Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—DECEMBER, 1961—PAGE 3
gates’ Rights
geld No Longer
primary Point
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jjy do not know is that the current
“stifle data favors a segregated so-
for the development and welfare
Jboth races and the advancement of
^ civilization. The data simply has
jjt been presented to the courts be-
g ose we have mistaken the issue fil
led as being constitutional when it
1 scientific instead.”
Smith noted that the scientific argu-
jjct is also advanced in a recent book
v . Carleton Putnam, Race And Reason,
said Alabama had launched its
*jdy before the book was published.
Dr. George’s Statement
. After wire services carried news of
“ 3e study, Dr. George issued a state-
. aen t from Chapel Hill, N.C., in which
jj denied that his survey is designed to
s support the view that the white race is
^ jjtellectually superior to the Negro
see.
j.. The true purpose of the study, Dr.
George said, was to “determine what
pence has revealed with regard to
, e acial differences in general (and) to
that extent they are hereditary or en-
, rironmental.”
jj Dr. George said he was concerned
j lith “the use of phrases that are irrita-
j, jig to everybody—this inferiority busi-
. ness.” So far as he knows, he said, such
spressions had never been used in any
„ connection in discussions with Alabama.
s He said that when he was first con-
, acted by Alabama he was asked to
j prepare a report on the psychological
.. aspects of the race problem: “I said no.
,. in not a psychologist and not quali-
ied.”
Asked then if he would survey the
genetic aspects of the questions, he
j. agreed.
/, “What I am doing,” Dr. George said
. a November, “is a little broader than
flat. I am studying the biology of the
race problem from a scientific point of
e dew. This is a study of the life of the
t sciences, which takes into consideration
g -E intellectual question.”
:
- 'wal Action
Hearing in NAACP
Injunction Case
Set for Dec. 27
Montgomery Circuit Judge Walter B.
hues set Dec. 27 for a hearing on the
Merits of a case which has had the
• AACP’s Alabama chapter under a
~°Porary restraining order since 1956.
'Jhbama ex rel Patterson v. NAACP.)
uie case was brought by the then at-
#>mey general, John Patterson, now
■ Ove mor, who asked for a permanent
•‘Junction banning all NAACP opera-
•°n in the state. Judge Jones granted
>>Porary restraining order in 1956,
die organization $100,000 for con-
®*Pt in refusing to open its member-
P rolls and certain other records for
examination.
i “ e U.S. Supreme Court, ruling the
5jand unwarranted, twice set the fine
, e - The restraining order has re-
in effect. The NAACP went into
a l court for an order compelling
st ate to hear the case on its merits
10 the
Oct.
group could free itself of the ban.
23, the U.S. Supreme Court di—
ha ? J ^ a ' 3ama to hold the hearing by
Os' - 1962 - or forfeit jurisdiction to the
■ District Court in Montgomery.
^4, Judge Jones set the case for
★ ★ ★
) 1 ^ e '! en “freedom riders” who figured
7®* incidents during Montgomery’s
'"Und enS * 0n i as t May on Nov. 20 were
,'tjj guilty by Montgomery Circuit
Eugene Carter of breach of the
unlawful assembly.
|Iqq e nced to 30 days in jail and fined
'ip were Yale University Chap-
luJ’iUiam S. Coffin; Dr. John D.
professor of religion at Wes-
A] e University; Dr. Gaylord Noyce,
h’-id ^ virl ity School professor; Dr.
^j°P- “^ift, Wesleyan professor of re-
' >f6 d Revs - Ralph Abernathy and
Eij ^huttlesworth, Alabama Negro
’ Wyatt Tee Walker, executive
^ferv,- °f the Southern Christian
■Ep P P Conference; and four col-
^dents.
hr ^PPealed and were released un-
J Udg e ij° v - 10 Birmingham Circuit
ttti 0 " a Mace Wilson upheld the con-
' 0 nh ° f the Rev - Fred L - Shuttles-
r, it a ? n charges of conspiracy to com-
jol 6ric teach of the peace in the bus
* 6 in Birmingham last May.
Alabama Highlights
Alabama has turned to anthropol
ogy to justify continued segregation
of the races in the state. Dr. Wesley
C. George, a member of the faculty
of the University of North Carolina
School of Medicine until his retire
ment last June, has been paid
$3,000 from the Governor’s Emer
gency Fund to prepare a study dis
puting the “equalitarian anthropo
logical doctrine of Boas, a doctrine
which holds that race and heredity
play no part in an individual’s earn
ing capacity.”
Montgomery attorney Ralph
Smith, who has been retained by
Gov. John Patterson to handle all
racial litigation and who is working
with Dr. George on the study, said
the states rights defense is no long
er tenable, but the scientific defense
is.
The NAACP, under a five-year re
straining order forbidding all opera
tions in the state, will have a chance
to be heard in Montgomery Circuit
Court Dec. 27—a hearing on the
merits of a suit filed in 1956 (Ala
bama ex rel Patterson v. NAACP)
alleging that the organization had
not qualified to do business in Ala
bama. The U.S. Supreme Court had
given the state until Jan. 2 to hear
the case or forfeit jurisdiction to
the U.S. District Court in Mont
gomery.
Judge Gibson sentenced Shuttles-
worth to three months in county jail
and fined him $500. The Negro leader
filed notice of appeal.
★ ★ ★
In Anniston, a federal court jury
failed to agree on the guilt of seven
white men charged with burning a
“freedom riders” bus last May 17 and
U.S. District Judge H. Hobart Grooms
on Nov. 3 declared a mistrial.
Governments attorneys said the case
would be retried.
The FBI arrested one of the members
of the jury Nov. 28, on a federal per
jury complaint—that he had given false
information about Ku Klux Klan mem
bership during the selection of the jury.
Two members of the jury panel had
previously told the court of receiving
anonymous phone calls expressing in
terest in the case. Neither was seated
on the jury.
Another juror was excused at the
conclusion of the trial when he told the
court he had been contacted by masked
men at his motel the night before the
trial opened.
In the Colleges
Footballers Favor
Sugar to Rose Bowl
The University of Alabama’s national
football ranking brought speculation of
a Rose Bowl bid, but Coach Paul (Bear)
Bryant revealed the team had elected to
accept instead a Sugar Bowl bid if
offered. The Rose Bowl is at Pasadena,
Calif.; the Sugar Bowl is at New Or
leans.
The segregation controversy may
have figured in the decision. After Ala
bama seemed a probable candidate for
the Rose Bowl invitation, a committee
calling itself “Negro College Students
of Southern California” called for a
boycott of the game if Alabama played.
An article in the Daily Bruin, UCLA
student newspaper, said the committee
believes Alabama could use Rose Bowl
profits to further segregation at the
university.
Political Activity
Race Issue Again
Expected To Be
Campaign Feature
It was clearly evident in November
that the race issue would once again
be a major talking point in next year’s
gubernatorial campaign in Alabama.
Few of the candidates, announced or
unannounced, have been silent on the
issue which has figured prominently in
most political campaigns since the 1954
school decision.
Although the Democratic nomination
is traditionally equivalent to election
in Alabama, Julian Elgin, Montgomery
County cattle farmer, said Nov. 4 he
would seek the GOP nomination.
The people are ready for a two-party
system, Elgin said, and a factor has
been the Kennedy Administration’s
“contemptuous” treatment of Gov. John
Patterson on racial matters. “No one
FLORIDA
Negroes in Dade County Schools
With Whites Increase to 513
MIAMI
T he process of school desegre
gation in Florida continued
as the 1961-62 school term entered
its fourth month. In Dade County,
where nine schools had pupils of
both races, assignment of Negroes
to Earlington Heights Elementary
School continued.
At latest count, 435 Negroes were in
classes with 132 white children at
Earlington Heights. This raised the at
tendance at the officially desegregated
schools in Dade County to 5,443 white
and 513 Negro children.
There has been no desegregation
among the teaching staffs, and none is
contemplated for the present.
Even though the school district is
changing rapidly as Negro families re
place whites, a survey by the school
authorities indicated some white fami
lies would remain at least for the next
few years.
Officials said they are getting valua
ble data at Earlington on comparative
progress made by Negro pupils under
white teachers measured against pupils
at nearby all-Negro schools serving
children from the same environment
and economic background. They hope
to continue this experience as long as
possible.
In the case of Orchard Villa Elemen
tary, first Dade school to desegregate,
only white teachers were used at first.
When Negro pupils predominated, a
Negro principal and staff were as
signed. It is now a completely resegre
gated school.
Day-to-Day Review
The Dade school administrators re
view the assignment picture on a day-
to-day basis in changing neighborhoods
and expect the desegregation process
to continue as the racial complexion
of school districts alters. While no ad
ditional schools are likely to be deseg
regated this year, at least four are un
der consideration for desegregation
next fall.
Assignments will be made as early as
possible in order that families of both
races may know what to expect.
The influx of more than 10,000 Cuban
refugee children into the Dade schools
is believed by some school administra
tors to have eased desegregation. Some
Cubans are enrolled at every one of
the nine schools which have admitted
Negroes. The Cubans, in the opinion of
some teachers, have contributed to an
atmosphere of change. They come from
a country where there is no segrega
tion and were prepared to accept Negro
classmates without question. They
helped the regular pupils to accept the
situation.
The Cuban refugee problem is one
of the most difficult the school system
has ever faced. Additional children ar
rive at the rate equal to one additional
classroom every day. There is no end
in sight.
Unusual Situations
Following its policy of placing these
youngsters in regular classes, and giv
ing all instruction in English, the
schools have faced some unusual situ
ations. Many of these children do not
speak English and must be given crash
courses in the language. In some
schools with large refugee enrollments
(Riverside, a desegregated school, is 90
per cent Cuban), regular teachers are
assigned Spanish-speaking aides, often
refugee teachers, to ease the situations
arising from language difficulty.
The cost of this additional burden on
the school system is estimated at $10
million this year. The federal govern
ment is contributing $1.5 million plus
elected as a Democrat would have any
bargaining power on the national
scene,” Elgin said.
He referred to Former Gov. James E.
(Big Jim) Folsom, considered by many
the man to beat next year, as a “Martin
Luther King-size Democrat,” who will
probably get the Negro vote if he runs
in 1962.
As governor, Folsom entertained
Harlem Congressman Adam Clayton
Powell Jr. at the executive mansion and
soft-pedaled his comments on the race
issue. Many observers believe this may
work against him next year.
As if he were aware of this handi
cap, Folsom’s comments recently have
been closer than in the past to those
of other candidates on the segregation
issue. # # #
Florida Highlights
The number of Negroes attending
school with white children in Dade
County increased to 513 last
month. Most of the increase was at
Earlington Heights Elementary
School in Miami. There, about 150
additional Negroes were assigned,
giving the school an enrollment of
435 Negro and 132 white children.
A petition was filed with the Leon
County school board asking for ac
tion toward desegregation in the
state’s capital city, Tallahassee,
where there has been some racial
tension in the past few months.
Two additional school suits were
filed in federal court, raising the
number of active and inactive cases
to nine. Both were in booming
Florida counties—Brevard, site of
the missile base at Cape Canaveral,
and Sarasota on the west coast.
additional sums for special adult
courses in English.
The Cuban influx has helped push
Dade enrollment to an all-time high
of 178,220 and it will go considerably
higher this year. Florida’s total enroll
ment also was at an all-time high of
1,030,353 at the end of the first month
of school and will pass 1,100,000 in the
second semester.
Boards Under Pressure
With desegregation begun in five
counties and a sixth under court order
to desegregate next September, several
other school boards are under pres
sure to open white schools to Negroes.
Two additional court suits were filed
(In Brevard and Sarasota counties—
See Legal Action) and a written re
quest for an early start on desegrega
tion was presented to the Leon County
(Tallahassee) school board by the local
NAACP.
The Tallahassee move attracted more
than usual interest. Tallahassee, be
sides being the state capital, is the site
of both Florida State University and
Florida A & M University. There has
been considerable racial tension in the
past two years. Both sit-in demonstra
tions and “freedom-riding” activity re
sulted in arrests, including some stu
dents at both universities.
But Tallahassee has desegregated fa
cilities at its bus station and airport
after considerable controversy.
An NAACP spokesman said that if
school desegregation was accomplished
in this strategic city, the effect would
be felt throughout the state and would
hasten action elsewhere.
In its letter to the school board, Tal
lahassee NAACP President C. Kenzie
Steele asked that “a plan be devised
with all deliberate speed to the end
that our children may be admitted to
the schools for which they are quali
fied at the next school enrollment
date.”
Legal Action
Brevard, Sarasota
Counties Named
In New Lawsuits
Two additional school suits have been
filed in the federal district court, rais
ing the number of active or inactive
cases to nine. The defendants in the
new actions were the school boards of
Brevard County on the east coast and
Sarasota County on the west.
These are two of the fastest growing
in the state. Brevard, the county seat
of which is Melbourne, contains the
booming Cape Canaveral complex, the
center for Project Mercury and future
moon shoots. It also encompasses an
expanding space industry attracted to
the area by rocket and missile activ
ity.
Brevard County was recently desig
nated as a particular target by the
NAACP. In a statement, state leaders
said segregation in this area was espe
cially damaging to the nation, since it
was the center of world attention.
Sarasota is widely known as the for
mer winter home of the Ringling
Brothers circus and a center of artistic
and literary activity. A number of
well-known authors make their home
there. Sarasota also was selected re
cently as the site for a new liberal arts
college supported by the Congrega
tional Church and private interests, to
be known as New College and to be
operated without racial or religious
consideration.
The two petitions, prepared by Fran
cisco A. Rodriguez of Tampa and Mrs.
Constance Baker Motley of New York,
plaintiffs’ attorneys in several pending
cases, were identical. Both asked “a
permanent injunction enjoining de
fendants from continuing to pursue
their policy, custom and usage of oper
ating a compulsory biracial school sys
tem.” (In this context, “biracial” means
segregated.)
In both cases, the petition said:
“Plaintiffs have not exhausted the
remedies provided by the Florida pu
pil assignment law for the reason that
the remedy provided is inadequate to
provide the relief sought by the plain
tiffs in the case, and the Fifth Court
has held that said remedy need not be
exhausted prior to invoking the juris
diction of the court.”
The NAACP said both suits were
class actions by adult parents in be
half of minor children, and in behalf
of all other children in the counties
to whom the allegations were pertinent.
Got State Advice
There was no immediate reaction
from Sarasota school officials. Brevard
spokesmen said they already had dis
cussed possible defenses with the office
of the state attorney general and were
advised to answer that they were op
erating the schools under the assign
ment law.
They pointed out that although a pe
tition for immediate desegregation was
rejected some months ago, no Negro
had ever contested an assignment to
any specific school.
In five of the counties in which suits
are pending, there has been some de
segregation and in the sixth (Escam
bia) a plan has been approved to be
gin next fall. Only one—Duval
(Jacksonville)—still is contesting the
suit and has complete segregation.
In the Colleges
Biracial Policy
At USF Praised
State President
Success of the University of South
Florida at Tampa in accepting Negro
students in a routine manner and with
out publicity of any kind was praised
by Prof. Thomas Wenner, a member
of the faculty. Four Negroes were ac
cepted as undergraduates in Septem
ber and attended classes for several
weeks before they attracted any at
tention.
“We should have more Negro stu
dents,” Wenner told a Search For
Truth Forum on the campus. USF, he
said, by admitting Negroes, has “im
plemented the U. S. Constitution and
the 1954 Supreme Court decision re
lating to school segregation.”
The professor added: “Colored peo
ple, especially in the South, do not
press quite far enough sometimes. They
don’t reach out far enough. If they did,
their progress would be faster. We
don’t have forever in solving this mat
ter.”
Community Action
Stepup in Pressure
For Desegregation
Is Goal of NAACP
More pressure to bring about com
plete desegregation of Florida schools
was listed as a principal goal by the
Florida NAACP at its annual conven
tion in Jacksonville.
School segregation is the key to
racial discrimination of all kinds, said
the Rev. A. Leon Lowry of Tampa,
state president.
“There are more than 200,000 colored
boys and girls attending schools in
Florida,” he said. “Less than 500 are
enrolled on a nonsegregated basis. We
must encourage Negro parents to obey
the law by enrolling their children in
schools of their choice.” # # #