Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—MAY, 1962—PAGE 3
t School Systems Face
|jBig Decisions in Fall
I
By EMILE COMAR
NEW ORLEANS
In New Orleans, where the per
centage of Negro residents
limbs steadily and with increas
ing speed, two companion school
kystems face sweeping desegrega
tion decisions in September.
The public schools—housing 94,312
jpils—are under an order of the U.S.
istrict court to speed desegregation
egun in 1960. Now on appeal for a
[hearing, the order directs desegrega
tion of the first six grades.
; The Catholic high and elementary
schools—housing 48,079—will be deseg
regated in accordance with the decision
jif the Most Rev. Joseph Francis Rum-
mel, archbishop of New Orleans.
A look at the subtotals below the
»tal enrollment figures tells much of
these two schools systems which have
complemented one another, particular
ly in the postwar years when an ex
pensive Catholic building program re-
Seved much of public school housing
problems.
whites were not Negro.
New Orleans was disappointed in its
population figures at the conclusion
of the 1960 census because the total
population increase in a 10-year period
was only from 570,445 to 627,525.
Flight to Suburbs
A flight to the suburbs was due
primarily to the availability of mod
erate price housing outside the city
limits and not to the school desegrega
tion crisis, which didn’t reach a head
until 1960.
The desegregation has, however, been
a contributing factor since then as re
flected by withdrawals from public
schools.
The population increase of New Or
leans between 1950 and 1960 was 57,-
080. Of these, 52,300 were non-white
and 4,780 white.
Along with the steadily increasing
Negro population came a surge of
Negro public school enrollments and,
in 1956-57, the number of Negroes in
public schools for the first time sur
passed the whites.
But first a look at New Orleans today
and 20 years ago.
Here are the population figures.
1960
| 392,594 (62.6 per cent) white
234,931 (37.4 per cent) non-white
1950
387,814 (67.98 per cent) white
)r-| 182,631 (32.02 per cent) non-white
ols 1940
^ e j 344,775 (69.72 per cent) white
1011 149,762 (30.28 per cent) non-white
In New Orleans, the non-white pop-
ns ’ illation is almost totally Negro with
only a fraction of one per cent being
1S ‘ tlassed in other groups. For example,
in the 1960 census only 1,400 non
Ratio Changes
The white schools a decade ago—
in 1952-53—had 35,669 (51 per cent)
of the white school age children at
tending schools in Orleans Parish. To
day they have 38,217 (46.35 per cent)
of the white pupils. This represents
also a dropoff of 2t£ per cent since
desegregation of the first two schools
in November of 1960.
Correspondingly the Catholic schools
and private schools have shown steady
increases, not only since desegregation
but also over the 10-year period dating
back to 1952-53.
White pupils in Catholic schools now
outnumber the whites in public schools.
52-53
53-54
54-55
55-56
57-58
58-59
59 60
61-62
NEW ORLEANS SCHOOL
POPULATION
WHITE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
NEGRO PUBLIC SCHOOLS
WHITE CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
NEGRO CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
While the number of private schools
is still small, they house 5,226 pupils,
more than twice the number they did
10 years ago.
Here’s a look at figures compiled by
the Orleans Parish board last Oct. 18:
White School Enrollment
Public—38,217, 46.35 per cent
Catholic—39,010, 47.31 per cent
Private—5,226, 6.34 per cent
Negro School Enrollment
Public—56,095, 84.07 per cent
Catholic—9,069, 13.59 per cent
Private—1,558, 2.34 per cent
Though Archbishop Rummel’s order
affects his entire archdiocese—embrac
ing nine other civil parishes and part
of a 10th in addition to New Orleans—
the impact of his decision is on the
city.
Some believe that in 1956, when he
apparently was moving toward deseg
regation, he held back for fear of dis
turbing the delicate balance between
two giant school systems.
Each Affects.the Other
A desegregation decision in one sys
tem could mean a shift of school popu
lation to the other and neither is
equipped with either space or money to
shoulder a major new registration.
Catholic officials are encouraged by
advance registration figures that no
shift will take place in September,
even though Archbishop Rummel’s de
cision applies to both elementary and
high schools, while the federal court
order on public schools applied to
only the first six grades. Figures pre
sented by the archdiocesan school ad
ministration show:
• That in 152 of the 162 schools re
porting from around the archdiocese,
73,514 students were registered in ad
vance for September as compared with
an opening enrollment figure of 74,306
students for the same schools last Sep
tember.
• The number of high school stu
dents who registered in advance was
15,583, topping last year’s September
enrollment figure of 14,682.
Registrations Continue
Registrations continue throughout the
summer in some schools.
The public schools are not concerned
immediately with the junior or senior
high schools but with the elementary
schools.
According to the last population tab
ulation for New Orleans, 61,458 pupils
could be affected by the order to
desegregate the first six grades.
Of the total elementary children in
public schools, 40,348 are Negro and
21,110 are white. # # #
Louisiana
(Continued From Page 2)
following his excommunication, de
claring that the archbishop was at-
'•npting to “frighten or terrorize”
brents into continuing to send their
children to Catholic schools. He also
’■Hewed a claim which the chancery
°®ce says is not true—that support of
! he Church has dropped off sharply in
wake of the desegregation an
nouncement.
The real truth of this so-called ex-
ouimunication,” said Perez, “is the fact
■Oat our Catholic friends throughout the
jfthdiocese have learned first-hand
rotn many priests that their Sunday
flections have dropped to less than
Per cent of normal collections, and
nese friendly priests further advise
“at if this low rate of Sunday collec
ts continues or is further reduced,
j e archbishop’s integration order may
have to be recalled before pa-
° c riial schools open in September.
‘Advised by Friendly Priests’
l are further advised by friendly
_ - e sts who deeply regret the paro-
Ut- a l sc h°°l integration order that the
^utuhe of the vast majority of parents
L Parochial school children is that the
^ 0r aent any Negro children walk into
f Parochial schools the parents will
tgL
, 6 their white children out of the
I J °chial schools.
Vj fMsgr.) Plauche and other advisors
the archbishop realize this and the
reported excommunications of Mrs.
^ ai ’Tot, Jack Ricau and myself are
.^Ply a move to frighten or terrorize
t >aren -t- s °f parochial school children
“Uch will not work . . .
‘‘T
1 am a lifelong Catholic and will
.tinue to be so, regardless of Com-
-ftstic infiltration and the influence
the National Council of Christians
Jews upon our church leaders.”
Ricau said: “. . . I am at a loss to
understand on what grounds the arch
bishop renders his excommunication as
I have done nothing but fight for racial
integrity, as is my perogative under
the Constitution, and tell the truth
about the controversial, compulsory in
tegration movement.”
In a letter to the archbishop before
the excommunication announcement,
Ricau had held that integration was
not a church matter.
“I base my support of racial integrity
on the Constitution of the United
States,” he said, “the greatest document
of its kind ever conceived by the mind
of man and the fulfillment of four
thousand years of Caucasian manhood!”
‘God Rather than Man’
Mrs. Gaillot, who picketed the area
around the archbishop’s residence be
fore and after the desegregation direc
tive, said of excommunication:
“It is in the writings of the church
and in the Bible we must obey God
rather than man. The church has defi
nitely made a serious mistake in ex-
communicatitng me because of accusa
tions which are false.
“I have never received accusations
against my study of the Holy Bible. I
am appealing to the Vatican. I have
told Msgr. Plauche to tell his excel
lency I will give the Vatican the whole
story right up to when I am officially
notified of excommunication. I am quite
sure the Holy Father will see some
thing wrong.”
Rome Backing Reported
Frank Brutto, veteran Associated
Press correspondent to the Vatican, re
ported the same day that the Vatican
firmly backs Archbishop Rummel’s ex-
communication of the three segrega
tionists.
He quoted informed sources as say
ing that the fact that Archbishop Rum-
mel used his power to act on excom-
Miscellaneous
Ellis Takes Office as Federal Judge
Frank B. Ellis, New Orleans attorney
and former director of the United
States Office of Emergency Planning,
was sworn in April 16 at New Orleans
as judge of the federal court for the
Eastern District of Louisiana.
On the same day at Washington, the
man Judge Ellis replaces—Judge J.
Skelly Wright—was elevated to the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District
of Columbia.
Judge Ellis, who resigned his Office
of Emergency Planning post when
nominated by President Kennedy for
the judgeship earlier this year, said
that as a jurist he will be guided solely
by his oath of office, “with neither
antagonism shown nor friendship.”
He was welcomed by Judge John
Minor Wisdom of the Fifth Circuit
Court of Appeals and others. Judge
Wisdom noted he welcomed Judge Ellis
to “what I can only describe as not a
calm, placid and serene atmosphere.”
“The law of contempt,” Judge Wis
dom said, “is not made for the protec-
munication “indicates he probably had
no alternative.”
Archbishop Rummel in his 35 years
as a bishop of the church had never
before used the disciplinary action of
excommunication, but excommunication
was used seven years ago in Louisiana
in a racial incident.
Bishop James B. Jeanmard of La
fayette in 1955 excommunicated two
women who attacked the teacher of a
biracial church catechism class.
Less than a week later the excom
munication was lifted after, the bishop
said, they indicated their repentance.
Other Reactions
The reactions of Perez and Mrs.
Gaillot to the excommunication were
not confined to their issuance of state
ments immediately following the order.
On April 17, Mrs. Gaillot interrupted
a pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady
of Fatima in front of the Archbishop
Rummel’s residence. She sped on foot
past the women pilgrims, knelt before
the archbishop, and asked that he ad
mit he was wrong in excommunicating
her.
She asked for his blessing and added
quickly: But I am not apologizing.”
Archbishop Rummel, who had just
addressed the some 12 women at the
shrine, did not reply to Mrs. Gaillot
and at the urging of the pilgrims re
turned to his residence.
Pickets Nearby
Another group of women at the same
time were picketing on the sidewalk
nearby against the desegregation direc
tion of judges and provides no shelter
for federal judges sensitive to public
opinion.
“Judges are not entitled to any im
munity from criticism. In the arduous
task which lies ahead of you, of course
you must administer the law in an
independent manner according to your
conscience, this being a government of
law, not of men.”
The 55-year-old Ellis is a graduate of
the University of Virginia and of Lou
isiana State University. He is a former
Democratic national committeeman
from Louisiana and directed the Ken
nedy campaign in the state in 1980.
Gov. Jimmie H. Davis, whose admin
istration attacked Judge Wright on the
many desegregation rulings which
Judge Wright handed down in school
and voter cases, was present for the
swearing in of Judge Ellis. Others pres
ent included Louisiana Attorney Gen
eral Jack P. F. Gremillion.
At Washington, Judge Wright was
administered the oath by the nine
tive. One of the leaders of the picketing
group of eight persons was Mrs. Del-
phine Roberts, who also has been pick
eting City Hall in protest to President
Kennedy’s scheduled address May 4
on foreign policy.
Perez was principal speaker at a
meeting April 25 in a downtown
American Legion hall.
He charged that the Catholic hierar
chy is being duped into following
“atheistic advice.”
Perez said that “excommunication
can’t send you to hell, but integration
could send your children to hell on
earth.”
Contradicts Statement
He said Archbishop Rummel’s earlier
statement (in 1956) that segregation ; s
morally wrong is “the big he.” He said
further that “peace-loving people, good
Christians all over the world condemn
it (desegregation) as atheistic com
munism.”
L. P. Davis, Gentilly Citizens Coun
cil leader, urged support of a move for
private schools.
C. E. Vetter, officer of the Citizens
Council of Greater New Orleans,
called for contributions to stage future
rallies at Municipal Auditorium.
Another speaker was Rep. Rodney
Buras, a state legislator who was also
threatened with excommunication. He
told the group he would continue to
seek preservation of segregation but
that he would obey the laws of the
United States and of the Catholic
church. Buras was booed for his re
marks and cut short his speech.
members of the appeals court. He was
welcomed and presented his commis
sion by Attorney General Robert F.
Kennedy, who said Judge Wright had
served “with great honesty and integ
rity and tremendous courage” as a
district judge at New Orleans.
The 51-year-old Judge Wright, center
of controversy for several years in New
Orleans, succeeds Judge E. Barrett
Prettymrn of Virginia, who retired.
Judge Wright was honored at a tes
timonial in New Orleans during April
and a fellow jurist, Judge Herbert W.
Christenberry, said Judge Wright’s rec
ord had earned him profound respect
as a lawyer, judge and individual.
On his then impending departure,
Judge Wright, a native of New Orleans,
said: “I leave with no regrets. I
wouldn’t change a line of it.”
Speaks at Tulane
The jurist, who handed down the
order which resulted in the desegrega
tion of New Orleans public schools in
November of 1960, spoke April 5 at
Tulane University, saying he had
“grasped at” the opportunity of ad
dressing college professors and students
before leaving New Orleans.
He outlined his rulings over the
years, defended his decisions, and said
he felt all along that faculty members
and graduate students of the commu
nity have possessed understanding of
the racial problem—not only with re
spect to its moral and sociological im
plications but to its international and
political implications as well.”
“In the present great struggle be-
(See LOUISIANA, Page 4)
‘You—You—Dirty Double-
Crossers.”
! I >
Haynie, Louisville Courier-Journal