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% Factual 6.1 ■ re fficv r o» A| 5 a; the i ft r e* it s he: :re: mo: mut aso: 3 th Sou: : rt Mot las cot orot Str i h root be ext Citj te, c regi- squi [ fix Yo. ing- jO' Soui n r\ w VOL. 9, NO. 7 ■bit H tho; ?oir !COJ ed 50UTH_CAROU Leaders U Calm As Suits Near Decision VO * SN 3H J.V SNOIS I A I 0 SNOlilVinoOV S3l«Vb8n VIOHOIO JO A IN n Z 8002-H-29 wnr iool News / Objective SEE JANUARY, 1963 COLUMBIA T he voice of restraint, of moderation, was heard in South Carolina with increasing frequency as legal moves con tinued against operation of raci ally segregated public schools. Even as attorneys for state-sup ported colleges and secondary schools struggled to keep South Carolina schools segregated, state officials, school leaders and editorial writers sounded the call for public calm and order in the event desegregation is ordered. At various stages during December were lawsuits attacking segregation at Clemson College, the University of South Carolina and three school dis tricts (see below). Barnwell County Sen. Edgar A. Brown, dean of the State Senate, chairman of its powerful Finance Committee and a life trustee of Clem son, made this statement on Dec. 18: “We are not going to close Clem son. The people of South Carolina and the student body have too much sense. The board of trustees and the admin istration have enough sense to know that if we win, we win—and if we lose, we lose.” Sen. Brown also said no violence would be countenanced at Clemson. Byrnes’ Statement James F. Byrnes, also a life trustee at Clemson, a former U. S. senator, U. S. Supreme Court justice, “Assist ant President” under Roosevelt and S. C. governor, said he was not ready to admit that Clemson would lose the current case in which Negro Harvey B. Gantt seeks admission to Clemson. Byrnes suggested that an appeal to the U. S. Supreme Court was possible if the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has promised to review the Gantt case in January, were to rule against the college. Byrnes was the first to suggest publicly that an appeal to the highest court was contemplated in the Gantt case. “However, should the Supreme Court decide against Clemson,” Byrnes aaid, “there would be sufficient time to decide the course of action.” Other Trustees Other Clemson trustees contacted ''ere firmly behind Sen. Brown’s stand tbe school would remain open. The most outspoken was Charles E. aniel, a Greenville building execu tive who once served as U. S. senator. ( an j e l said: “I am absolutely opposed o closing Clemson under any circum stances. I don’t agree with the law j. . desegregation decision) but the law and we must-abide by it. e want to avoid any tragedy like -Mississippi ... and we aren’t nnch now.” Jftf Quattlebaum .Tr. of Charleston e thought it was the “unanimous iment” of the boa rd .that Clemson g at - e Pt open in the event of desegre- ]„_■ , n ' " e suggested, however, that a we action might alter this, (bee SPEAKERS, Page 15) We are a great state going to get in the This Issue Sta »e Rep ( lorts ^kbama . m •‘•'Kansas . 3 Delaware 7 Florida ° f C ° 1Umbia i 10 Georgia . 2 f-entucky ........ 7 6 Yjaryland JS^ppi 12 v. . Ur i ?klahoma rolina yC 1 1 * t V rtf M C hCar °i« a ' ^nnessee f e *as W, fginia $ 651 Virgin^' Pecial Articles . l . 5 . 4 .14 . 7 Q, i C2 re f\ tio * ^d Politics x ^nfere^f ? 9 at Nashville ....14 *°°ks ‘ference PRISON OF SCHOOL DESEGREGATION Southern & Border States 59-63 Prepared by Southern Education Reporting Service Negroes Enrolled In Public Schools Negroes Enrolled In 77 Desegregated Districts Negroes In Schools jB 1 With Whites KEY i 59-60 — 2 — 1 60-61 School Years 61-62 62-63 — 0 MISSISSIPPI Meredith May Withdraw At Mid-Term, He Says JACKSON J ames H. Meredith said on Jan. 7 he had decided against registering for the second semes ter at the University of Missis sippi “unless very definite and positive changes are made to make my situation more condu cive to learning.” He issued a written statement which brought an immediate appeal from U. S. Attorney General Robert F. Ken nedy for state and university officials to “take appropriate steps” toward meeting Meredith’s conditions. Meredith, the Negro who brought Mississippi’s first educational desegre gation in October, had indicated lasf month that he was determined to re main a student in the institution. In his announcement, he emphasized that his decision was solely against “Ole Miss” next semester “under present circum stances”—not against ever seeking to at tend again. Text of Statement Here is Meredith’s statement: “For sometime I have considered my course of action for the future. There are many factors, many issues, many aspects, and equally as many conse quences. “I have decided not to register for classes during the second semester at the University of Mississippi unless very definite and positive changes are made to make my situation more con ducive to learning. This decision was based on a consideration of all the ele ments pertinent to the ‘Mississippi crisis’ at its deepest meaning and of all the aspects of my personal relation ship in it, with it, and to it. “It should be noted that I have not made a decision to discontinue my ef forts to receive educational training at the University of Mississippi. Rather my decision is not to attend the univer sity next semester under the present circumstances. ‘. . . A Bitter War . . .’ “We are engaged in a war, a bitter war for the ‘equality of opportunity’ for our citizens. The enemy is deter mined, resourceful, and unprincipled. There are no rules of war for which he has respect. Some standard must be set. Some pattern must be established so that those who are fighting for equality of opportunity and those who are fight ing for the right to oppress can clash in the struggle without disaster falling upon either group. Presently, there is too much doubt and uncertainty re garding the procedure to be followed in settling our problems. No major is sues have been decided legally or offi cially, illegally or unofficially. (See MEREDITH’S, Page 8) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Rights Commission Urges End to Delay WASHINGTON T he “prompt and reasonable start” toward public school desegregation called for by the Supreme Court in 1955 now means “immediate placement of some Negro students in some white schools,” the federal Civil Rights Commission said in a study pub lished Dec. 1. “The time for community prepara tion has passed,” the study declared, “and an eight-year history of resistance or indifference to compliance with the law of the land no longer serves as an excuse for delay.” The study also found that: • Pupil assignment acts appear to be losing their effectiveness as a defense against desegregation. • Local delaying tactics, including grade-a-year assignment plans, are no longer generally accepted by the courts. • Some federal courts are no longer enforcing requirements that Negro plaintiffs exhaust all possible legal remedies before filing suit for deseg regation. The 217-page Commission report, “Civil Rights U.S.A.: Public Schools Southern States 1962,” was written by law school faculty members and con tains chapters on Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. A companion volume on Northern cities was published at the same time. In publishing the reports, the com mission said it believes studies of “smaller areas in greater depth” than it had made previously “would lead to better understanding of the deseg regation process and its problems.” Trend of Decisions An introduction by the commission’s staff, which called for “immediate placement” as a “prompt and reason able start” toward desegregation, noted that the trend of federal court deci sions during the past year has been to strike down “unconscionable” de laying tactics by local boards. “Until this year, the pupil placement acts were relatively successful when proferred as desegregation plans,” it said. However, last March the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that Memphis could not use the Ten nessee pupil placement act as a deseg regation plan. A similar finding had been made by the Fifth Circuit court. “The pupil placement acts have been held invalid as desegregation plans be cause they manifested a continued pol icy of segregation even though they did not expressly incorporate race as a factor in pupil assignment,” the report said. “If this is a trend, it threatens the last strong artifice of segregation.” However, the report added, pupil as- POLITICS IN 1962 Race Issue Leads in Deep South S CHOOL DESEGREGATION Was a major political issue in the Deep South during 1962. In other Southern and border states it at tracted diminishing public atten tion, or none at all. There was evidence that attitudes toward segregation-desegregation have been a factor in an apparent trend toward political realignments in some parts of the region. For the first time since the Civil War, Republican candi dates for statewide offices showed strength in the Deep South. This is attributed at least partly to feelings against Democrats who have held of fice during the federal government’s movements seeking desegregation. Biracial Schools Main Alabama Political Issue In Alabama biracial schools re mained the top political issue. Alabama has no biracial education at any level, although the University of Alabama is under court order to admit qualified Negroes. Gov.-elect George C. Wallace placed WALLACE the school desegregation issue above all else in his successful election cam paigns. In his campaign speeches, Wal lace criticized the federal judiciary and promised personally to block Negroes from entering school buildings. Wal lace and Ryan deGraffenried last May 1 were thrown into a Democratic pri mary runoff election after eliminating former Gov. James E. (Big Jim) Fol som and several other candidates. Wallace held a first-primary lead of 45,000 votes over deGraffenried, who was critical of “hot heads and loud mouths” although he asserted his be lief in segregation. Folsom endorsed deGraffenried, but Wallace won the nomination in the runoff on May 29 by more than 70,000 after continuing to excoriate the U. S. courts for up holding desegregation. Winning easily in the Nov. 6 general election, the incoming governor con tinued to inveigh against both the pro ponents of desegregation and the “moderates” who late in the year called for peaceable approaches to federal- state differences as to race relations. The immediate issue was the admis sion policy at the state university, but efforts to obtain desegregation of pub lic schools for the first time were un der way in the courts. Wallace Supports Barnett Wallace, who succeeds John Patter son in the governorship, has strongly supported the stand of Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett in opposing admission of James Meredith to “Ole Miss.” Major national attention was cen tered on the near-victory of a Republi can, James D. Martin, Gadsden busi nessman, over incumbent U. S. Sen. Lister Hill, a 39-year Democratic vet eran in Congress. Martin campaigned (See SCHOOL, Page II) D. C. Highlights A report of the U. S. Commission on Civil Rights said “immediate placement” of some Negro students in formerly white schools is now the only acceptable answer to the Su preme Court’s call for a “prompt and reasonable start” toward desegrega tion. President Kennedy said the course he pursued in the University of Mis sissippi desegregation crisis was the only one possible in the circum stances. The state of Mississippi asked the U. S. Supreme Court to review and reverse lower court find ings in the case of James H. Mere dith. A Houston lawyer was appoint ed to represent the government in the criminal contempt case against Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett. Rep. John Bell Williams (D-Miss.) called for a congressional probe of racial disorders that followed a Thanksgiving Day high school foot ball championship game in the Dis trict of Columbia Stadium. For the first time in eight years, the District’s non-public school en rollments showed a slight increase. signment laws have been held valid on their face in two other circuits, the fourth and eighth, covering Virginia, the Carolinas and Arkansas. Relax Requirements “Perhaps ‘he most significant devel opments in the current law of desegre gation,” the study noted, are steps tak en by the Fourth Circuit Court of Ap peals to relax its requirements that Negroes must exhaust state adminis trative remedies before seeking deseg regation in a federal court. The report also pointed out that the Fourth Circuit court last year allowed Negroes in Lynchburg and Roanoke, Va., to bring “class suits” for desegre gation. The significance of this lies in the fact that if the Negro plaintiffs win their case, other Negro children in the school system “do not have to follow individually the labyrinth of adminis trative steps in the pupil placement act.” This position also has been taken by the Fifth and Sixth Circuit courts. Citing an appellate court decision that Knoxville, Term., did not show good faith in presenting a grade-a-year plan and must therefore desegregate more rapidly, the commission studv said: “The Knoxville case and sever- ers derided in 1962 give ri Kr ference that perhaps the . ing on grade-a-year plans.” Highlights of States These were among the higt'igh' the state reports: -r • Kentucky (by L.f Knowles, University School of Law)—Althou tudes have changed in years, and now ± og»ri’ gregation as an inevitable process, segregation persists because there is no one—in many communities—to initiate deseg regation action. “Local school administartors are not willing to risk the political unpopularity which would fall to them if they initi ate desegregation. Even in the school districts which will accept Negro ap plicants in white schools there is little publication of the policy, and no en couragement of Negro applicants. Here again, to give any suport to desegre gation is thought a politically unwise act. “Negro parents and community lead ers have been hesitant to request de segregation. The fear of economic or other reprisals, perhaps justified eight years ago, still carries over, even though the climate of the community may have changed. Negro teachers, high in the respect of the Negro com munity, generally have not furnished leadership in school desegregation.” In the absence of Negro efforts to initiate desegregation activity, “a sub stantial amount of segregation will probably continue.” (See CIVIL RIGHTS, Page 12)