About Southern school news. (Nashville, Tenn.) 1954-1965 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1963)
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—MAY, 1963—PAGE 9 MISSISSIPPI Legislative Investigating Group Charges ‘Brutalities’ by Marshals (Continued From Page 1) dispatch of 30,000 federal troops and 556 United States marshals to Oxford for enforcement of the court order. The committee charged that the “556 specially deputized marshals followed a pattern of brutalities—including the detention of 100 people in a garage adjoining the soil sedimentation labora tory of the Soil Conservation Service near the campus—clubbings and man handling.” It charged that a disabled former serviceman was denied medicine and that many prisoners were forced to spend hours on a concrete torture slab without food and water.” “Many students were seized, incar cerated in the Lyceum building base ment and there hit with clubs, beaten with fists, kicked and spat upon by the marshals,” the report alleges. ‘Management of News’ Chairman Fox said “it took weeks of investigation for the committee to learn the facts concerning the brutalities be cause the Department of Justice suc cessfully concealed the actions of its marshals from the press and other news media by its management of news at the university.” He asserted that the “occupation of the campus” on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 “was officially designated ‘Operation Rapid Road’ by the federal authori ties.” “The occupation was upon the direct orders of Attorney General Robert Kennedy under the personal supervis ion of Deputy Attorney General Nich olas de B. Katzenbach, assisted by Ed Guthman, publicity director for the De partment of Justice, Chief United States Marshal James McShane, John Dear- Norbert Schlei and other members of the staff of the Department of Justice,” the committee report stated. State Attorney General Joe T. Patter son has written the investigating com mittee of his willingness to prosecute the matter and present the findings to proper grand juries if the names of the witnesses and those accused are filed with him. Patterson said District Attorney Jesse L. Yancey has joined him in his offer. ★ ★ ★ Report Branded ‘Untruthful’ by U. S. The federal Justice Department in a Washington release April 24 branded a Mississippi legislative committee’s c harges of brutality by United States marshals in the University of Mississip pi rioting as “untruthful.” If right and justice are on the side °, “ le - committee as it claims, then it is s ocking to us that facts would be dis- rted or ignored and incidents manu factured,” the department said. “The act that the committee did not inter- ew any objective observers who were j n er ®’ much less the federal officials volved, is an indication of the accur- and fairness of this report.” e department said the report “con- tains no names or facts that could be checked by anyone.” jjj., appeal's to us that this committee is Tv n° some self-examination. There Pm® 8 40 ver y little possibility for of ® ress and understanding among all if as a people in this difficult field h e ^j? > ? ns *kl e local officials put their ratv,- ® the sand and manufacture Tj, r ^an face the facts.” Was * “ e P artm ent denied that news Hen SUp P resse d, asserting that “news- '*ishedl^ re * ree t0 go where they ^i°t Reported by Newsmen s°, Ca i l fjl t:r ange indeed that none of the file sev brutalities were reported by tttg nj ® ra ^ hundred newsmen, indud- radio a a ^ rom southern newspapers, Hessed tu te ^ evi sion stations who wit- 'kpartm 6 riot an d its aftermath,” the Pews,- sa id. “On the contrary, the Md P ra ised the marshals’ courage Of^M SS under fire.” building raar shals around the Lyceum 27 Wound j 8< ! Were injured, including said, e by gunfire, the department rt turn’.i* 1 “the marshals did not V S ^Ptured partm ent said the marshals wfio werp 3 ? Ut ^9 youths and adults tae *n “ U a ttack ing them and placed of th er T in a basement ^ e Lyceum building because i “The ”, 0 i . place else to put them.” ut Wer e n ltlons were not the best, °t nearly so bad as those Mississippi Highlights The General Legislative Investi gating Committee accused federal marshals in the University of Missis sippi desegregation of “brutality” and charged the Department of Jus tice with suppressing news of it. The Justice Department denied the alle gations, accusing the committee of “manufacturing incidents.” District court hearings on three public school desegregation cases were delayed until May. The U.S. Supreme Court post poned until October arguments on whether Gov. Ross Barnett and Lt. Gov. Paul B. Johnson are entitled to a trial by jury on criminal contempt charges for defying federal court orders for admission of Negro James Meredith at the University of Missis sippi. Lt. Gov. Paul B. Johnson de fended Citizens’ Councils in a state ment denying they had lost their “voice” with the Sovereignty Com mission, the state’s pro-segregation agency. the marshals had to undergo. Many of the marshals went without food and sleep far longer than any of the prison- ers. The department said “other persons were arrested by soldiers and national guardsmen. In all, about 300 persons were taken into custody, ranging in age from 14 to 57. On Oct. 1, the prisoners were removed from the Ly ceum building to the airport. Some were kept in a garage building. By the afternoon of Oct. 2, all but a handful had been released. “Before being released the prisoners were questioned by agents of the FBI and complaints were filed against 13 men (four of these later were indicted by a federal grand jury).” The department’s statement stressed the violence of the attacks upon the marshals, asserting that vehicles were raced at them full speed and that they were attacked with gunfire, bricks, bot tles, rocks, acid, pipes and Molotov cocktails.” Committee Members Members of the permanent Missis sippi General Legislative Investigating Committee making the report were: State Rep. Russell Fox of Claiborne County, chairman, and member of the legislature since 1936. He is a livestock breeder. State Sen. George Yarbrough of Red Banks, newspaper general manager and cattleman, and the state’s No. 3 official as president pro tern of the Senate. He was Gov. Ross Barnett’s personal rep resentative on the Ole Miss campus Sept. 30. He has served one term in the House and is on his second four- year stint in the Senate. State Sen. Dennis Baker of Bates- ville, an attorney with 12 years legisla tive service. State Rep. Luther Sims of Lowndes County, a legislator since 1944 and an attorney. State Sen. Frank Barber of Hatties burg, an attorney, serving his first term in the legislature and a close personal Community Action and political friend of Lt. Gov. Paul B. Johnson, also of Hattiesburg. State Rep. Walter Hester of Adams County, a merchant and Gov. Barnett’s House floor leader. He has been in the House since 1952 and accompanied Gov. Barnett on one of his block-Meredith missions to the University of Missis sippi campus. ★ ★ ★ Senators Ask Probe By State, U.S., Juries Mississippi’s two United States Sena tors—James O. Eastland and John C. Stennis—said the charges in the com mittee’s report should be placed before state and federal grand juries. “The acts of brutality and mistreat ment of innocent people being held in unauthorized custody demand the at tention of the proper judicial forum,” the senators said in a joint statement. “Each charge should be examined by the proper state and federal judicial authority and those guilty of specific acts of brutality and assault should be brought before the bar of justice.” The senators said “during the course STENNIS EASTLAND of this investigation (by the legislative committee) it was a privilege for us to co-operate fully with the committee in furnishing material available to us from all sources.” Both sent special investigators to Oxford immediately after the disorders. Mississippi U. S. Rep. Jamie Whitten asserted that “neither German nor Japanese prisoners were given any such treatment in World War H.” “Truly the American people should wake up before it is too late,” Rep. Whitten said. “I hope the appropriate (See COMMITTEE, Page 10) ‘Oh, It Was Brutal th’ Way Those U. S. Marshals Treated Our People at Ole Miss!’ Sanders, Greensboro Daily News Kerciu and Controversial Art Criminal charges were filed and dropped. Paintings Spur Charges, Controversy at Ole Miss T^ive modernistic paintings de- picting an assistant art profes sor’s impressions of the Universi ty of Mississippi’s desegregation crisis last fall touched off a heated controversy on the Ole Miss cam pus during April. Charges of obscenity and of desecra tion of the Confederate Flag, used as a background for the paintings, were lodged against G. Ray Kerciu, the 29- year-old assistant art professor, but were later dropped. Kercui covered one painting with cruses, slogans and epithets which he said he heard during the disorder when Negro student James Meredith enrolled in the university last September. The charges against the teacher were filed by Charles Blackwell, a law stu dent and past state president of the Patriotic American Youth organization. They were dropped by Blackwell on April 17, several days after the con troversy erupted. Assurances Cited Blackwell said he withdrew the charges after getting assurances from Kercui’s attorney that the paintings would not be shown at the university or elsewhere in Mississippi. “The man was here for only one year,” said Blackwell, a candidate for the state legislature. “He’s from Michi gan and isn’t familiar with our laws, traditions and customs. In keeping with the traditions and integrity of the Uni versity of Mississippi, I felt this was a reasonable thing to do since he agreed not to exhibit his paintings in the state.” Justice of the Peace W. H. Jones said Blackwell told him he was dropping the charges because “this thing just got out of all proportion.” He said Blackwell had complained he “couldn’t study or do anything for answering his mail and telephone calls” in connection with the controversy. Dr. Charles Noyes, university pro Johnson Insists Council ‘Strong’ Lt. Gov. Paul B. Johnson, a candidate for governor in the August Democratic primary, has challenged statements that the election of Erie Johnston Jr., as director of the Sovereignty Commis sion, the state’s segregation “watch dog” agency, was an indication that the prosegregation Citizens’ Councils “no longer wield the power they once had with that organization.” The statements were based on a feud between Johnston and Citizens’ Council Administrator W. J. Simmons. “The Citizens’ Councils’ voice is as strong as ever with the commission and their helpful suggestions are al ways welcomed,” the lieutenant gover nor said in a statement April 12. “The battle for racial integrity corrals and uses the combined and united effort of all loyal, dedicated and patriotic Americans.” Johnson asserted that “those who attempt to give the impression that Erie Johnston’s appointment split the membership and lessened the activities and effectiveness of the State Sover eignty Commission have seen their poisonous propaganda fly back in their faces.” The election of Johnston was by a 6-to-4 vote of the commission. He was opposed by the professional leadership of the Citizens’ Council. In an interview with United Press International, Director Johnston ex pressed the hope that “Mississippi seg regationists will forget the past differ ences and present a united front against integration.” “I will appreciate the co-operation of all organizations,” he said. “We all share the same attitudes and determi nation to preserve our traditions, though there are occasional differences of opinion as to the best way to ac complish this purpose and how to meet certain situations as they arise.” Johnston said he will accept “as sistance but not leadership from out side the commission.” “Our program is not designed to convert integrationists, but to create an understanding of our situation and to show that we who have lived with it are better qualified to work out our problems than persons who have little or no knowledge of Mississippi,” he said. “We try to show that our population ratio has inspired a system under which both races can make progress without either race forcing itself on the other.” vost, ordered the paintings removed from Kerciu’s exhibit of nearly 100 works in the Ole Miss Fine Arts Center. This action occurred on April 5, five days after the paintings had been placed on exhibit, and resulted in pro tests from some faculty members. Long Conference The assistant professor and Dr. Noyes, also a university attorney, conferred for more than two hours before the provost ordered the paintings removed. A friend of Kerciu said the teacher- artist was “terribly distressed at the incident” but did not wish to make any public comment at that time. Kercui, who had posted a $500 bond pending a hearing which had been set for May 3, had this to say after the charges were dropped: “I feel very good about it, but Td rather not make any further comment until I talk with my attorney.” Protesting Dr. Noyes’ order to re move the paintings from the exhibit, one faculty member said: “I thought this happened only in Nazi Germany and Communist Russia. We are supposed to have freedom of expression in this country.” The faculty member, not connected with the art department, declined use of his name, contending that he feared reprisals. AAUP Statement The local chapter of the American Association of University Professors unanimously adopted a resolution call ing on the Ole Miss administration to “support Professor Kerciu in the pres ent case by making a vigorous public statement . . . and to defend him openly and officially through the services of the university attorney.” “If this is not done,” the AAUP statement continued, “it is the belief of this body that the individual mem bers of this faculty can only conclude that they will be abandoned to the whims of any pressure group which may be offended by the conscientious and legitimate exercise of their acade mic obligations.” The State College Board was to con sider a university request to hire an attorney to defend Kerciu, but Black- well dropped the charges before the board met. Phrases Pro and Con These were some of the phrases painted over the Confederate Flag background: “We will never surrender,” “Law and order must be preserved,” “Bro therhood by bayonet,” “Go home nig ger,” “White supremacy,” “States rights,” and others. One of the paintings included the word, “Never,” in 18-inch lettering. Kerciu, who received numerous in vitations to exhibit the paintings in art galleries, had maintained that he was innocent of violating the state law by using the Confederate Flag as a back ground. Blackwell said he was “harassed” after bringing the charges, He added: “This suit has proven that the in tegrationists will use every tactic and method against me that Meredith claims has been used against him.”
