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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—DECEMBER, 1962—PAGE 9
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VIRGINIA
Negroes Enter All-White School
In Chesterfield by Court Order
RICHMOND
rpwo Negro children entered an
1 all-white school in Chester
field County Nov. 27, pursuant to
court order. (McLeod v. Chester
field County School Board.)
Chesterfield became the 31st Virginia
school district to have whites and Ne
groes attending public school classes to
gether.
Entrance of the two children into the
Ettrick Elementary School brought to
1,230 the number of Negroes attending
schools with whites in the state. There
now are 140 desegregated schools in
Virginia.
The order requiring the admission of
the two children was signed Nov. 15 by
federal District Judge John Butzner Jr.
at Richmond. The same order denied 15
other Negroes admission to the school.
The two successful applicants were
intervenors in the original suit filed last
Feb. 28 by the 15 other Negroes. The 15
had protested their transfer from the
Matoaca Laboratory School on the
West V irginia
(Continued From Page 8)
ly Negro) have risen 20 per cent in five
years, the lowest percentage increase
among the colleges. The percentage in
crease at other colleges during the
same period has ranged from 33 per
cent at West Virginia State (also a
former all-Negro school and with a
faculty which is predominantly Negro)
to 60 per cent at West Liberty.
★ ★ ★
Minister Discusses
Tensions, ‘Tokenism*
Racial tension and token desegrega
tion were probed by a visiting clergy-
m an Oct. 28 at the Simpson Memorial
Methodist Church (Negro) in Charles
ton.
Guest minister J. E. Lowery of Nash-
v |Ue, Tenn. (who was sued by the State
of Alabama for his desegregation
"ork), said the “holocaust” at the Uni-
versity of Mississippi may give rise “to
some voices of moderation in the
°uth.” He added with a smile that a
tuoderate” in Mississippi is considered
an “extremist.”
Lowery said Mississippi Gov. Ross
arnett is being condemned by much
the southern press for his actions
! n tue University of Mississippi situa-
10n , and advocates of law and order
I strength.
ccording to Dr. Lowery, the “dan-
ers of token desegregation are great-
s m such Southern states as Tennes-
Kentucky and Virginia. The
®tegy of token desegregation, he
s J\ ared > * s ^ or suck states to make
law ■ gestures at compliance with the
ln order to forestall pressure,
the V‘ eaded ^° r nonv i°l en t actions in
C j 7 t° r desegregation and criti-
jj^j. SUc h “hate” groups as the Black
s P eak er, Ur. S. J. Baskerville,
tj on ber the State Board of Educa-
Corn ari( f a lay speaker at Simpson,
Sc hoo] ented ^ a t the colleges and public
S kave stopped teaching Negro
Ke urged the congregation to
^tions^ ^ story through church pub-
r
^^unity Action
^ U *nan Relations
^*°Up Quarrels
a sk r l 6 5 * 0 n Mayor John Shanklin
r?t Urn ije ° ^ ok lbecker on Nov. 17 to
Cotpi},: as chairman of the Mayor’s
K -‘°n on Human Relations.
^°nth , e< j ker , resigned earlier in the
Cot)1 rnh- ° o*ing a dispute within the
^ nt r 0n on a resolution rejecting a
V( mt ° n that a conspiracy to pre-
^.tLoyrnent of Negroes exists
T} 1 l s ari awha Valley industries.
tL'°'wn :| rge was made by Willard
‘^ ad of the Charleston NAACP.
• e Ion d otkers in his organization
r h Neg r ° com plained that the failure
^ r9t tuati n ^ ° Un 2 s ters to find work after
' a det e ° t0m high school or college
II 'he s ^ ra ^t to racial desegregation
campus of Virginia State College (Ne-
I gro) and the Union Grove Elementary
! School to the new Ettrick Area School.
All these schools are attended by Ne
groes only.
In denying the admission of the 15,
Judge Butzner said he did so “in the
absence of proof that the transfer was
done to accomp
lish discrimina
tion.”
He said the
transfer was to fill
the school which
had just been
completed, and
that the school
adminis-
tration “must be
allowed consider
able latitude in
organizing and
occupying new schools.”
In addition to assigning the Negro
students to the Ettrick white school,
Judge Butzner directed the Chesterfield
School Board to prepare within 90 days
a desegregation plan for the 1963-64
school year.
The two successful petitioners are 12-
year-old Reuben Darrel Pierce, who
entered the seventh grade, and James
Brewer, 7, a second-grader. Their
fathers are faculty members at Virginia
State College.
The State Pupil Placement Board
earlier had turned down a request from
the Pierce and Brewer youngsters for
assignment to the Ettrick white school.
★ ★ ★
Prince Edward Appeal
Hearing Set for Jan. 9
j The Prince Edward County School
| Board on Nov. 7 filed an appeal from
the U.S. District Court ruling that the
county’s schools cannot be closed to
avoid desegregation while schools else-
j where in Virginia remain open. (Allen
i v. Prince Edward School Board.) The
Fourth Circuit Court set Jan. 9 to hear
arguments in the case.
The appeal also seeks reversal of Dis
trict Judge Oren R. Lewis’ ruling that
state-local tuition grants cannot be used
in Prince Edward as long as public
schools there are closed.
Negro plaintiffs already had filed an
appeal in the same case. They are dis
satisfied, among other things, with the
fact that Judge Lewis did not order
immediate opening of the county’s
schools, which have been closed since
1959 to avoid desegregation.
★ ★ ★
Unusual Side Issues
Arise in School Cases
Two unusual side issues ha e a isen
in connection with school desegregation
cases in Virginia.
On Nov. 16, during hearing of the
Powhatan school case (Bell v. Powhatan
County School Board), Negro attorney
S. W. Tucker of Richmond and Em
poria asked Federal District Judge
John D. Butzner Jr. to award him and
his law partner $5,000 in legal fees from
the Powhatan School Board, the coun
ty school superintendent, and the Vir
ginia Pupil Placement Board.
Tucker said Powhatan officials are
deliberately evading the children’s con
stitutional rights, and that the children
have no funds to employ counsel to
protect their rights.
A. B. Scott, counsel for the placement
board, said “On the score of the coun
sel fees, I don’t take it very seriously.”
The Powhatan case, in which three
Negroes are seeking admission to white
schools, was taken under advisement by
Judge Butzner following the hearing.
The second unusual side issue was
raised, also by Tucker, in the Prince
Edward case in the state courts (Griffin
v. Prince Edward County Board of Su
pervisors) .
Virginia Highlights
The number of desegregated
school districts in Virginia increased
to 31 as two Negro children entered
a formerly all-white school in Ches
terfield County.
Prince Edward County appealed
the Federal District Court ruling
that county schools may not be
closed to avoid desegregation as long
as other public schools in the state
are open, and the appeals court set
Jan. 7 as date for a hearing.
In a pleading filed Nov. 14 in the
Richmond Circuit Court, the Negro at
torney asked that the word “Negro”
and the phrase “Negro plaintiffs” be
stricken from all papers relating to the
case.
“Any reference to race ... is plainly
calculated to be and may well prove to
be prejudical,” he said.
The Griffin case is the one in which
the questions at issue are whether
Prince Edward County is required to
operate public schools, and whether the
state can open the schools if the county
does not. Hearings have been set for
Dec. 13-14 in the Richmond Circuit
Court.
★ ★ ★
Fredericksburg Suit
Taken Under Advisement
Following a hearing Nov. 18, Federal
District Judge John Butzner, took under
advisement a suit filed by six Negro
children seeking admission to white or
predominantly white schools in the city
of Fredericksburg. (Scott v. Fredericks
burg School Board.)
Nine Negroes are attending three de
segregated Fredericksburg schools, but
the six who brought the suit were de
nied admission by the State Pupil
Placement Board. E. J. Oglesby, chair
man of the board, told the court that the
applications were rejected because the
six children did not meet academic
qualifications.
The six children are seeking an in
junction to restrain Fredericksburg of
ficials from using race as a criteria for
barring Negroes from white or desegre
gated schools.
★ ★ ★
Thirty-eight Negro children filed suit
Nov. 28 in the U. S. District Court for
Eastern Virginia at Richmond seeking
admission to white or predominantly
white schools in King George County.
(Belton v. King George County School
Board.)
Twenty-nine Negro students are at
tending two desegregated schools in
King George, but the plaintiffs in the
suit filed Nov. 28 contend that racial
segregation is still a basic policy in the
county schools.
Miscellaneous
Council Urges End
Of School Closing
Directors of the Virginia Council on
Human Relations, meeting at Roanoke
Nov. 23, adopted a resolution stating:
“We are appalled at the continued
scandal of public schools closed for the
fourth year in Prince Edward County.
Action is urgently needed for the future
of the children of our schools and for
the sake of the reputation of our state.
We call upon all thoughtful citizens and
public officials, including the governor
of Virginia, to bring their influence and
authority to bear to correct this in
tolerable situation which is unparalleled
in the nation.”
Public School Desegregation in Virginia
1959-60*
1960-61
1961-62
1962-63
Desegregated Districts
6
11
20
31
Desegregated Schools
19
43
75
140
Negres in Desegregated Schools
103
211
536
1,230
*Deegregation began in Feb., 1959
Louisiana
(Continued From Page 5)
Teachers Association heard State Su
perintendent of Education Shelby M.
Jackson lash out at what he termed
three dangers to public education in
the state.
“Certain pressure groups are more
interested in selfish goals of political
and financial power than they are in
the education welfare of our children,”
he said, but he did not specify them.
Other hazards, Supt. Jackson said,
were “interference and control from
the federal level” and a “Communist
conspiracy to destroy our freedom.”
More Achievement
At the Negro Louisiana Education
Association session, Dr. Allison Davis,
professor of education at the Univer
sity of Chicago, said that each genera
tion of Negro children is showing
marked improvement in school
achievement and particularly in read
ing scores and IQ.
“When one compares similar eco
nomic levels of white and Negro chil
dren, there is very little difference now
between either their average reading
score or average IQ,” he said.
Dr. Davis continued: “At the rate
Negroes have been reducing the dif
ference in the last 25 years, there will
be no significant difference in another
25 years between the average IQ or
reading scores of similar socio-eco
nomic levels of white and Negro chil
dren.”
Another speaker at the LEA meeting
was Dr. Whitney M. Young Jr. of New
York, executive director of the Na
tional Urban League, who said “the
Urban League and teachers must work
together to make all forms of discrimi
nation a thing of the past, and by
working together promote better fu
tures and opportunities for our youth.”
★ ★ ★
At a session of the Louisiana Speech
Association, held in connection with
the LTA convention, Dr. Wayne Min-
nick, chairman of the speech depart
ment of Florida State University, said
it is “the tendency—especially in the
South—for the legislatures to dictate
to the universities.”
“He cited the University of Missis
sippi as “a prime example of what
happens when the legislature interferes
with the operation of a school.” He
added that 30 or 40 professors have
been dismissed recently from Southern
institutions because of outside pressure
stemming from their politics, religion
or opinions on desegregation.
Legislative Action
School Official Denies
Inequality in Supplies
“There is no discrimination because
of race or color with respect to the
amount or quality of supplies given to
the children in our school system,”
Supt. Lloyd J. Lindsey of East Baton
Rouge Parish asserted Nov. 5.
His statement was in reply to a let
ter of complaint by the Rev. Arthur
Jelks, NAACP chapter president,
charging that Negro children had not
received their state school books and
supplies. Jelks said that unless the
supplies were promptly received, the
Negro children would seek to enroll in
the nearest white schools.
Lindsey said in response: “The facts
are that there are 22 white schools
and 18 Negro schools which have not
received all of the books and materials
which have been ordered for them.
“If and when these supplies arrive,
they will be delivered to the respective
schools.”
Lindsey told Jelks that “your request
to transfer children from one school to
another because of the shortage of sup
plies in one school must be rejected
inasmuch as the request is based upon
misrepresentation and unfounded facts,
and because transfer would not elimi
nate the shortage of supplies to that
student. Therefore, any mass transfers
or demonstrations, as threatened in
your letter, are completely unnecessary
and uncalled for.”
Next day, Jelks said, “We want an
on-the-spot investigation of both white
and Negro schools the first week of
December.”
Leeal Action
Judge Ellis Rules
Tulane is Private
On Dec. 5, U. S. District Judge Frank
Ellis ruled that Tulane University was
a private institution and there was in
sufficient state involvement to bring it
under the 14th Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution.
Judge Ellis also held that the all-
white provisions of the Newcomb and
Tulane wills, which left money to the
school, were unenforceable. The ruling
relieved the Tulane trustees of any
compulsion to desegregate but left
them free to admit Negroes without
violating the terms of the wills.
Voters Endorse Tuition Grants
But Reject Bonds To Finance
Tuition grant provisions for pupils
attending private non-sectarian schools
were imbedded in the Louisiana con
stitution following the Nov. 6 general
election. But authority to issue up to
$20 million worth of bonds to finance
the program was denied.
The tuition grants, provision for
emergency amendment of the education
section of the constitution, and sub
stantial redrafting of the education
section itself were among the 32 propo
sitions approved by the voters out of
48 amendments proposed. This brings
to 429 the number of amendments
added to the Louisiana constitution
since it was rewritten in 1921.
Complete returns on the amend
ments with implications for the school
segregation-desegregation issue are as
follows:
Amendment No. 1, to authorize spe
cial elections for amending the con
stitution relative to education: 189,974
for, 119,854 against.
Two to One Against
Amendment No. 2, to authorize the
Louisiana Financial Assistance Com
mission to issue up to $20 million in
bonds: 99,820 for, 209,013 against.
Amendment No. 5, to provide finan
cial assistance for children attending
private nonsectarian schools: 176,302
for, 129,920 against.
Amendment No. 9, to prohibit ap
propriation of state funds to private
or sectarian schools: 174,547 for, 127,-
719 against.
Despite defeat of the bonding author
ity, the results are viewed as a public
endorsement of the state’s “freedom-of-
choice” plan. Under this procedure,
parents may apply for grants of up to
$360 a year to cover the cost of send
ing their children to private nonsec
tarian schools. (SSN, November.)
As originally conceived, the program
is financed by receipt of $200,000
monthly from the state sales tax.
“I think we can operate within our
present income, unless there is a mass
integration effort,” said James Foun
tain, director of the Financial Assist
ance Commission which administers
the grants-in-aid.
State Sen. John Garrett, chairman of
the Legislative Segregation Committee
agreed: “Unless we have a real school
crisis, we probably will have the money
to operate grants-in-aid. The bond
program was for an emergency.”
Analyzing the election results, Rep.
Garrett added that he thought the ab
sence of a pending desegregation crisis
led to rejection of the bonding authori
ty.
“I think the people just didn’t see an
immediate school crisis ahead and
didn’t see any need for the extra fi
nancial support now,” he asserted.
The state NAACP had advocated de
feat of all 48 amendments.
Status . . .
To keep fully informed on
school segregation and desegre
gation, read
Statistical Summary
The 1962-63 revision is ready
for distribution. Price $1 a copy.
Send your order to
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