Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—SEPTEMBER, 1962—PAGE 17
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NORTH CAROLINA
Chapel Hill Refuses To Change Boundary
Putting White Pupils in Negro Schools
WINSTON-SALEM
harlotte schools opened Sept.
3 with 16 white students at
tending the Negro-staffed Beth-
une School. Dr. A. Craig Phillips,
superintendent of the Charlotte-
Mecklenberg County School sys
tem, reported that 11 white chil
dren will remain at the school
during the 1962-63 school year.
This will be the first time reverse
desegregation has taken place in North
Carolina. This is the result of the school
system’s new geographical school as
signment system.
Last year, Bethune School, named
for Mrs. Mary McLeod Bethune, a Ne
gro, was operated with an all-white
staff with a majority of white students.
It is located in a community that is
changing from white to Negro.
Originally, Dr. Phillips said, about
60 white children and 371 Negro chil
dren were assigned to Bethune. Actual
enrollment was 11 white children and
409 Negro children.
Other Assignments
About 40 Negro children are assigned
to predominantly white biracial schools
in Charlotte-Mecklenberg. Two more
Negro children were expected to be
assigned to a previously white school.
Of opening week, Dr. Phillips said:
“We had a normal opening of school.
There have been no incidents. We are
very pleased with the acceptance by the
community of our new assignment pro
cedure.”
Roland McKnight is principal of
Bethune School.
Of the white children originally as
signed to Bethune, the majority re
quested transfer in accordance with the
North Carolina Pupil Placement Act,
which permits automatic transfer from
racially mixed schools. Others moved
from the community.
A more exact figure on enrollment
of white children in Bethune probably
Alabama
(Continued From Page 15)
lower court that the allegations raised
no federal question and said the case
is “nothing more than a family squab
ble among Negroes of mixed blood in
the Reeds Chanel area.” Neither Brown
v. Board of Education nor other cited
racial discrimination cases were perti
nent, the court found, since none “au
thorizes colored people to litigate in
federal courts controversies of this
character among themselves.”
The case should be handled, the court
said, bv the Board of Education under
the Alabama School Placement Law
and by the state courts. The majority
decision was written by U.S. District
Judge Dozier DeVane of Tallahassee,
Fla., and concurred in bv U.S. Circuit
Judge Ben Cameron of Meridian, Miss.
Judge Warren L. Jones of Jacksonville,
Fla., dissented with the brief comment:
It must be admitted that appellant's
complaint is inartfullv drawn. It does,
however, assert that the appellant was
denied readmission to a public school
because of his race. I think the com
plaint was sufficient to withstand a
motion to dismiss and so respectfully
dissent.”
At the time of the expulsion of Reed,
Reeds Chapel was listed as a white
school.
^ hat They Say
Paper Believes
Decision Means
‘Year of Grace’
^e Birmingham News, commenting
°n Judge John R. Brown’s opinion in
3 ,. ■ Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
j' u hng, quoted key sections of the opin-
° n and concluded, “The Texas Judge
^ en * on v *rtually to settle the Birming-
arn cases in so many words in ad
vance .
r ^ le News pointed to Judge Brown’s
a ement that “a plan of desegrega-
10n mus t be offered or the district
°urt will fashion its own plan;” to his
c erence to there being no doubt about
gregation ; n Birmingham; to the
finn Se “ non ' exi stent defenses”; and,
ally, to his observation that Judge
ynnes October hearing date meant
ere w °uld be no desegregation in
will be known at the end of the month.
It was indicated that some white chil
dren (three or four) who requested
transfer from Bethune may want to
return.
★ ★ ★
White Parents Thwarted
In Zone-Change Efforts
White parents of the Chapel Hill
school district were thwarted in a
three-pronged attempt to change the
boundaries of two predominantly Negro
school areas to exclude whites.
The Chapel Hill school board refused
to take action on three petitions that
would take most of the white families
from the districts of the Frank P.
Graham and Northside schools.
The parental actions were taken as a
result of Chapel Hill’s geographical dis
tricting of elementary schools, grades
1 through 6, approved by the school
board in July. Under this plan, an
eight-point school assignment program
was set up.
This also meant that at least 70 white
children would be assigned to the two
predominantly Negro schools, and at
least 80 Negro children were assigned
to white schools. Since then, the school
board has received 71 requests for
transfer of white children from the
Graham school. Included in this total,
however, were 20 for children not even
assigned to Graham. One Negro child
has asked reassignment to a Negro
school.
The deadline date for reassignment
was Monday, Sept. 10, opening day for
school in Chapel Hill.
Errors Corrected
Although petitions for boundary
changes were not acted on, the school
board did correct errors made in the
original setting of school boundaries.
The board also enacted this rule:
• A child granted reassignment shall
remain in the school to which he is
reassigned so long as his residence and
the district lines remain the same or
until he completes the grades included
in that school.
All three petitions for boundary
changes were presented by parents who
preferred Carrboro to Graham or
Northside schools.
The first, submitted by Mrs. Elizabeth
McMahan, represented an area that in
cluded 305 residents. Her petition, she
said, represented the thinking of 59
white parents who did not want their
children to attend Graham and six Ne
gro parents who wanted their children
to go to Carrboro.
Property Values
Gordon Fisher presented the second
petition, which he said represented 50
white families, including 32 children
assigned to Northside. Signers included
non-parents who were worried about
property values. He reasoned:
“The area in which we live and own
property is the business and industrial
core of the town of Carrboro. We feel
that it would be mutually injurious to
us and the town for our area not to
be included in the Carrboro district . . .
Our children have easier, closer and
safer access to the Carrboro School
than to any other. . . .
“My effort is not to stir up a big
Birmingham for “yet another year.”
Said the News:
“It seems obvious, if this opinion is
read correctly, that he does see an al
most certain desegregation order by
the fall of 1963.
“This language, as it may be inter
preted, means Birmingham has one
year of grace . . .”
Warns City
The News warned Birmingham that
the city would do well “to heed and
prepare,” concluding:
“It will not be possible later to claim
‘rush,’ nor is likely later appeal for
delay to prepare would win sympathy
from a court already lenient as to tim
ing, a court making the future prob
ably predictable not only by past rul
ings in other cases, but in the meaty
concurring footnote by Judge Brown ...
“It is folly for city officials, school
people or public to refuse to face the
record.”
The News also reminded readers that
the courts have held that a placement
law, which Alabama has had since
1955, “is not a desegregation plan.” If
the local authorities don’t provide a
plan, the News observed, the courts
will. # # #
stink, but just to help the school board
help us. I feel the present school district
line is splitting the community right
down the center. I’m interested in the
betterment of real estate.”
He added that Mayor C. T. Ellington
of Carrboro, who lives in the area in
question, signed the petition.
Third Petition
The third petition, presented by Mrs.
William Crabtree, represented an area
with “very few Negro families.” It in
volved white parents of 34 elementary
school children and 18 pre-school chil
dren.
These parents, she said, will request
reassignment from the Graham School.
She said they sought a change in school
boundaries to save time and money in
volved in reassignment.
The school board named a special
committee to study the three petitions.
When the board met, the subject of the
petitions was not placed on the agenda.
Instead, the board reported that it had
made corrections in the legal descrip
tions of school boundaries.
Schoolmen
Appeals Rejected
By Raleigh Board
In Heated Session
While Negro youth picketed on the
outside, and a past president of the
local chapter of the National Associa
tion for the Advancement of Colored
People protested on the inside, the
Raleigh School Board denied the ap
peals for nine Negro children to be
transferred to white schools.
The denial came on Aug. 7, when the
board was scheduled to hear appeals
for 24 Negro children denied transfers
to predominantly white schools in July.
At that time, meeting in closed session,
the board had voted the transfer of 37
Negro children to white schools and
turned down transfers for 36 others.
Only parents of nine Negro children
appeared at the appeals session.
Mayor W. G. Enloe of Raleigh, who
is chairman of the school board, pre
sided. After starting with an open meet
ing, the board went into a closed session
when the discussion became heated.
In the closed meeting, the board re
jected the nine appeals and did not
act on the cases in which the parents
did not appear. The board also trans
ferred one Negro to a white school in
a separate action and rejected three
other Negro requests for reassignment.
Words Exchanged
After a routine opening, the meeting
exploded when Ralph Campbell, a past
president of the NAACP and father of
two of the nine children making ap
peals, and Mrs. J. L. Stough, only wom
an member of the board, exchanged
words.
Parents of the Negro children appeal
ed their cases on these points:
• The children will have to compete
in an integrated society as adults.
• Negro children should have the
same preparation as white children.
• Attendance at integrated schools
will better prepare Negro children for
the future.
Personality and Grades
The board at its first assignment
meeting reported that it had considered
personality and grades of children in
volved in making its reassignments.
Campbell protested this reasoning
when he stated his case. He said, “I
don’t think there is a man at this table
who can tell me the personality of my
children.”
He further stated that he saw white
parents ask a white principal for re
assignment and receive their request
on the spot.
The board denied such practice, but
Campbell loudly insisted that he saw
it. Mrs. Stough defended the board:
“I don’t care what you say you wit
nessed, it is not true.”
Mayor Enloe and other board mem
bers joined the discussion. Campbell
added:
“Are you saying what’s best for the
student or only what’s best for the stu
dents in segregated schools? I assume
you’re saying a segregated school is
best for the Negro child.”
At this point, a motion to meet in
executive session was adopted, and the
board took its final action in a closed
meeting.
On the outside, a dozen or so Negro
students picketed the school board. Or
ganized by J. M. Jones, an insurance
man, students carried signs calling for
“reassignment by locality and not by
personality” and “no more token inte
gration.”
Raleigh is scheduled to open the 1962-
63 school year with a tentative count
of 47 Negroes in desegregated schools.
★ ★ ★
Lumberton School Admits
Indians for First Time
A “normal opening” was announced
by Dr. L. Gilbert Carroll, superintend
ent of schools in Lumberton. The Lum
berton Junior-Senior High School ad
mitted seven Lumbee Indians to classes
for the first time in a school of 1,200
children.
The opening of school climaxed a
summer-long fight by the Indians for
admission to Lumberton city schools.
The Lumberton school board, however,
denied entry of 15 other Indians to ele
mentary schools.
This area, Robeson County, is known
for its four-way segregated schools—
for whites, Negroes, Indians and mixed
blood Smilings.
Wilmington Pupil’s Transfer
Brings First Desegregation
Wilmington became the first eastern
Carolina city with a desegregated
school on Aug. 7 when the New Han
over County School Board voted unani
mously to transfer Aaron Adel McCrae
from Williston Junior High School for
Negroes to the white Chestnut Junior
High School.
The only other community east of Ral
eigh, the state capital, to desegregate its
schools is Fayetteville. In July the Fay
etteville city school board approved the
transfer of two Negro children to a
white school.
Most of the Negroes of North Caro
lina live in the eastern half of the
state, which is largely rural farmland.
The industrial Piedmont area, which
includes Charlotte, Greensboro and
Winston-Salem, located in the central
part of the state, has taken the initiative
in desegregation.
Although the New Hanover County
board approved Aaron McCrae’s trans
fer, it denied reassignment of his two
sisters, Denise and Jacquile, to Chest
nut Junior High with their brother.
★ ★ ★
Cumberland County Board
Denies 14 Reassignments
The Cumberland County Board of
Education denied reassignment of 14
Negro children to attend two white
schools, 11 from the Negro Lewis Chap
el School to attend Spring Lake School
and three from Ann Chessnutt High
School to attend Pine Forest Hill
School.
(This action differed from that of
Fayetteville which has approved two
Negro children for a previously all-
white school. Fayetteville is in Cum
berland County.)
Chairman Bruce McFadyen of the
county board said the action would he
reviewed. A 32-member special com
mittee had been announced for the
study of the transfer requests.
Most of the children seeking transfers
live near Fort Bragg.
F. D. Byrd, superintendent of Cum
berland County schools, was questioned
two hours by Arthur Lane, attorney for
the Negroes, and Coy Brewer, lawyer
for the schools.
He said a three-member board com
mittee recommended the action because
the Spring Lake school was over
crowded.
After much questioning on the issue,
Byrd finally told Lane that he (Byrd)
makes no “recommendations to the
board in matters of reassignment.”
★ ★ ★
Requests for Desegregation
In Forsyth Are Withdrawn
The Forsyth County school system—
separate from that of the city of Win
ston-Salem—had its first desegregated
classrooms this past summer when two
Negro students attended summer school
with 200 white children at Mineral
Springs High School.
There will be no desegregation during
N. C. Highlights
At least 11 white children will
attend a predominantly Negro
school, staffed by Negroes, in Char
lotte through the 1962-63 year.
Attempts to alter school attend
ance boundary lines in Chapel Hill
to take white children out of areas
assigned to two predominantly Ne
gro schools were thwarted when the
city school board refused to act on
three petitions suggesting such
changes.
The Raleigh city school board de
nied all appeals for further deseg
regation of schools. Negro parents
protested, and young Negroes pick
eted.
The New Hanover County school
board broke the color line by assign
ing a Negro boy to white Chestnut
Junior High School, but refused to
assign his two sisters to the same
school.
Petitions to desegregate schools in
Forsyth County were withdrawn be
fore the school board could act. Two
Negro students attended summer
school with 200 whites this summer
at Mineral Springs High School.
Asheville city schools are com
mitted to a three-grades-a-year de
segregation policy.
Negroes lost in court action seek
ing to desegregate elementary
schools of Yancey County. Federal
District Judge Wilson Warlick gave
the county board until the 1963-64
school year to desegregate its ele
mentary schools.
Thirty-six Negro students filed
suit with U.S. District Court in
Asheville seeking entry in Transyl
vania County white junior and sen
ior high schools.
the regular school year, however. Par
ents of a first-grade Negro boy with
drew their petition for reassignment
Aug. 21 shortly before the county school
board was scheduled to meet and act
on the request.
Earlier in the month, the parents of
another Negro child withdrew a sim
ilar request. Both families wanted their
children to attend the Clemmons School,
near their homes, instead of the all-
Negro Carver Consolidated School.
The board appeared to be favorably
inclined toward desegregation before
the withdrawals. Originally, the board
was scheduled to act Aug. 13, but only
three of the five members reported to
the meeting. The meeting was reset for
Aug. 21.
Program Praised
School officials had praised the Min
eral Springs summer school program
for harmonious race relations. Often,
white students had given the Negro
students rides to downtown Winston-
Salem.
The board did not release the name
of the family involved in the Aug. 21
withdrawal. It appears that the family
decided against reassignment after the
first family decided not to seek a
transfer.
Clemmons School is about 15 miles
from Carver Consolidated where all
county Negro children are assigned to
grades 1 through 12. Although city
schools in Winston-Salem have been
desegregated since the 1957-58 school
year, all county Negroes outside the
city have continued to attend Carver.
County Negroes, however, attend the
city-county-operated industrial educa
tion center on a biracial basis. The
center has been desegregated ever since
it opened in 1960.
★ ★ ★
Asheville Board Announces
Three-Grades-a-Year Plan
Asheville committed itself to a three-
grades-a-year school desegregation
plan Aug. 7 when the city school board
revealed its program during a discus
sion with a Negro parent whose child
was denied a transfer to a white school.
At this meeting, the board assigned
27 more Negro children to predomi
nantly white schools. The Asheville
desegregation census now stands at 59,
with 40 Negroes at Claxton School and
19 at Newton School.
During the 1961-62 school year, Ashe
ville’s first in desegregation, five Negro
children attended Newton and none at
tended Claxton.
All 59 Negro children assigned to
predominantly white schools are in
grades 1 through 6.
The board’s planned desegregation
program was stated in a discussion in
volving a Negro parent, Otho Bowen,
who was denied a request to have
his son, Reece, an eighth-grade student,
(See NORTH CAROLINA, Page 19)