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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—AUGUST, 1962—PAGE 9
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33 Districts
Plan To Begin
Desegregation
(Continued from Page 1)
year, and additional assignments of Ne
groes to biracial schools are planned this
fall.
Dade County (Miami)—Five more
formerly all-white schools will be de
segregated this September, including the
county’s largest high school. Changing
neighborhoods are expected to increase
the proportion of Negroes in several
schools desegregated in earlier years.
* Escambia County (Pensacola)—The
county school board already has as
signed 29 Negro children under the
State Pupil Assignment Law to attend
12 schools with whites. On July 24, the
U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals re
versed the District Court’s approval of
the plan and called for elimination of
the dual school system beginning with
the first two grades in 1963.
Hillsborough County (Tampa)—The
county reportedly plans to desegregate
several schools this year after having
admitted one Negro to each of two
schools during the 1961-62 term.
* Monroe County (Key West)—Al
though county officials have made no
official announcement, they are expected
to assign Negroes to schools with whites
this fall to avoid a federal court suit and
loss of federal “impacted area” aid
funds.
Georgia
Atlanta has approved the transfer of
44 Negroes to schools with whites this
year, and four of the eight Negroes who
completed the school year in biracial
schools will return, making 48 Negroes
in 11 formerly all-white high schools.
The 11th and 12th grades were desegre
gated last year, and the 10th grade will
be added this fall. The Atlanta Arch
diocese, with 6,900 white and 735 Negro
children in its schools in a 71-county
area, will desegregate in the fall. Six
Negroes have been accepted for the
Catholic high schools and five Negroes
for the elementary ones.
Kentucky
* Ballard County—The county Board
of Education has voted to desegregate
Ballard Memorial High School this fall.
The county has no Negro high school
and the Negroes had been transported
to Paducah Lincoln High School.
Bourbon County—Desegregation will
be increased this fall to include about
110 Negroes.
Carlisle County—About 22 Negroes
will enter schools with whites for the
first time. The county previously has
been desegregated in policy only.
* Lyon County—The school board
has announced a desegregation policy.
Maysville—The district has announc
ed plans to extend the amount of de
segregation.
* Ohio County—About 65 Negroes
will be involved in the county’s first
desegregation.
* Providence—Desegregation will be
gin this year at the high school level
only.
* Scottsville—About 50 pupils will be
involved in the district’s first desegrega
tion, covering all grades.
Louisiana
New Orleans public schools will have
wore Negroes in schools with whites
mis year, but the exact number is un
known. The city had 12 Negroes in bi-
r acial schools last year. During the
school registration recently conducted
y the Orleans Parish board, 141 Ne
groes applied to attend 18 previously
all-white public schools next fall, and
another 92 Negroes registered for first
grades in six schools desegregated ear-
ler - On Aug. 6, a federal appeals court
extended a district court order which
ad called for complete desegregation
j. me first grade only. The new order
rrected desegregation of the first three
grades in the fall. The city’s Catholic
schools are scheduled to begin deseg
regation this year, but church officials
ave not released any figures.
Maryland
Calvert County—School officials an
nounced a desegregation policy in 1956,
u the first actual desegregation will
cur in September when three Ne-
roes enter a high school with whites.
aroline County—A desegregation
P°ucy has existed since 1956, but the
rs Negro transfer to a formerly all-
£ a jj e school has been approved for this
yicomico County—Formerly desegre-
n policy only, the county has as-
gned 75 Negro elementary children to
e formerly all-white schools.
North Carolina
_ ^keville—Using a new geographical
ignment plan, the board assigned 32
, src ! es to two previously all-white
°°ls, compared to five Negroes last
year.
* Brevard—Eight Negroes have been
assigned to the j unior and senior high
grades for the town’s first desegrega
tion.
Chapel Hill—The home of the Univer
sity of North Carolina has expanded
desegregation by placing assignments
in the first six grades on a geographical
basis. Elementary schools desegregated
last year with only the first grade on a
geographical basis.
Charlotte—The board has relaxed its
assignment policy this year and assigned
414 Negroes to biracial schools, com
pared to 27 last year. Most of the Negro
assignments — 371 — are to Bethune
school, from which all but 40 whites
already have been granted automatic
transfers under state law.
* Fayetteville—Six Negroes have
been assigned to three formerly all-
white schools.
* Goldsboro—One Negro has received
permission to transfer to Goldsboro
High School, for the community’s first
school desegregation.
Raleigh—The state capital, which had
one Negro in biracial classes in 1960-61
and eight in 1961-62, has assigned 37
Negroes to formerly all-white schools
in the fall.
* Salisbury—The first biracial school
will open in September when three Ne
groes enter an elementary school.
Tennessee
* Bristol—The district will begin
voluntarily a grade-a-year plan.
* Chattanooga—The first three grades
are scheduled for desegregation by
federal court order.
* Dickson County—Three grades will
be desegregated under a grade-a-year
plan adopted voluntarily.
* Franklin—The Ninth Special Dis
trict will begin voluntarily a grade-a-
year plan.
* Hamilton County—The school board
announced it would voluntarily deseg
regate the first three grades, keeping
pace with the Chattanooga desegrega
tion.
Knoxville—Under federal court order,
Knoxville has agreed to accelerate its
desegregation plan to include the first
four grades this year instead of only the
first three.
Knox County—The county system
will meet voluntarily the increased de
segregation of Knoxville schools by ad
mitting Negroes with whites in the first
four grades.
Memphis—The U.S. Sixth Circuit
Court of Appeals has ordered a speed
up of desegregation, but school officials
have indicated they would be unable to
submit a new plan before the fall term
begins.
* Obion County—Under a U.S. Dis
trict Court ruling in 1961, the county
has accepted 75 Negroes for classes at
five previously all-white schools.
Texas
4 Cisco—The town’s first desegrega
tion will start in September at the high
school level.
* Eastland—The school board decided
to voluntarily desegregate all grades at
the beginning of school.
Fort Worth—A 1961 court order by
U.S. District Court is under appeal, and
the school officials have stated they
would hold any desegregation plans
until after the hearing by the U.S. Fifth
Circuit Court of Appeals, scheduled for
October and after the opening of
school.
* Goree—Desegregation is scheduled
to begin in this Knox County commun
ity-
* Kyle—The town, in Hays County,
recently voted to admit Negroes with
whites, although the schools had no
Negroes enrolled last year.
* Morton—The Cochran County town
will desegregate voluntarily in Septem
ber.
* Pettit—Public schools in the dis
trict, located in Hockley County, will
desegregate for the first time in Sep
tember.
* Roaring Springs—The voters ap
proved a proposal to abolish segregated
schools. The system had 180 whites and
32 Negroes last year.
* Whiteface—Another Cochran Coun
ty community decided to desegregate
in September. The public school en
rollment last year included 400 whites
and 20 Negroes.
Virginia
* Amherst County—The State Pupil
Placement Board has assigned six Ne
groes to two formerly all-white schools.
* Augusta County—The State Pupil
Placement Board has assigned three
Negroes to Beverly Manor Elementary
School, one each in the second, fifth
and seventh grades.
Charlottesville—One of the first Vir
ginia districts desegregated, the school
system has been ordered by a U.S. Dis
trict Court to assign 10 more Negroes
to biracial classes.
* Fredericksburg—The Siate Pupil
Placement Board assigned seven Ne
groes to two schools.
* King George County—The State
Pupil Placement Board assigned 28 Ne
groes to three schools.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Civil Rights Skirmish Subsides
As Senate Kills Two GOP Riders
WASHINGTON
A n abortive civil rights skir
mish flared up in the Senate
July 20 but quickly subsided when
the Senate shelved two Republi
can attempts to tie anti-segrega
tion riders to the appropriation
bill for the Labor Department and
the Department of Health, Edu
cation and Welfare.
Sens. Jacob K. Javits (R-N.Y.) and
Prescott Bush (R-Conn.) led the de
segregation effort with amendments
aimed at racial bars in federally-sup-
ported hospital construction and im
pacted area schools. Southern senators
took no part in the debate but put in
an appearance when it came time to
vote.
Senate Majority Leader Mike Mans
field (D-Mont.), who earlier this year
led a civil rights effort to remove lit
eracy test requirements in voter regis
tration, himself moved to table the
riders. He argued that they had no
place in an appropriations bill.
Javits moved first to bar use of $226,-
220,000 of Hill-Burton hospital money
provided in the bill for construction of
hospitals or facilities “which are segre
gated on account of race, creed or col
or.” His amendment was tabled by a
vote of 37 to 33.
Bush tried to amend the section pro
viding $282,322,000 for so-called im
pacted school districts—those which
serve large numbers of children of
military personnel or federal employes.
His amendment provided that no pay-
“Boy, Ah’m Afraid Y’ Jus’
Don't Know Yo’ Place”
D. C. Highlights
The Senate shelved two Republi
can attempts to tie anti-segregation
riders to a Labor-HEW appropria
tions bill. The action seemed to end
any likelihood of passage of civil
rights measures in this Congress.
Anthony J. Celebrezze, former
mayor of Cleveland, was appointed
Secretary of Health, Education and
Welfare, succeeding Abraham A.
Ribicoff.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King
said President Kennedy has failed
to take “a vigorous stand” on de
segregation. The President countered
that his Administration “has taken
a whole variety of very effective
steps.”
Sen. Olin D. Johnston was ac
cused of attempting to block the
nomination of Thurgood Marshall,
former NAACP counsel, to a fed
eral circuit judgeship.
The first Negro member was
named to the District Apprentice
ship Council, which has been under
fire for alleged discrimination in vo
cational training programs.
Haynie, Louisville Courier-Journal
* Loudon County—The district will
| have four Negroes in two previously
I all-white high schools following as
signment by the State Pupil Placement
Board.
Norfolk—The district had 46 Negroes
successfully complete the 1961-62 term,
and 63 have applied to attend biracial
schools next term.
* Portsmouth—The State Pupil Place-
I ment Board assigned eight Negroes to
I four formerly all-white schools.
Prince Edward County — Public
schools have been closed since 1959 but
a U.S. District Judge has ordered the
district to submit by Sept. 7 a plan to
re-open the schools on a desegregated
basis. The district has 1,400 white and
1,700 Negro school children.
* Princess Ann County—The State
Pupil Placement Board approved the
| transfer of 38 Negroes to two formerly
all-white schools.
Richmond—A total of 127 Negroes
are scheduled to attend biracial schools
in 1962-63, including 10 ordered admit
ted by U.S. District Court in July.
Roanoke County—The district will
| increase the desegregation pace under
| federal court order by establishing bi-
! racial classes in the first, seventh and
eighth grades.
* Winchester—A U.S. District Court
ordered two Negroes admitted to a
j formerly all-white school and the State
; Pupil Placement Board assigned two
more Negroes to the same school. A
zone assignment plan approved later by
: the school board was expected to in
crease to 17 the number of Negroes in
biracial classes.
West Virginia
Logan County expects to complete
its desegregation program this year.
The state has desegregation policies in
all 55 districts having both Negro and
white students, but only 44 districts
have complete desegregation. # # #
ment go to “a local educational agency
which operates and maintains segre
gated public schools.” It was tabled 37
to 34.
Seventeen Democrats voted with 17
Republicans against tabling the Bush
amendment. But 31 Democrats and six
Republicans voted to kill it.
Showdown Vote
In the showdown on the Javits
amendment, 17 Democrats lined up with
16 Republicans against shelving. But
seven Republicans and 30 Democrats
voted “aye.”
Javits told the Senate that the Ad
ministration could end discrimination in
federally-supported programs if it
wished. He said $562 million has been
allotted to Southern states for hospital
construction under the Hill-Burton
Act, but that the separate-but-equal
doctrine, struck down by the Supreme
Court in the 1954 school desegregation
decision, is embedded in the act.
“Of all the cruel aspects of segre
gation, I can’t think of one more cruel
than this one,” Javits said.
Mansfield said the Justice Department
and other agencies have initiated moves
designed to bring about compliance
with the school desegregation decision.
The Senate action on the two anti
segregation riders indicated that, bar
ring developments, there will be no
civil rights measures enacted in the re
maining weeks of this session of Con
gress.
Sees Possible 'Damage’
Senate Democratic Whip Hubert H.
Humphrey (Minn.) said July 29 that
some Democratic liberals “may have
done irreparable damage” to the civil
rights cause by sponsoring the month’s-
end filibuster against the Administra
tion’s communications satellite bill.
Humphrey, himself a leader in the
civil rights bloc, attacked his colleagues
for trying to block Senate consideration
of the satellite measure instead of aim
ing their fire at the bill itself once it is
formally up for debate.
“Those of us who have fought for
civil rights have always fought obstruc-
CELEBREZZE
tionist tactics to bringing the bills up,”
Humphrey told reporters. “Once they
are up, we have never objected to ex
tended debate on the merits.”
He said the filibuster on the commu
nications satellite measure could hurt
civil rights proponents by undermining
the liberals’ usual opposition to such
delaying tactics by Southern senators.
Ex-Mayor Installed
As HEW Secretary
Anthony J. Celebrezze, 52, former
mayor of Cleveland, was sworn in July
31 by President Kennedy as Secretary
of Health, Educa
tion and Welfare.
He succeeded Ab
raham A. Ribicoff,
who resigned from
the Cabinet July
13 to run for the
Senate from Con
necticut.
Celebrezze,
named by the
President July 15
and quickly con
firmed by the
Senate, made no immediate statements
on HEW problems and policies. Among
issues he inherited from his predeces
sor is a departmental decision to curtail,
effective in the fall of 1962, some of the
federal assistance going to “impacted”
school districts which continue to prac
tice racial segregation.
On July 2, when he still was mayor
of Cleveland, Celebrezze sent an angry
letter to J. W. Oakley Sr., mayor of
Centreville, Ala., chairman of the Bibb
County Citizens Council and editor and
publisher of a weekly Centreville news
paper. Celebrezze’s letter was in reply
to a statement published by Oakley with
respect to “reverse freedom riders” dis
patched from Alabama to Cleveland.
Letter to Editor
“My first reaction to your communi
cation was to merely tell you to go to
hell,” Celebrezze wrote. “However, be
ing schooled to show respect for my
fellow man, I shall not do so.
“It is unfortunate, indeed, that in this
great day and age, you and the people
around you should be so full of bias
and prejudice as to indict every indi
vidual of a particular race. May I sug
gest to you that, when you begin to feel
that you are a little better than your
fellow man, you should pause and re
flect for a moment and you will come
to a determination that you had nothing
to do with what you were bom to, the
place in which you were bom, the par
ents you were born to or the color of
your skin.
“If you are in a little better status
and class than the other fellow, you
can only thank the Almighty because
you might have been born the other
fellow.”
★ ★ ★
First Negro Appointed
To Apprenticeship Group
Appointment of the first Negro mem
ber to serve on the District Appren
ticeship Council was announced by the
District Commissioners July 27. He is
Robert L. Wearring, 44, president of the
Building Laborers Local 764.
The council, with three members from
(See D. C., Page 12)
King Says JFK Has Failed
To Take 6 A Vigorous Stand’
The Rev. Martin Luther King, Negro
desegregation leader, said in a Wash
ington television interview July 22 that
President Kennedy had failed to take
“a vigorous stand” in seeking civil
rights legislation.
Dr. King said the President “has cer
tainly done a good job in some areas
of civil rights,” but “on the other hand,
there are things to be desired.”
Dr. King made specific reference to
a long-delayed executive order barring
racial restrictions in federally-assisted
housing, and added:
“I think he could do a little more in
the area of moral persuasion by occa
sionally speaking out against segrega
tion and counseling the nation on the
moral aspects of this problem.”
Asked to comment on Dr. King’s re
marks at a July 23 press conference,
president Kennedy said:
KENNEDY KING
“I made it very clear that I am for
every American citizen having his con
stitutional rights and the United States
Government under this Administration
has taken a whole variety of very ef
fective steps to improve the equal op
portunities for all Americans and will
continue to do so.”