Newspaper Page Text
MISSISSIPPI
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—FEBRUARY, 1963—PAGE 17
Month s Events Include U. S. Suits, Church Disputes
(Continued from Page 16)
ington, D C., which were to have been
held up as the show-case of integrated
public education in America,” the gov
ernor said. “We all know that educa-
3 jjgn has given away to unbelievable
* conditions that erupted in the Thanks
giving Day race riot between pupils
in the nation’s capital and caused all
athletic contests between Washington
schools to be cancelled.”
Barnett asserted that “in the face
of such chaotic conditions, that are
the direct results of forced integration,
the Justice Department continues to
wilfully disturb the education of
thousands of American children to
satisfy the political demands of fanat
ical minorities in the larger cities.”
“I deplore the effort in this suit to
further disrupt the education of our
children,” he said. “I shall co-operate
to the fullest extent with the school
officials and all citizens of Biloxi,
Gulfport and Harrison County to de
feat this action. We will resist this
■ happening to the schools and school
children of Mississippi, both white and
colored, with every resource at our
command.”
The Mississippi public school de-
segregatin suit was filed by Assistant
Attorney General Burke Marshall of
Washington; Southern District U.S At
torney Robert Hauberg of Jackson, and
Justice Department Attorneys St. John
Barrett and David H. Marlin.
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Defendants Listed
Named defendants in the suit were:
Biloxi board president J. A. Graves
and members Peter T. Kuljis, C. T.
Ewitzer, Richard Creel and Mrs. Dud
ley Andrew and Supt. of Education
Robert D. Brown.
Gulfport school board president
James Eaton and members Charles R.
Storey, Earl C. Gay, A. L. Greene, G.
N. Owen and Supt. of Education W. L.
Rigby.
The suit listed more than 50 allega
tions, including a description of the
public school buildings and the amount
of federal aid spent in their construc
tion. It noted that three schools in
Biloxi—Lopez elementary, Mary L. Mi
chael junior high and Jeff Davis ele
mentary—were completely financed by
federal funds.
The Justice Department suit stated
that although the school authorities had
given written assurance “that the school
facilties will be available to the chil
dren for whose education contributions
are provided on the same terms” that
>t had found that “voluntary compliance
was impossible.”
The two district judges in the South
ern District are S. C. Mize of Gulfport,
and Harold Cox of Jackson.
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Barnett, Johnson Hearing
heduled in New Orleai
Mississippi Gov. Ross R. Barne
ov - ^ul B. Johnson were :
le d to appear in the U. S. Fifth
ppeals >n New Orleans Feb
h„ij V . caUse why they should r
ari “ m cr uninal contempt for bl.
t 0 ,‘ Ssl T ° T n °f Negro James H. Me
we University of Mississippi.
J~rP- Jaworski of Houston,
name/ 111 ° f the Texas State Ba:
iornev S f ? eClal P rosec utor by U. 1
Worski 6neral Robert Kennedy
ne Vs ^ a t named because U. S.
The used as witnesses,
by siv ^now-cause” order was
of appeals^ 6 ^ judges of the
• ebarges are:
Prevent r 5 e ^r 25, G ° V ' Barn ett “w
ent erine James H. Meredith
Trustee! ** offi «s of the Bo;
beaming g, State In stitutions of 1
‘berateil 1 Jacks °n and thereb
enr °Uine P reven ted said Mereditl
as mand a !L a , Stud , ent in the Unit
• Xha, d ibe court.”
“acting ,^Pb 26 > Ut. Gov. Jc
Erection ?f e £. tke authorizatioi
Prevented ^° S , S Barn ett w
^*ford cam ere dith from enterii
a ‘ely prevent"^ 3nd tkereb y d<
rol bng as ® nt f d said Meredith fro
.*^on t de , nt in the Univer
Lt - Gov ?" ^ 27 ' Gov. Barne
^ensures ;? h " son “ failed to take
aw and orde ere necessar y to m;
diversity da " u Pon the campus
L? Ur age van- nd dld direct an<
^Way p" °P s state officials, inc
^ct and n?i men ^ sheriffs
Meredit h uno! I!"* the entl
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faded to 0CCUrr ed), Barnett
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Caught in a Knothole
Howie, Jackson Daily News.
federal criminal contempt charges.
However, several governors were jailed
by federal troops following the Civil
War.
★ ★ ★
What They Say
Open Schools Asked;
Pastors* Statement
Opposed by Board
The president of Mississippi’s largest
organization of business and profes
sional leaders and the pastor of the
state’s largest Methodist church have
issued statements that the public schools
and instiutions of higher learning must
remain open even if faced with de
segregation.
Their statements were followed by
one from the pro-segregation Citizens’
Council which noted “the appearance
of a few ‘moderates’ advising peaceful
surrender.”
Jack Reed of Tupelo, president-elect
of the Mississippi Economic Council-
State Chamber of Commerce, said in a
series of Citizen-Action Clinics that
“public schools and state colleges and
universities must be kept open with
no violence” despite likely new efforts
to desegregate them.
‘Forced Segregation’
Dr. W. B. Selah, pastor of Jackson’s
Galloway Memorial Methodist Church,
said “forced segregation is wrong” and
that “we should voluntarily desegregate
all public facilities.”
Dr. Selah’s statement, issued Jan. 7,
followed one by 28 young Methodist
ministers condemning racial discrimi
nation and opposing any public school
closures. One of the signers was the
Rev. Jerry Furr, associate pastor of Dr.
Selah’s church.
The positions expressed by Dr. Selah
and the Rev. Mr. Furr were followed
by an official statement on Jan. 14 of
the official board of their church. It
stated:
“The recently published statements
by the pastors of this church are their
personal opinions and are not neces- |
sarily the views and opinions of the I
individual members of Galloway Me
morial Methodist Church.
“It is not un-Christian that we prefer
to remain an all-white congregation.
The practice of the separation of the
races in Galloway Memorial Methodist
Church is a time-honored tradition. We
earnestly hope that the perpetuation of
that tradition will never be impaired.”
A week after Dr. Selah issued his
statement, he was stricken in his pulpit
with bleeding ulcers. He was unable
to complete his message and was taken
to a hospital.
It was while he was hospitalized that
his official Board of Stewards issued its
statement.
Bishop’s Statement
Taking cognozance of the controversy
stirred by the two statements, Bishop
Marvin Franklin and his cabinet of six
district superintendents of the Missis
sippi Conference, said in an official
communique Jan. 15:
“Tensions of many kinds are in the
world today, among them is that of
race relations. The ninth amendment
to the constitution of the Methodist
Church places racial relationships on a
voluntary basis. By the provisions of
this amendment, integration is not
forced upon any part of our church.”
The bishop and his cabinet also de
clared “anew our support of the doc
trines and historic positions of the
Methodist Church.”
Freedom for Trustees
In addressing the statewide “Citizen-
Action” clinics, the 38-year-old Reed
asserted that school trustees “must be
allowed to operate the institutions with
out being abused or interfered with by
citizens in or out of public office.”
“We must keep every school open
for just as long as we have teachers to
staff them,” the Tupelo business execu
tive said. “The hard fact is that inte
gration has been forced upon us once
and it will very likely be forced upon
us again.”
“As concerned citizens, we have a
personal responsibility to face up to
this situation,” he added.
“We must not directly or by implica
tion condone violence of any sort what
soever. We must insist on impartial ad
ministration of the laws. We must main
tain peace and order and insist that
our public officials, our neighbors and
our school children from kindergarten
to college do likewise.
Academic Freedom
“We must maintain academic freedom
under a responsible administration and
our public officials do nothing to inter
fere with the financial support or ac
creditation of our schools.
“We must maintain peace and order,
support public education and allow
educators to direct the schools and
institutions.”
Reed said he was “disturbed” over
reports that some members of the
chemistry department at the University
of Mississippi plan to resign due to the
controversy created in its desegregation.
“Mississippians need to keep cool
heads during this period,” he said.
Methodist Organization
Contradicts Ministers
The Mississippi Association of Meth
odist Ministers and Laymen said in a
statement Jan. 19 that “it is un-
Christian to endanger segregation.”
The statement was an obvious answer
to statements by ministers of the de
nomination criticizing racial discrimina
tion in the church and calling for
freedom of the pulpit.
A denomination-wide referendum
was suggested to determine whether
churches should be desegregated. No
action has been taken on the proposal.
The association was formed in 1951
“to curb the teaching of integration,
socialism and communism in Methodist
literature.” It is headed by Gamer M.
Lester, business leader of Jackson.
‘Legal’ or ‘Bootleg’
“We believe that legal segregation,
as established in the South, is superior
to bootleg segregation as practiced in
the North,” the association stated. “In
our observation, personal relations be
tween members of the two races are
far more friendly in Jackson, Miss., than
in Chicago, Ill.”
The association asserted that “we do
not believe it is Christian to endanger
a social institution such as segregation,
which has protected both races and
allowed both their fullest develop
ment.”
“We urge all integrationists to search
their consciences and to re-examine
their arguments,” the statement said.
“We believe they are pulling at one of
the pillars which support our nation
and civilization. We do not believe that
in doing this they are carrying out the
will of God.”
As to freedom of the pulpit, the
association said “it has been used to
gag criticism . . . but every minister
should and does have freedom to speak
his conscience.”
‘Conditions’ Cited
“But,” it added, “there are two con
ditions: (1), That what he says must
really proceed from his conscience, and
(2) that he must be ready to accept
the consequences if what he says of
fends the consciences of those to whom
he looks for support.
“Too many of the clergy seem servile
toward the episcopacy and supercilious
toward the laity. Too much attention
seems to be going to organizational
discipline, as if the church were an
instrument of social revolution or con
trol.”
On the heels of the association’s
statement, the Rev. Roy C. Clark, pastor
of Jackson’s Capital Street Methodist
Church where Lester is a member said
in a Sunday sermon Jan. 13:
“It is clear the main issue in our
church and state is no longer segrega
tion or desegregation. The main issue
is: Do ministers and laymen have the
right to freely discuss the merits and
demerits of segregation and related
subjects without reprisal or intimida
tion?”
He also asserted that “no vote is
necessary to determine that the ma
jority of Mississippi Methodists prefer
at this time to maintain segregation.”
Walker, Six Others Freed of Charges
In Connection with Oxford Disorders
Federal charges against former Maj.
Gen.Edwin A. Walker and six other
persons arrested in connection with
desegregation riots at the University of
Mississippi last October have been
withdrawn. The action was in federal
district court at Oxford on motion of
Northern District U. S. Attorney H. M.
Ray.
Federal District Judge Claude Clay
ton dismissed the charges after the
Lafayette County grand jury adjourned
without indicting the seven. The ac
tion was taken Jan. 22.
Judge Clayton granted the dismissals
“without prejudice,” which means the
charges could be reinstated at any time
before the statute of limitations expires
in five years.
The rioting erupted the night of Sept.
30, 1962, when Negro James H. Mere
dith appeared on the University of
Mississippi campus under protection of
30,000 federal troops and 500 U. S.
marshals for enforcement of a federal
court order for his enrollment.
The federal government had arrested
General Walker in Oxford the day
after the riot on charges of insurrection,
seditious conspiracy to impede and in
jure officers of the United States and
assaulting, resisting and impeding of
ficers.
Gen. Walker denied the accusations.
As an army officer, Gen. Walker di
rected federal troops in Little Rock,
Ark., during the 1957 high school de
segregation crisis. He resigned from the
army after a controversy over troop
indoctrination programs in Europe.
In a statement at Dallas, Gen. Walker
said:
“I am glad to be vindicated by a
Mississippi grand jury.”
The grand jury panel of 23, all white,
indicted four persons in connection with
the campus rioting in which two men
were killed. They were:
Melvin Bruce, 35, of Decatur, Ga.;
Phillip Lloyd Miles and Kline Lamar
May, both of Prichard, Ala., and Rich
ard Hays Hinton of Lucedale, Miss.
Other than Gen. Walker, charges
were dismissed against:
Frank Lamar Ott and Joseph Vutrer,
both of Kentwood, La.; Edward Louis
Shade of Atlayum, Miss.; Robert Black-
ard of Memphis; William Gilbert Marr
of Olive Branch, Miss., and Charles
Clark of Prentiss, Miss.
Proper Place for a States
Rights Governor Who
Violates Constitutional Rights
The Rev. Mr. Clark pointed out that
under the church constitution the
churches of Mississippi cannot be de
segregated until a two-thirds majority
votes for doing so.
“Plainly put,” he said, “each Chris
tian, layman and preacher, has the
right to follow his Christian conscience
and to work for his convictions in
proper ways, but this right does not
include the right of reprisal or intimi
dation. We are in deep trouble when
men fear to speak their own minds on
matters of serious public and moral
concern.
“I ask you to respect the Christian
conscience of the other man. Let us
give every man the credit for being
sincere in his Christian convictions. Let
us not accuse him of being the dupe of
anyone else.”
★ ★ ★
Citizens’ Council Magazine
Comments on ‘Moderates’
The January issue of The Citizen,
monthly magazine of the prosegregation
Citizens’ Councils of America, states
that “among the interesting develop
ments arising from the attempt to in
tegrate Ole Miss is the appearance of
a few ‘moderates’ advising peaceful
surrender.”
“It reminds one of the old darkey
who said to the wriggling catfish, ‘now
just you lay still, little catfish, all ah
wants is to gut you.’ ” the article said.
“Perhaps the explanation for their
(moderates) seeming blindness to real
ity lies in a definition we heard the
other day: ‘A moderate is for segrega
tion, but he’s chicken.”
The “official expression of opinion”
of the councils continues with this
statement:
‘Utter Futility’
“Will the ‘moderates’ never learn?
Their advice is not new. Its utter
futility had been demonstrated over
and over.
“Perhaps the clearest example is in
Washington, D. C. There was no re
sistance when President Eisenhower
ordered the Washington schools inte
grated in 1954. The results have
become a national scandal.
“If the Deep South should submit to
integration, as the ‘moderates’ advise,
by what magic formula do they think
Mississippi or any other Southern state
could avoid the same chaotic violence
which afflicts our nation’s capital like
a cancer?
“But by some strange inversion of
logic, the ‘moderates’ unthinkingly re
peat the propaganda line laid down
by the integrationists. They erroneously
equate integration with peace, and
segregation with violence, when the
experience of mankind proves just the
opposite to be the case.
‘Desperate Extremity’
“Of course, no responsible person
wants violence. It is an unpleasant
remedy to which people resort only
in a desperate extremity when all else
has failed.
“On this point, the position of the
Citizens’ Council has been made clear
in the past, but we will restate it here:
It is to prevent violence by preventing
integration.
“But there is a point beyond which
even the most judicious restraint be
comes cowardice. To say that there
would be no violence under any cir
cumstances whatsoever is like President
Kennedy’s assuring Khrushchev that the
United States would not invade Cuba.
“These ‘moderates,’ who have never
resisted integration in the first place,
now merely encourage the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People and other race mixers
to redouble their efforts. And by so
doing, they invite the dangers of Wash-
ington-style racial chaos and violence
to spread into the Deep South.”
Status . . .
What does the record show?
II
How many? Where?
•:P
p
Answers to many questions about
segregation-desegregation in Southern
schools are found in the SERS statisti
cal summary.
Figures up-dated tor the 1962-63
school year. Price $1.
I*:
Send your order now to South
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Box 6156, Acklen Station, Nash
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