Newspaper Page Text
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)