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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—JUNE. 1963—PAGE 5
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
High Court Warns Against Continued Delay, Evasion
WASHINGTON
F or the first time since it
called for “all deliberate
speed” in school desegregation in
1955, the Supreme Court com
mented on the pace of desegrega
tion May 27. It issued a sharp
warning that continued delay and
evasion would not meet the
court’s test of constitutionality.
The Supreme Court’s comment came
in a decision that public parks in
Memphis, Tenn., must be desegregated
at once, not with “deliberate speed”
(No. 424, Watson vs. Memphis).
Justice Arthur J. Goldberg, who
wrote the decision for a unanimous
court, said:
“The basic guarantees of our Consti
tution are warrants for the here and
now and, unless there is an over
whelmingly compelling reason, they
are to be promptly fulfilled.”
The Memphis case came to the Su
preme Court because Judge Marion S.
Boyd had ruled that the doctrine of
“all deliberate speed” applied to the
desegregation of facilities other than
schools. He had rejected a request by
Negro plaintiffs for immediate deseg
regation of recreational facilities in the
city, and Memphis had adopted a 10-
year desegregation plan.
Justice Goldberg’s opinion indicated
that immediate desegregation of pub
lic facilities is to be the rule and grad
ual desegregation the exception. The
court permitted a slower pace in the
schools, he said, because of the physi
cal difficulties involved and the impact
of a newly enunciated doctrine.
‘Substantial Period’
The Justice noted that nine years
have passed since the original school
decision and eight years since the “all
deliberate speed” formula was laid
down. In view of “the passage of a
substantial period of time,” he said,
the standard might not be satisfied to
day by plans which “eight years ago
might have been deemed sufficient.”
The opinion declared that the Su
preme Court “never contemplated that
deliberate speed’ would countenance
indefinite delay in elimination of racial
harriers in schools, let alone other
public facilities not involving the same
physical problems or comparable con
ditions.”
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In other cases, the court agreed to
review the conviction of Dion Tyrone
lamond for disturbing the peace by
makmg speeches on the campus of
southern University in East Baton
ou ge, La., urging desegregation dem
onstrations last year.
n May 20, the Supreme Court set
I e convictions of 31 sit-in dem-
| ti, S . ratoi : s d* 1 four states on grounds
a anti-trespassing statutes may not
d against sit-in participants.
v ,° a er Questions of the right of pri-
e , e businesses to bar Negroes and to
ls the aid of state and local officials
' , en ° rcin g segregation were left for
V i„, r decision. Some 3,000 sit-in con-
i°n s are pending review.
Expanded Measures
On Civil Rights
Ender Discussion
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D.C. Highlights
The Supreme Court, making its
first statement on the pace of school
desegregatiton since 1958, indicated
that “indefinite delay” would not
meet the standard of “all deliberate
speed.”
Spurred by racial disturbances
and demonstrations, the Kennedy
Administration and Congress ex
plored the possibility of new civil
rights legislation, including meas
ures to accelerate the rate of school
desegregation.
A House Committee approved an
“impacted areas” school aid bill that
would withhold funds from school
systems failing to adopt and imple
ment desegregation plans.
Gov. George C. Wallace of Ala-
While Administration aides worked
on legislative proposals to be submit
ted to Congress early in June, various
legislators dropped their own bills into
the hoppers.
Charging Administration “foot-drag
ging,” 20 House Republicans an
nounced June 2 they would introduce
civil rights legislation including the
“Title III” provision which was
knocked out of 1957 and 1960 Civil
Rights Acts. The provision would em
power the attorney general to bring
suit against state or local officials in
racial disputes.
The Republicans said they also would
propose giving the attorney general the
right to bring civil actions against
owners and operators of public ac
commodations “where the business
segregates or otherwise discriminates
against customers because of race or
color.”
Similar legislation was introduced in
the Senate by a bipartisan group head
ed by Sens. John Sherman Cooper, R-
Ky., and Thomas J. Dodd, D-Conn.
Administration sources said the use of
“Title III” power to accelerate school
desegregation, as well as the authority
to force desegregation of public ac
commodations, was under active study
by the President and might be part
of his recommendations to Congress.
Segregated Private
Schools Face Ban
By Federal Agencies
The President’s Committee on Equal
Employment Opportunity announced
May 30 that it would move to end
federal referral or training relation
ships with private secretarial and trade
schools in Washington that operate
under racial restrictions.
Hobart Taylor Jr., executive vice
chairman of the committee, said the
group had asked the Civil Service
Commission to draft regulations bar
ring government cooperation with seg
regated private schools. The commis
sion agreed to provide the rules.
Taylor said continued acceptance of
referrals for government employment
from segregated institutions and train
ing of employes at government expense
bama pledged that the University of
Alabama would be “peaceful and
serene” in the admission of two
Negro students. He said he hoped to
get the Supreme Court to reverse its
school desegregation decision.
James H. Meredith said the elec
tion of President Kennedy played a
role in his decision to seek admis
sion to the University of Mississippi,
since “the Democrats had a stronger
civil rights platform” in 1960.
The President’s Committee for
Equal Employment Opportunity an
nounced that it was moving to sever
relations between government agen
cies and racially segregated private
trade and business schools in Wash
ington.
at such schools would be inconsistent
with the Administration’s civil rights
policies.
The regulations to be drafted by the
Civil Service Commission would give
the affected schools 30 days to certify
that they had abandoned discrimina
tory practices. Failure to comply would
result in the severance of federal per
sonnel relationships.
The committee stressed, however,
that graduates of non-complying
schools would continue to be eligible
for federal employment and advance
ment on their individual merits.
Arrangements Noted
The committee noted that some gov
ernment agencies maintain arrange
ments with certain business, secretari
al, trade and other private schools and
other private employe referral sources
“which restrict admission of students
or referral of applicants” by race.
These and other government agen
cies authorize employe on-the-job
training at such schools, the commit
tee added.
“Equality in the opportunity to work
is dependent on equality in the oppor
tunity to learn,” Taylor said. “With
this action, the President’s Committee
is making certain that federal agencies
themselves do not contribute to the
denial of such learning opportunity...”
The committee’s action was praised
by Walter W. Tobriner, president of
the D. C. Board of Commissioners, as
a move to “put teeth in a policy which
solicitation and persuasion failed to
achieve on a voluntary basis.”
Tobriner recalled that the D.C.
Commissioners sent letters to six pri
vate business and secretarial schools
10 months ago urging them to drop
racial bars and offering assistance in
the transition.
“This effort led to nothing,” Tobriner
said May 31, although one of the six
schools did notify the commissioners
that it already was accepting Negro
students.
★ ★ ★
Justice Department Replies
Again to Mississippi Report
In a May 8 statement, the Justice
Department replied to the second in
stallment of a Mississippi legislative
committee’s report attacking the Fed
eral Government’s role in last fall’s
desegregation of the University of
Mississippi.
The department said the Mississippi
report was “characterized by bias, fac
tual errors and misstatements.”
“What the report fails to point out
and what the members of the com
mittee are aware of is that the ar
rangement to put Mr. Meredith on the
campus was made by Governor Bar
nett,” the Justice Department said.
“Not only was the presence of the
marshals at the University of Missis
sippi arranged by Governor Barnett,
but the number of marshals also was
approved by Governor Barnett.”
Like its reply to an earlier Missis
sippi report (SSN, May, 1963), the
Justice Department statement quoted
news accounts apparently at variance
with the legislative committee’s ver
sion of events at the University of
Mississippi.
Gov. Wallace Says
Alabama to Uphold
Law During Crisis
In a nationally-televised interview
June 2, Alabama Gov. George C. Wal
lace said the University of Alabama
would be “peaceful and serene” on
June 10, when the court-ordered ad
mission of Negro students was sched
uled to be attempted.
Wallace, who pledged to stand in the
doorway and personally block deseg
regation of the university, said “abso
lute law and or
der will prevail.”
He declared he
would “not toler
ate mob action”
of the kind that
occurred when
the University of
Mississippi was
desegregated last
fall.
The governor,
appearing on the
NBC program
“Meet the Press,” said he would fulfill
a campaign pledge to represent “the
people of Alabama’ in testing the pow
er of federal courts to compel deseg
regation.
His legal position, he said, was based
on the hope that the U.S. Supreme
Court would reverse its 1954 school
desegregation decision and “rule in our
favor.”
“I have not said I was going to dis
obey a federal court order for defi
ance’s sake,” Wallace said, “but for the
purpose of participating as a Governor
of the State of Alabama I have a right
to test in the courts the validity of this
order involving our school system.”
The governor said the test would be
“the most dramatic way to impress on
the American people the march of cen
tralized government.” He said he did
not hope to be arrested, but that he
would “go peacefully” if that occurred.
“I am against violence,” Wallace
said, adding that he was asking spec
tators to stay away from the campus.
He said he did not know whether fed
eral troops would be brought into the
situation.
Wallace defended the quality of
Impact Area Fund Cutoff Asked
The House Education and Labor
committee on May 24 approved an
“impacted areas” school aid bill that
would cut off federal funds to segre
gated school districts unless they adopt
desegregation plans this June and put
them in to effect next year.
The committee’s action was by voice
vote. Rep. James G. O’Hara, D-Mich.,
who headed a study group on the “im
pacted areas” aid program, said, “I
don’t think anyone knows what will
happen to this bill. I don’t know if it
will even get out of the Rules Com
mittee.”
The bill would extend for one year
the program of federal assistance to
school districts serving large numbers
of military dependents or other chil
dren of government personnel. About
4,000 school districts, including more
than 600 in Southern states, receive
federal funds under the program. The
total amount authorized for fiscal 1964
would be almost $320.7 million for
operating expenses and $61.8 million
for construction costs.
The anti-segregation provision,
which had been approved unanimously
by a subcommittee headed by Rep.
John H. Dent, D-Pa., would require
each segregated school district to file
a desegregation plan with the U.S.
Office of Education by June 30 in order
to receive funds for the school year
starting this fall.
Each district would have to place a
segregation plan into effect by June 30,
1964, in order to stay in the program.
It was reported in Washington that
some Southern school districts already
are planning to seek alternative school
revenues on the assumption that they
will not be eligible for further aid
under the “impacted areas” program.
The Department of Health, Educa
tion and Welfare has ruled that segre
gated schools are “unsuitable” for chil
dren whose parents live and work on
federal property, and plans to cut off
funds to a number of such schools next
fall. The government is building
schools on eight Southern military in
stallations to serve dependents on a
non-segregated basis.
HEW, however, has held that present
law does not give it authority to insist
on desegregation of schools in “impact
ed areas’ which serve military de
pendents who live off-base. These dis
tricts—a substantial majority of those
receiving federal funds under the pro
gram—would be affected by enact
ment of the bill approved by the House
Committee.
★ ★ ★
In the Senate, an official of the
NAACP told the education subcom
mittee May 17 that “it is a national
disgrace for the federal government
to continue to underwrite racial dis
crimination.”
Clarence Mitchell, Washington direc
tor for the NAACP, said that recent
Justice Department suits showed $36
million in federal funds had been spent
to build and operate schools barring
children of Negro military personnel.
Joseph L. Rauh, appearing for the
NAACP and for Americans for Dem
ocratic Action, said, “The Federal
government cannot go on as the big
gest supporter of segregation through
its expenditure of funds.’
Rauh and several other spokesmen
for civil rights organizations told the
subcommittee they thought the Presi
dent had authority to end segregation
in federally-assisted schools without
any further legislation.
Alabama’s school system and said he
hoped the Supreme Court would use
the Alabama case as an opportunity to
return to the “separate but equal” doc
trine that it abandoned when it handed
down the 1954 decision.
★ ★ ★
At a May 22 news conference, Presi
dent Kennedy expressed hope that the
“law-abiding people of Alabama would
follow the judgment of the court and
admit the (Negro) students.”
“Every other state in the country
has integrated their state university,
and I would hope that Alabama would
follow that example,” Mr. Kennedy
said. He added that he would be “very
reluctant” to reach the point where
federal marshals or federal troops
would be used in Alabama, “but I am
obligated to carry out the court order
—that is part of our constitutional sys
tem.”
★ ★ ★
Frank A. Rose, president of the Uni
versity of Alabama, told the Washing
ton Chapter of the university’s alumni
association May 24 that the university
would “maintain its dignity, its integ
rity, and our students will walk as
honorable men and women.”
Rose said students, faculty and
trustees of the university had been as
sured by Gov. Wallace that the deseg
regation crisis would be met with law
and order.
“I will exercise all the leadership at
my command to see that the great
tradition and honor of this university
will be recognized in the future as it
is in the present and has been in the
past,” Rose pledged at the alumni
group’s annual banquet.
“It is tragic that any university gets
caught between two powerful forces
as the University of Alabama is now
caught,” he said.
★ ★ ★
Meredith Says Kennedy
Election Influenced Decision
James H. Meredith said on the
“Meet the Press” television program
May 26 that he might not have ap
plied for admission to the University
of Mississippi if Republicans had won
the 1960 presidential election.
The 29-year-old Negro student said
his decision was influenced by the elec
tion of President Kennedy because
“t h e Democrats
had a stronger
civil rights plat
form.”
Meredith said
he had received
no pledges of
support from the
Adminis-
tration before he
applied to Ole
Miss, but was
promised backing
after the Admin- Meredith
istration learned of his plans.
He said he did not think it would
be “proper” for President Kennedy to
escort Negroes whose admission to
the University of Alabama in June has
been ordered by federal courts. The
suggestion reportedly was made May
25 when Attorney General Robert F.
Kennedy met in New York City with
a group of Negroes to discuss racial
problems.
The attorney general called Mere
dith after the program to congratulate
him on his television appearance, and
the two later conferred in the attorney
general’s office.
Outside
(Continued from Page 4)
Dr. Clark, describing the meeting as
“tragic,” said:
“We were unable to communicate
clearly and skillfully that this was not
a group of Negroes begging the white
power structure to be nice to Negroes.
We were trying to say that this was an
emergency for our country, as Ameri
cans.”
Baldwin said that the attorney gen
eral “just laughed” when Jerome Smith,
25, a “Freedom Rider,” proposed that
President Kennedy personally escort
Negro students into the University of
Alabama. Baldwin added:
“He said it would be just the same
as making a speech. He didn’t get the
point at all.”
Baldwin reportedly has pressed the
attorney general to use his influence to
get the President to make a series of
talks to the nation on the civil rights
issue. The attorney general was said to
have attended the New York City meet
ing in seeking fresh ideas on coping
with civil rights problems, especially
with school segregation in the North.