Newspaper Page Text
I
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—JUNE, 1963—PAGE 13
NORTH CAROLINA
High Point
WINSTON-SALEM
T he High Point School Board
on May 23 approved a pupil
assignment plan which could
bring the desegregation of all 18
city schools, Negro and white.
Dr. Perry Little, Negro member of
the board, voted in favor of the plan,
calling it a progressive one.
Approval of the plan came in the
midst of a series of near-riot demon
strations in downtown High Point. Ne
groes are seeking desegregation of
public facilities. A truce of two weeks
began Monday, May 27.
Crowds of hostile whites gathered.
City police kept the groups separated.
The pupil assignment plan was drawn
strictly on a geographical basis. At
present, 53 Negro students live in com
munities assigned to a predominantly
white school, and 100 white children
reside in predominantly Negro school
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Under the North Carolina Pupil As
signment Law, however, children as
signed to schools with a majority of
pupils of another race may request
assignment to a school of their own
race.
Currently, High Point has 20 Negroes
attending four predominantly white
schools. These students, however, re
quested transfers from all-Negro
schools.
Assignment Plan
The assignment plan reads, in part:
Elementary schools: “Students in ele
mentary schools shall be assigned to
schools by geographic districts desig
nated by the board, with the following
exception:
“Where the school district boundaries
place the residence of a student in a
district which does not include the
school attended by the student, or his
brothers or sisters, during the year
1962-63, the student may choose to
attend the school which he, or his
brothers or sisters, attended during the
year 1962-63, until the course of study
in school has been completed.
Junior high schools: “Assignment of
students shall be based upon the ele
mentary school districts designated by
the board of education. Students com
pleting the course of study in an ele-
i mentary school will be assigned to the
Junior high school designated by the
oard of education to serve that ele
mentary school district. All other stu-
®ts residing in an elementary school
trict who are eligible for assignment
0 a junior high school shall be as-
nwi 40 *^ e i un i° r high school desig-
by the board to serve the ele-
entary school in the district where
each student resides.”
e feeder elementary schools for
^junior high schools were named,
gh schools: “Students completing
schrJa° UrSe stud y i n a junior high
[ji_, 0 J'dU k e assigned to the senior
educ T- °°1 designated by the board of
school °w-l° Serve that i unior hi § h
denk ' v respect to a H other stu-
to a . 0 are e ligible for assignment
first 7?° r high sch ool, the board shall
to i unior high school
Signer! f ac ^ student would have been
an e i„ e reason of his residence in
assigj, en * ary school district and shall
c °mpleWl *u StUdGnt 33 though he had
junior v,- i 6 course of study at such
high school.”
ese schools were also named.
s Stay On the Main
Highway’
.*
Placement Plan May Desegregate All Schools
N. C. Highlights
A pupil assignment plan which
could result in desegregation of all
18 schools in High Point was ap
proved by the High Point School
Board May 23.
The Greensboro Board of Educa
tion established a liberalized pupil
assignment policy, but did not set up
a geographical program as requested
by Negroes.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school
board voted May 25 to expand its
geographical assignment program
which could lead to desegregation of
10 more schools in the system.
Wake Forest College at Winston-
Salem announced plans to honor a
Negro at June commencement exer
cises and that it will admit its first
full-time Negro graduate student.
Harry Boyte quit his high school
track team at Grimsley in Greens
boro in protest over what he called
a segregated state track meet.
Schoolmen
Assignment Plan
Excluding Race
Set In Greensboro
The Greensboro Board of Education
on May 21 approved a new assignment
policy which does not consider race in
reassignment procedures.
Parents must request reassignment
for all pupils, but the transfer pro
cedure has been eased.
Dr. George Evans, Negro member of
the board, cast the lone dissenting vote.
He favored a geographic plan, advo
cated by Negro groups during school
board hearings earlier in the month.
“Geographic assignment may not be
perfect,” Dr. Evans said at the meeting,
“but assignment on the application of
parents is not perfect either.”
Dr. Evans said Greensboro has “an
opportunity to take the giant step for
ward” because desegregation is coming
“perhaps very soon” in schools. It
would be easier for children to attend
schools closest to their homes, he said.
Chairman Richard Hunter supported
the idea of parents seeking transfers
for their children.
Under the new plan, parents may get
applications for transfers from the
schools. The assignment request must
be made within 10 days after school
closes (June 11) to the school superin
tendent.
‘Without Regard to Race’
“All applications for reassignment of
pupils entitled to attend the Greens
boro city schools will be considered and
acted upon by this boa d as promptly
as practicable, and all decisions of this
board thereon will be made without
regard to race,” the plan stated.
What They Say
The Citizens Coordinating Commit
tee of Raleigh, in a Declaration of
Principles and Intentions May 10 in
connection with demonstrations against
segregation in public places, had this
to say on education:
“We specifically urge that . . . the
Raleigh School Board develop and pre
sent a systematic plan for the com
plete desegregation of the Raleigh
public schools.”
Education was placed second in the
committee’s list of demands. Rated first
was a request that racial bars be
dropped in employment in business and
in government.
★ ★ ★
John H. Wheeler, president of the
Mechanics and Farmers Bank of Dur
ham, the state’s only Negro banking
institution, said in a commencemem
address at Johnson C. Smith University
in Charlotte:
“Nine years after the Supreme
Court’s decision requiring desegrega
tion of the public schools, a vast ma
jority of the school boards in America
Copies of the new assignment policy
will be given to each child to take
home to his parents. (Under the old
program, parents seeking transfers had
to bring notarized statements as re
quests.)
Children entitled to be enrolled in
the first grade may be registered at
any school in the Greensboro school
system.
On the day following adoption of
the school board’s resolution, the Co
ordinating Council of Pro-Integration
Groups in Greensboro submitted a 10-
point program for desegregation of all
public facilities and equal employment.
The council made the following re
quests dealing with education:
“Direct the school board to deseg
regate the school system by September,
1963.
“Direct the school board to appoint
five Negro teachers in September, 1963,
to schools now servicing only white
pupils, and to appoint one resident
white guidance counselor in Septem
ber, 1963, to each school now servicing
Negro pupils.”
It also asked that all children be as
signed to schools closest to their homes.
★ ★ ★
Chari otte-Mecklenb ur g
Assignment Plan Extended
Meeting in a closed session, the Char
lotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education
on May 25 unofficially approved a plan
which may add 10 schools to the pres
ent total of six desegregated schools.
Under the program, the system’s
present limited geographical assign
ment plan would be extended to 38
schools, mainly in the urban area.
(Charlotte and Mecklenburg have just
completed their first year as a com
bined city-county school system under
Dr. A. Craig Phillips as superinten
dent.)
During the 1962-63 school year, 444
Negroes attended schools with white
students at six schools. Most of these,
however, were enrolled in Bethune
School, where 15 white pupils attended
classes with 400 Negroes.
Five additional all-Negro schools,
Billingsville, Morgan, Isabella Wyche,
Alexander Street and Zeb Vance, are
in districts which have 200 white chil
dren. (The white students, under the
North Carolina Pupil Assignment Law,
may apply for transfer to schools with
a majority of their race.)
All-white schools to be affected are
Chantilly, Elizabeth, Wilmore, Villa
Heights and Wesley Heights. Thirty-
five Negro children live in these areas.
David W. Harris, chairman of the
Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board,
said there is no longer a need to delay
desegregation.
D -. Phillips called the plan “very
p eg essive and forward looking.”
★ ★ ★
School boards of Edenton and Chow
an County were asked in a letter May
24 to desegregate schools.
The Edenton chapter of the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People made the request.
are operating their public schools on a
racially segregated basis.
“In the Southern states, our effort at
compliance with the decision has pro
duced little more than tokenism and a
long and barren record of attempts at
evasion.”
★ ★ ★
Gov. Terry Sanford, speaking at
graduation exercises of Elizabeth City
State College, said “There is no way
to issue a proclamation that people not
be prejudiced.”
“The people of North Carolina have
a conscience and we know we need
to do more for everybody . . .,” he de
clared.
“Our nation is a nation to which peo
ple around the world look for leader
ship,” the governor continued. “We
must continue our progress without
strife. The times call for courage and
wisdom, patience and dedication to our
purpose. Restraint is the mark of civi
lized man and is indeed a sign of great
courage.”
The NAACP contended that if Eden
ton and Chowan County desegregate
their schools, other systems in smaller
areas would do likewise. It also threat
ened a lawsuit.
Negro Groups Request
Durham County Action
A Negro group led by Howard M.
Fitts Jr. and a parents group requested
that the Durham County Board of Ed
ucation desegregate schools.
The groups made their requests May
6 at a meeting of the board.
The board did not make any state
ment in regard to the requests. County
schools are not desegregated although
biracial classes are conducted in Dur
ham city schools.
Fitts said:
. . Court decisions have clearly
established the fact that race is no
longer a basis for classification in pupil
assignment in schools. In light of this,
we request that the board devise a plan
for the desegregation of Durham Coun
ty schools during the ensuing school
year.”
The parents presented petitions ask
ing the board to “cease operating Dur
ham County schools on a racial basis
and come forth with a plan to operate
the schools under your jurisdiction,
without regard to race as to teachers,
students and other personnel.”
★ ★ ★
Negroes boycotted the East End
School in Durham for two weeks in
protest of the school board’s order to
operate the school on a double shift.
The school was partially destroyed by
fire.
Three Negro groups, the NAACP,
CORE and the Black Muslims joined
in the protest.
★ ★ ★
King Addresses 7,500
At Charlotte Commencement
Dr. Martin Luther King addressed
7,500 in the Charlotte Coliseum at grad
uation exercises for six Negro high
schools.
After speaking, Dr. King checked
into the Manger Motel for the night.
The Manger the day before was one of
eight downtown hotels and motels to
announce desegregation of their fa
cilities.
“God is interested in the freedom of
the whole human race,” Dr. King said.
“Physical death is the price some must
pay to free their children from a psy
chological death.” He called the deseg
regation developments in Charlotte
“significant.”
In the Colleges
Wake Forest Awards
Honorary Degree
To Negro Educator
Wake Forest College at Winston-
Salem has announced plans to award
an honorary degree to a Negro and to
admit its first full-time Negro student
for graduate study.
Dr. Kenneth R. Williams, president
of the Negro Winston-Salem State
College across town in Winston-Salem,
was one of four men scheduled to re
ceive honorary doctorate degrees at
graduation ceremonies on June 3.
The college said Dr. Williams would
receive an honorary doctor of laws de
gree.
Before becoming president two years
ago, Dr. Williams was chaplain and
Bowman Gray professor of religion at
Winston-Salem State for 25 years.
Dr. Williams also was the first Negro
elected to the Winston-Salem Board of
Aldermen since 1900, serving in that
post from 1947-51. He also has served
on the city school board and holds the
B.A. degree from Morehouse College in
Atlanta, the MA, S.T.B. and Ph.D. de
grees from Boston University.
Among others who were to be hon
ored was Luther H. Hodges, U.S. Sec
retary of commerce and former gover
nor of North Carolina.
Wake Forest, a Baptist college,
opened its doors to Negroes for the
first time two years ago. Then, a few
attended summer school for credit to
ward degrees at other schools.
During the 1962-63 school year, Wake
Forest began biracial classes for un
dergraduate students. Two Negroes,
Edward Reynolds of Africa and Pa
tricia Ann Smith of Winston-Salem,
were enrolled.
In an announcement on May 29, the
college said it has awarded a $1,800
graduate fellowship to Grady Jamison,
21, who received a B.S. degree from the
Negro Agricultural and Technical Col
lege in Greensboro.
Jamison will be a research assistant
in the Department of Physics at Wake
Forest, working toward a master’s de
gree in solid state physics. He also will
receive a research stipend of $720 in
addition to the fellowship.
At A&T, Jamison worked for the
past two years in research under a
National Science Foundation grant. He
is president of the A&T chapter of the
American Institute of Physics.
Earlier this year Wake Forest an
nounced that it would accept Negroes
on its football team.
★ ★ ★
Racial Clause Dropped
From Phi Psi Requirements
Phi Psi, a national textile profession
al fraternity, voted May 11 in Raleigh
to drop the words, “the white race,”
from its requirement for admission.
Delegates from the South joined in
(See NORTH CAROLINA, Page 17)
Arkansas
(Continued from Page 12)
court decision at Little Rock Central
High School.
His talk was advertised to include
“The Inside Story of Little Rock.” He
said he was on the wrong side in 1957
but was back “a free man” now and
on the right side. He said he opposed
what the Republican administration did
at Little Rock in 1957 and what the
Democratic administration was doing in
Mississippi and Alabama.
Community Action
Scholarship Fund
Ceases Operation
The Little Rock Scholarship Fund,
Inc., organized during the Little Rock
school crisis of 1957, announced May
24 that it had given the last $600 of its
money to six students and disbanded.
Suggested by the Rev. John R. Baker,
a Unitarian minister at Kensington,
Md., the fund was organized for the
purpose of furnishing aid to students
attending Little Rock high schools “un
der conditions of unusual stress.”
The Rev. Charles C. Walker of Little
Rock, president, said the fund had re
ceived $4,743 and distributed it to 29
students during the six years of its ex
istence. The final group of scholarships
went to deserving students since the
“unusual stress” no longer exists, the
Rev. Mr. Walker said.
The fund was operated by both white
and Negro leaders at Little Rock and
had received contributions from all
over the United States.
★ ★ ★
The Presbyterian Synod of Arkansas
in its 112th annual session the week of
May 20 at Fort Smith reaffirmed its
position against segregation, first
adopted in 1954.
★ ★ ★
In North Little Rock, the NAACP
Branch opened a membership drive for
500 new members on May 12 and, for
the first time, sent notice of the meet
ing to the white as well as the Negro
newspapers.
Mrs. Curry W. Williams, president
of the branch since it was organized
in 1948, was asked about school deseg
regation. “This has been mentioned re
cently,” she replied. “I don’t go out
looking for trouble. Some people say I
haven’t done anything over here be
cause we don’t have anyone in that
high school. If some parents try to get
their children enrolled in the school
and are denied, then I’ll help them. I’m
not going to go out and look for them.”
In 1957, the North Little Rock School
Board was planning to desegregate at
the same time as Little Rock and had
assigned seven Negro students to the
high school. But after National Guard
troops were sent to Central High in
Little Rock the day before school
opened, the North Little Rock Board
postponed its desegregation indefinitely.
Raleigh Citizens Committee
Requests Systematic Plan