obviously the federal courts from
the U.S. Supreme Court down to the
district courts are moving in the di
rection of some integration,” Odum
said. “The federal courts are going to
compel Escambia, Hillsborough, Vol
usia, Duval and any other counties
Florida Highlights
Florida’s first federal court order
requiring a plan for school desegre
gation was signed by District Judge
Harrold Carswell in the case filed in
Escambia County. School officials
in the panhandle county where
segregation sentiment is strong were
given 90 days to file a timetable.
In the Duval County suit, a group
of white parents sought to intervene
as defendants, asserting their child
ren would be deprived of their rights
if desegregation was ordered.
With the legislature ready to meet,
Gov. Farris Bryant strongly urged
creation of a fund to explain segre
gation to the rest of the nation. His
endorsement, said the bill’s sponsor,
makes its passage a foregone con
clusion.
where such suits are pending, to have
some integration.”
Legislative Prospects
There was speculation that the order,
coming within a few days of the bien
nial session of the legislature (see
“Political Activity”) would spur de
mands for stronger segregation legisla
tion. Escambia County is in the section
of Florida where segregation sentiment
is more widespread than in some others.
There was, however, no immediate
reaction from legislators. Gov. Farris
Bryant, whose platform included a
pledge to preserve segregation by all
lawful means, said he would make no
comment until he had studied Judge
Carswell’s ruling.
★ ★ ★
Lawsuit in Duval County
Moves Toward Decision
In Jacksonville, the Duval County
suit (Braxton et al. v. Board of Public
Instruction of Duval County) moved
steadily toward a decision.
One development was a motion by a
group of 18 white persons to intervene
in the suit as co-defenders with the
school board.
The petition was filed by J. Donald
Bruce, attorney, who said the signers
“would be adversely affected by a
judgment of the court calling for full
integration.”
“Personal Stake’
School board members may offer an
inadequate defense, said the petitioners,
because they would be affected offi
cially, and not personally. The white
would-be intervenors said they had a
personal stake in the outcome.
Accompanying the motion was the
draft of an answer to the original suit
which would be offered if the motion
to intervene is granted. This contends
that the educational, psychological,
physical and mental effects of biracial
schools upon the white students would
be adverse and that school mixing
would generally impair the moral and
educational standards which white
schools maintain.
The proferred answer also contends:
• Educational and intelligence tests
given white and Negro pupils show
educational attainments and mental
maturity are considerably lower among
Negroes in the same grades.
• Standards of personal conduct
among Negroes are lower in such fields
as morals, hygiene and personal dis
cipline.
‘Rights and Benefits’
The would-be intervenors asserted
that a survey of schools where desegre
gation was compelled by the courts
showed “educational standards were
lowered, disciplinary problems in
creased, moral standards undermined
and health standards impaired.”
The effect upon the “hearts, minds
and conduct” of the white children
would not likely ever be undone and
this, in the petitioners opinion, would
deny to the white children the rights
and benefits due under the U.S. Consti
tution.
The proposed answer also contends
that the U.S. Supreme Court, in its
desegregation rulings, endeavored to
amend the Constitution in an unlawful
manner.
No date has been set for argument
on the motions.
While white groups sought to enter
the case, Negro plaintiffs were with
drawing. Alphonso Pope of Atlantic
Beach, one of the original signers, said
Gov. Farris Bryant
‘Tell the true story’
in a letter to District Judge Byran
Simpson that he had included his
children in the petition without their
mother’s consent. Two other plaintiffs
withdrew previously, leaving only four
of the original seven. The two,
Maderein Williams Jr. and Frazier
Williams, said their children did not
live in Duval County.
Withdrawal of the Williamses caused
Earl M. Johnson, a Jacksonville attor
ney for the NAACP, to suggest that
they may have been threatened with
reprisals. This was denied by school
board attorneys, who said that a check
showed the children already had moved
from the county before the litigation
was started.
Judge Simpson ordered as a pro
tection to the plaintiffs that the public
and representatives of the press be
barred from the proceedings of taking
depositions in the case. He also limited
questions to those concerning the race
of the plaintiffs and their relationship
to the children involved. No questions
could be asked, he said, concerning the
financial arrangements between the
plaintiffs and their attorneys, or the
motive of the plaintiffs in bringing the
suit.
Wanted To Know Motives
Davisson P. Dunlap, one of the bat
tery of school board attorneys, had
argued that it was necessary to question
motives to establish if there had been
“collusive action” on the part of the
plaintiffs and the NAACP.
“If we could show the plaintiffs are
suing not for their own benefit but
for the benefit of others—the NAACP—
we would be showing that this was
collusion in order for the NAACP to
gain jurisdiction of this court which
otherwise they would not have access
to,” said Dunlap.
Judge Simpson said the presence of
the NAACP in the case was immaterial,
since it is “generally known” the
organization extends legal counsel to
Negroes in cases involving their rights
under the Constitution.
Political Activity
Pro-Segregation Bills
Foreseen; Governor
Urges ‘Truth’ Drive
W ith the ruling in the Es
cambia County case and im
minence of action in the Duval
County case some political com
mentators predicted rising pres
sure for segregation measures in
the legislature which begins its
biennial session early in April.
Leaders earlier declared that no
drastic measures were being considered.
However, in an unexpected move, Gov.
Farris Bryant, at a news conference,
urged the appropriation of $500,000 to
“tell the true story” of segregation to
other parts of the nation.
The governor called for passage of
the Reedy bill, which was passed two
years ago but vetoed by former Gov.
LeRoy Collins as a waste of the tax
payers money.
Rep. W. H. Reedy of Eustis has
announced he will reoffer his proposal.
It sets up a fund to be used for
CARSWELL
Southern School News
Southern School News is the official publication of the Southern Education
Reporting Service, an objective, fact-finding agency established by Southern
newspaper editors and educators with the aim of providing accurate, unbiased
information to school administrators, public officials and interested lay citizens
on developments in education arising from the U. S. Supreme Court opinion of
May 17, 1954, declaring compulsory segregation in the public schools unconstitu.
tional. SERS is not an advocate, is neither pro-segregation nor anti-segregation,
but simply reports the facts as it finds them, state-by-state.
Published monthly by Southern Education Reporting Service at 1109 19th Ave,
S., Nashville, Tennessee.
Second class mail privileges authorized at Nashville, Tenn., under the authority
of the act of March 3, 1879.
OFFICERS
Frank Ahlgren Chairman
Thomas R. Waring Vice Chairman
Reed Sarratt Executive Director
Tom Flake, Associate Director
Jim Leeson, Assistant Director
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Frank Ahlgren, Editor, Memphis Com
mercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.
Edward D. Ball, Editor, Nashville Ten
nessean, Nashville, Tenn.
Harvie Branscomb, Chancellor, Van
derbilt University, Nashville, Tenn.
Luther H. Foster, President, Tuskegee
Institute, Tuskegee Institute, Ala.
Henry H. Hill, President, George Pea
body College, Nashville, Tenn.
C. A. McKnight, Editor, Charlotte Ob
server, Charlotte, N.C.
Charles Moss, Executive Editor, Nash
ville Banner, Nashville, Tenn.
George N. Redd, Dean, Fisk Univer
sity, Nashville, Tenn.
Don Shoemaker, Editorial Page Editor,
Miami Herald, Miami, Fla.
Bert Struby, General Manager, Macon
Telegraph and News, Macon, Ga.
Thomas R. Waring, Editor, Charleston
News & Courier, Charleston, S.C.
Henry I. Willett, Superintendent of
Schools, Richmond, Va.
CORRESPONDENTS
ALABAMA
William H. McDonald, Assistant Edi
tor, Montgomery Advertiser
ARKANSAS
William T. Shelton, City Editor, Ar
kansas Gazette
DELAWARE
James E. Miller, Managing Editor,
Delaware State News
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Erwin Knoll, Staff Writer, Washing
ton Post & Times Herald
FLORIDA
Bert Collier, Editorial Writer, Miami
Herald
GEORGIA
Joseph B. Parham, Editor, The Ma
con News
KENTUCKY
James S. Pope Jr., Education Editor,
Louisville Courier-Journal
LOUISIANA
Emile Comar, Staff Writer, New Or
leans States & Item
MARYLAND
Edgar L. Jones, Editorial Writer,
Baltimore Sun
MISSISSIPPI
Kenneth Toler, Mississippi Bureau,
Memphis Commercial Appeal
MISSOURI
William K. Wyant Jr., Staff Writer,
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
NORTH CAROLINA
L. M. Wright Jr., City Editor, Char
lotte Observer
OKLAHOMA
Leonard Jackson, Staff Writer, Okla
homa City Oklahoman-Times
SOUTH CAROLINA
W. D. Workman Jr., Special Corre
spondent, Columbia, S.C.
TENNESSEE
Ken Morrell, Staff Writer, Nashville
Banner
TEXAS
Richard M. Morehead, Austin Bu
reau, Dallas News
VIRGINIA
Overton Jones, Associate Editor,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
WEST VIRGINIA
Thomas F. Stafford, Assistant to the
Editor, Charleston Gazette
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
■fi
if
1
r-
k
rf
s-
ffl
E?
'S
>L
Tc
1
it
car
it
t!
(
je:
Co
cai
i '
cii
I
«
tu
K
S
lit
b
no
by
la
sti
ri
tp
if
Co
oil
irt
tio
do
Le
joi
ter
Or
In
thi
cal
h
Single copies, any issue, 20 cents each. Ten or more copies, any one issue, 15
cents each.
One year (12 issues), $2; two years, $3.75.
Groups: five or more copies to different addresses, $1.75 each per year; fiva
or more copies to one addressee, $1.50 each per year.
MAIL ADDRESS
P.O. Box 5156, Acklen Station, Nashville 12, Tenn.
vit
It
at
«P
is
*1
magazine and newspaper advertise
ments and television programs sup
porting segregation. At least four other
states must adopt a similar law before
the Florida proposal becomes effective.
The proposal is not new. But no
other Southern state has yet adopted
it. Reedy said that if Florida acted
first, others would follow, creating a
minimum $2.5 million advertising fund.
Gov. Bryant’s endorsement caused
surprise over the state. “We have been
the victim of unfavorable publicity,”
Bryant said. “I feel a great deal can be
done to correct the erroneous impres
sions which are handicapping our
industrial effort. As long as industrial
ists feel there is racial strife—which
you know as residents is not true—
they will hesitate before moving into
our state. I think we will benefit more
from the program than our sister
states.”
Hope It Comes Up ‘No Sale’
Miami Herald
Questioned about whether his ®'
dorsement meant he believed in segtt
gation, the governor replied: “B*
preferable, natural, and I believe n
evitable.”
Reedy said the governor’s st£-
makes passage of his measure a f 0If
gone conclusion.
Si
Community Action
\
Miami Women Form
Unit to Encourage
Biracial Education
i
group of Miami womenf orl!
ed Florida NOW, a uni*
the National Organization of '
men For Equality in Educa^’
and activated a program 1° e 'i
courage school desegregation-
The organization, meeting in
heard counsel that aggressive me 3 -
were not advisable. “I like to thin*
us not as Carrie Nations but as $
with a purpose,” said Mrs. R°^ e
Sonen, chairman. A
The Rev. Donald Mackey, P 1 ”^^-
of the Greater Miami Ministerial .jj
ciation, said that if the group int*^.
to speed up integration, “I am
ful of its value.” He advised the " ^
to “exercise patience, tolerance
persevering goodwill.”
Dr. Walter Maining, p r °f^ s ^| s .-r-
education at the University of -
said that while Negro children ^
to lag behind white children (
South, the difference disapp®
genuinely integrated schools. ,* If
gence is not racially distribute 13 '.^,
said. “The Negro, given the rig < ;
of teacher, and the right kino ^
spiration, can match the whit e
by-step up any ladder.”