About Southern school news. (Nashville, Tenn.) 1954-1965 | View Entire Issue (July 1, 1963)
Southern School VOL. 10, NO. I NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE / Objective JULY, 1963 Gen. Graham and Gov. Wallace A matter of duty. ALABAMA Wallace Yields to Troops; Negroes Enter University MONTGOMERY P ov. George C. Wallace, fulfill ing his campaign promise to stand in the schoolhouse door” in an attempt to prevent desegre gation of any Alabama school, car ried out his pledge at the Univer- ■ % of Alabama June 11, only to yield to federalized National Guardsmen a few hours later. Justice Department officials indicated ■i'ey did not intend to press charges against Wallace for violating a district mint injunction and a presidential pro- carnation ordering the governor not to interfere. Although Wallace stood in the door tall T r "Aochtorium, th e registration V r ^ UP b * s band and ordered ■ w U.S. officials to stop, and they • « retreated, the students were in L e ®f°Ued shortly after 3 p.m. when rivfj Zed National Guardsmen ar- on the scene. 4e fi V ij^^ ace ^ not resist, quitting >aid h i a ^ er a statement in which he I " knew it was a ‘bitter pill” for 1 called r ° 0pers — as Alabamians—to be •j 0 „ or j^° n *° en f°rce the desegrega- Sfudents Stayed in Auto ■ace K? 16 i morrun S confrontation, Wal- ^afeenW^ *be officials—Nicholas B. ' Ittieral^TT c- as . sistant U.S. attorney i leaver’ district Attorney Macon ■Tile N.S. Marshal Peyton Nor- 3ot of Birmingham—but he did ttt >sined • 6 students themselves, who Ccarhv , m 311 automobile parked scene aS as Wallace was on the '^ailed^ n? tbe iuoident was, peace fyeals j Wallace had made public N let u - r Alabamians to stay away c 'irity w. handle the job. Massive se- • pernor'^ asu , res wer e directed by the y^dsrrien carried out by National Gssiserv-.. ’ state highway patrolmen, ■'■■crs, Str° n * h )e P ar tment oScers and ■' VaW 6 S on and near the campus N said °! a were barricaded. Wafiace 2 n o violo P6atec ^ y that there would e e nge ti, nC j’ tbat b e alone would yn televiV dese S re gation order. J j ed. to ne«° n ^ through statements ^'ans to * med sa, he implored Ala- hie g0ve ay away. They did. nuor never saw the two Ne gro students. They remained in a car during both confrontations. Wallace arrived at Foster Auditorium at 9:50 a.m., 40 minutes before his planned meeting with the federal offi cers. He spoke briefly to the more than 350 newsmen crowded around the building. At one point he said: “If you came down here expecting a fracas, you are going to be disappointed.” The Justice Department officials, who were to arrive at 10:30, were 18 min utes late. The trio stepped out of their car and approached Wallace, who was standing in the door. He held up his left hand signaling them to stop. Kat- zenbach was spokesman for the group. He produced a copy of President Ken nedy’s “cease and desist” proclamation and said: “I have come here to ask you now for an unequivocal assurance that you will permit these students (Vivian J. Malone of Mobile and James A. Hood of East Gadsden) who, after all, merely want an education in the great univer sity to. . . .” At this point, Wallace interrupted him: “Now you make your statement, because we don’t need your speech.” Katzenbach renewed his appeal, ask ing for the governor’s assurance that he would not interfere. Wallace replied by reading a five-page statement in which he contended the court orders were illegal. “I denounce and forbid this illegal act,” he concluded. Katzenbach fidgeted during the read ing, wiped his brow and folded his arms, responding after Wallace was finished: “I take it from the statement that (See GOV. WALLACE, Page 5) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Administration Asks Authority To Sue, Withhold School Funds WASHINGTON ITING “THE SLOWNESS of ^ progress toward primary and secondary school desegregation,” President Kennedy asked Con gress on June 19 to enact legisla tion authorizing the attorney general to initiate desegregation suits. The measure was one of a series proposed by the President as an “omnibus” civil rights act of 1963. Other major provisions would bar racial discrimination in public accom modations, broaden voting rights, es tablish a Community Relations Service, extend the life of the Civil Rights Commission and give the government discretion to withhold federal funds from “any program or activity in which racial discrimination occurs.” The President’s program immediately encountered the threat of a Southern filibuster, as well as substantial Re publican opposition to the public ac commodations provision. However, congressional leaders expressed con fidence that most of the program eventually would be enacted. In the section of his civil rights mes sage devoted to schools, Kennedy de clared that “discrimination in educa tion is one basic cause of the other inequities and hardships inflicted upon our Negro citizens.” He added: “The lack of equal educational op portunity deprives the individual of equal economic opportunity, restricts his contributions as a citizen and com munity leader, encourages him to drop out of school and imposes a heavy burden on the effort to eliminate dis- In This Issue State Reports Alabama 1 Arkansas ’ 9 Delaware 19 District of Columbia 1 Florida 20 Georgia 4 Kentucky 10 Louisiana 15 Maryland 18 Mississippi 2 Missouri 1 North Carolina 13 Oklahoma 14 South Carolina 7 Tennessee 11 Texas 3 Virginia 12 West Virginia 20 Special Articles The Region 1 Race Relations Institute 17 Texts Wallace and Kennedy 6 Injunction of Wallace 6 Kennedy, Civil Rights 16 criminatory practices and prejudices from our national life.” Kennedy said the federal courts “have shown both competence and courage in directing the desegregation of the schools on the local level” in accord with the Supreme Court deci sion of 1954. “It is appropriate to keep this re sponsibility largely within the judicial arena,” the President said. “But it is unfair and unrealistic to expect that the burden of initiating such cases can be wholly borne by private litigants. “Too often those entitled to bring suit on behalf of their children lack the economic means for instituting and maintaining such cases or the ability to withstand the personal, physical and economic harrassment which sometimes descends upon those who do institute them. “The same is true of students wish ing to attend the college of their choice but unable to assume the burden of litigation.” Reasons for Delay Kennedy said that these difficulties are “among the principal reasons for the delay in carrying out the 1954 de cision.” He asked Congress to give the attorney general authority to initiate federal desegregation suits against local public school boards and public insti tutions of higher learning, or to inter vene in existing cases, whenever: • He has received a written com plaint from students or parents “who are being denied equal protection of the laws by a segregated public school or college,” and • He certifies that these complain- (See PRESIDENT, Page 16) D. C. Highlights President Kennedy’s proposals for a civil rights act of 1963 included requests for authorizing the attorney general to initiate school desegrega tion suits and for giving the govern ment discretion to withhold federal aid funds from racially segregated programs. The legislation was ex pected to encounter a Senate fili buster. In a radio and television address to the nation on the day the Uni versity of Alabama was desegregated, the President called segregation a “moral issue” and asked Americans to help the nation “fulfill its prom ises.” The President criticized Gov. George Wallace of Alabama for de fiance and praised the peaceful con duct of the university’s students. President Kennedy called for an end to “de facto segregation in the North as well as the proclaimed seg regation of the South” when he ad dressed a commencement exercise at San Diego (Calif.) State College. A presidential committee de nounced off-base segregation in school facilities and other services to military personnel, and suggested possible closing of military bases where all other attempts at deseg regation fail. MISSOURI Board Urged to Promote Maximum Desegregation ST. LOUIS A fter weeks of charges and counter-charges involving al leged “resegregation” of the St. Louis public schools, the Citizens Advisory Committee to the St. Louis Board of Education made its final report to the board June 21. The committee called for adoption of policies aimed at bringing about a maximum of desegregation. Among other things, the committee recommended that new boundaries be drawn for elementary and secondary schools where a change of boundary Jjvlex to Volume 9 il^NeJs 0 TST 6 9 of Southe ™ 'Het,.' 1 ®63) k through £?* *0 this is publlshed as a supple- from 16, ^' bis j s a necessary Siting the - a plevi °us policy of The deX , as Part 2 of tb® \ ^ “‘tact fo S e U R P j5” ent may be w 1 tor binding with Vol- THE REGION 8 Districts End Racial Transfers R ace-transfer provisions were eliminated from desegrega tion plans in eight public school districts in the Southern and bor der region during June and early July following the U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection of similar proce dures in two Tennessee cases. At least six other districts were studying the effect of the high court’s June 3 ruling that students cannot transfer from biracial schools solely because their race is in the minority. One district obtained federal court ap proval of a substitute transfer proce dure in light of the Supreme Court opinion. Among other developments during the month: • New public school desegregation occurred in two districts while more than 35 others announced plans, as a result of court orders and voluntary school board action, for the beginning of biracial classes this fall. • Eight colleges and universities in five Southern and border states ad mitted Negro students for the first time. • Including federal court rulings in volving the race-transfer provisions, there were decisions or other signifi cant developments in 26 school deseg regation cases in 11 states—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Ten nessee, Texas, and Virginia. Attention was focused, however, on new federal court decisions and school board action reflecting the Supreme Court’s ruling that race-transfer pro visions, included in many desegrega tion plans throughout the region, are unconstitutional. In its opinion of June 3, the high tribunal ruled against the Davidson County and Knoxville, Tenn., school (See EIGHT, Page 10) ‘That Last Volley May Have Been a Trifle Low’ • cm*urrrt owaveit_ Payne, Charlotte Observer would achieve desegregation, and that pupils be given the right to transfer as a means of furthering desegregation. In the latter case, parents would assume responsibility for transportation. It also recommended that children involved in the St. Louis system’s bus transportation program—more than 4,500 elementary pupils, the vast ma jority of them Negroes—be “fully inte grated” in all classroom and extra classroom activities of the receiving ele mentary schools during the school day. Another point “strongly urged” was that the St. Louis administration “inte grate the teaching staffs of all the schools.” With regard to matters of good faith, intent and educational quality, the 30- page report was considered a vindica tion of the Board of Education and school administration. With regard to future policy, however, it urged lines of action which Negro and civil rights leaders have proposed and which the St. Louis school system has resisted. ‘Time Has Run Out’ “Nationally in the field of civil rights time has run out,” the final report said in a foreword. “The bill is past due. Payment must be made now. In this atmosphere of urgency and crisis, many urban communities are experiencing a bitter confrontation which does little to further communication of quality, the life-line of human relations . . .” The Citizens Advisory Committee was appointed April 8 by Daniel L. Schlafly, board president, to evaluate 136 criti cisms and allegations that had been brought against the board and school administrators by certain community groups and individuals. It was asked to find out whether St. Louis public schools had engaged in policies, pro- (See ST. LOUIS, Page 8)
