About Southern school news. (Nashville, Tenn.) 1954-1965 | View Entire Issue (July 1, 1963)
TENNESSEE SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—JULY, 1963—PAGE II NAACP Suit Seeks Desegregation of Shelby Schools NASHVILLE A suit seeking complete deseg- regation of the Shelby Coun ty school system was filed in U.S. District Court at Memphis on June 12 by the National Associa tion for the Advancement of Colored People. The case was assigned to U. S. Dis trict Judge Marion S. Boyd, but no date for a hearing had been set at the end of the month. Filed in behalf of 21 Negro students, the suit also seeks desegregation of teaching staffs. Named as defendants were members of the Shelby County Board of Educa tion, members of the Shelby County Court, School Supt. George H. Barnes and County Commissioners Jack Ram say, Bruce Jordan and Dan Mitchell. The Shelby County district, which operates schools surrounding Memphis, is the only metropolitan-area system in Tennessee which has not begun de segregation. It has more than 36,000 students, about 50 per cent of whom are Negroes. Action on HEW Request Plans were announced by the board several weeks ago for the desegrega tion of East Millington School in Sep tember, in response to a request by the U. S. Department of Health, Edu cation and Welfare. The department had asked that all students living at the Memphis Naval Air Station be as signed to one school. Although no time limit was specified, the NAACP suit asked the court to direct the school board to submit a plan for desegregation as soon as possi ble. The suit stated that in order to be acceptable to the plaintiffs, the board’s plan must include assignment of stu dents and faculties on a nonracial ba sis, and operation of school buses, con struction of new schools and allotment of school funds without regard to race or color. Supt. Barnes said the suit had been anticipated although a plan for deseg regating the district’s 58 schools has been under consideration by the board for a year. Says Conferences Held W. Percy McDonald Sr., board presi dent, said school officials had formu lated “what we thought was an ac ceptable plan” and that it had been discussed in conferences with NAACP leaders. While McDonald would not discuss etails of the board’s plan, he said it would be submitted to Judge Boyd soon and that the board “will definitely , a ^ e to work it out before the start °f school this fall.” Blair T. Hunt, the only Negro mem- e r of the board, also was named a e endant in the suit which asked for declaratory judgment and a “per cent injunction forever restraining a eri joining the defendants . . . their gents (and) employes . . . from main- or operating a compulsory cially segregated school system.” of U ?’ W ^° sa *d he is “for integration Cau sc “°°l s in an orderly fashion be- rj , Se „ * believe it is inevitable and w ' ex P r essed surprise that the suit l tt ec *- “The NAACP had agreed to ter ^ board) deal with the mat- of court,” he declared. Plan Declared Ready C kad taken a vote on a plan for ^nt . egation and were ready to pre- hah * ,*? ibe NAACP whenever they Us” H de legation that would meet with Ba Unt continued. arj 116 ? anc i other members of the w declined to discuss details of in that°? a ^ sa *d the suit was unusual co^ * , name d members of the county defend “ '’be county commissioners as court i tS ’ Tennessee, a county ^bile n, B Ua si-legislative body.) dren Mg'-’ “ ” 'be suit listed 21 Negro chil- gj e , fbeir parents as plaintiffs, it of a jj as a class action on behalf ’ted” ot ber persons similarly situ- l^Cr^.tbe NAACP in the case ^due^i™ et al v. Memphis Board of ” B c are attorneys B. L. Hooks, k all ^ garmon Jr. and A. W. Willis 0 t •Memphis, and Jack Green- ^■'torri eW ^ or b- 0, tUsei f^ ^ ee Winchester Jr. is legal 0r the board of education. ★ ★ ★ Withdraws Bs ” r °vision ^Urie Tudge Marion S. Boyd d^Pbis p, a PP r oved a motion by the ar d of Education to with- ^aciaiK u question *y based transfer provisi Tennessee Highlights The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People filed suit in U.S. District Court, seek ing complete desegregation of the Shelby County school system. A motion by the Memphis Board of Education to substitute a new stu dent-transfer provision in its grade-a- year desegregation plan was approved June 28 by U.S. District Judge Marion S. Boyd. Jackson and Madison County school systems were ordered by U.S. District Judge Bailey Brown to submit desegregation plans during July. Pupil transfer provisions ruled un constitutional early in June by the U.S. Supreme Court were deleted by the Nashville and Davidson County Metropolitan Transitional School Board from desegregation plans fol lowed by Nashville and Davidson County schools. In a suit filed July 3 in U.S. Dis trict Court, eight white and Negro families asked that the Franklin County school board be directed to desegregate its school system. The University of Chattanooga on June 5 admitted eight Negro gradu ate students to do graduate work during the summer session. from its gradual desegregation plan. Overruling objections by Negro at torneys, Boyd approved the substitu tion of another clause which school officials contended would provide for transfers of white and Negro stu dents on the same basis. The judge at the same time turned down another motion filed by Negro at torneys who had sought an immed iate injunction to prevent the city from continuing school desegregation on a grade-a-year basis. The lawyers, representing the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, had contended that de segregation should be completed in 1965. Acting in response to the U.S. Su preme Court’s rejection of similar transfer provisions in the Davidson County and Knoxville cases, the NAACP on June 14 asked the court to strike down that portion of the Mem phis plan which provided that students assigned to schools in which their race was in the minority could gain auto matic transfers to other schools. Negro attorneys contended that the Schoolmen The Nashville and Davidson County Metropolitan Transitional School Board on June 14 voted unanimously to end pupil transfer provisions which had been struck down earlier in the month by the U.S. Supreme Court. In a ruling on June 3, the high tri bunal ruled that provisions which al lowed students to be transferred from schools because their race is in the minority are unconstitutional. The court’s opinion upheld the posi tion of Negro petitioners who objected to the provisions in the gradual deseg regation plans of Davidson County and Knoxville (Maxwell et al v. Davidson County Board of Education and Goss et al v. Knoxville Board of Education, SSN, June and previous.) At Knoxville, Supt. T. N. Johnston said the Knoxville Board of Education met on June 10, but did not discuss the Supreme Court ruling. The superin tendent indicated the board also may delete the transfer provision from its desegregation plan in July or August, prior to the opening of the 1963-64 school year. “We anticipate no difficulty,” John ston said, “We will just move along and treat everyone alike.” Attorneys agreed that the court’s rul ing in the Davidson County case also applies to the Nashville schools, which have followed a similar transfer pro cedure since they began desegregation in 1957. The two systems now are operating with a single transitional school board under Nashville and Davidson County’s provision allowed white students as signed to predominantly Negro schools to transfer to other schools, leaving Negroes in segregated classrooms. Attorney Jack Petree, representing j the school board, only a few hours later | asked the court’s permission to with draw the controversial provision and to approve substitution of the new clause. Petree said the new plan would allow transfers to be governed by the Ten nessee Pupil Assignment Law and would be administered without regard to race. The school board attorney said the substitute provision would not prevent white students from transferring out of predominantly Negro schools, but would broaden the plan so Negroes in biracial schools could also request assignment to other desegregated schools. Discrimination Claimed NAACP lawyers objected to the board’s substitute proposal, contending that it would discriminate against the remaining Negro students in the dis trict. They indicated they would appeal to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Ap peals at Cincinnati in an effort to over turn Judge Boyd’s decision on the transfer provision as well as his denial of an injunction. Petree said parents of both white and Negro students in biracial schools would have the right to apply for trans fers to other schools where classroom space was available. The board on May 24 received Judge Boyd’s approval of its grade-a-year plan. (SSN, June.) The Memphis sys tem has just completed its second year of desegregation, with 44 Negro stu dents attending predominantly white classes in the first and second grade. ★ ★ ★ Jackson, Madison County Told to Submit Plans U.S. District Judge Bailey Brown has ordered the school boards of Jackson and Madison County in West Tennessee to submit plans for school desegrega tion. In a June 14 ruling, the judge set July 15 as the deadline for the Madison County Board of Education to present a plan, gave Negro attorneys one week to file an answer and set a hearing in the case in Memphis for July 26. At the same time, Judge Brown di rected the Jackson City Commission, which also serves as the city school board, to submit a plan no later than July 20. Negro attorneys were allotted one week after that date to file an answer and a hearing was scheduled for Aug. 6, also in Memphis. Jackson, county seat of Madison County, began desegregation voluntar ily during the 1961-62 school year. Schools in Madison County, however, have not desegregated. During a hearing on a request for a temporary injunction in January, Judge Brown ordered the admission of four Now He Thinks He’s a Cop McClanahan, Dallas News consolidated government, which became effective April 1. K. Harlan Dodson, attorney for the Davidson County board, told the tran sitional school officials: “As I understand the court ruling, you may still have sound transfers—re quested by parents.” Upon the advice of Gilbert Merritt, metropolitan government attorney for the school board, the officials deleted only Section 6 of the transfer policy, the provision based on race. Individual Consideration Dodson said that school officials in both systems may continue to grant transfers but that they must be con sidered individually. He said other pro visions for transfer include factors “ad versely affecting the education” of pupils. The attorney said the Supreme Court additional Negroes to biracial schools in Jackson. He indicated a month later that he would order general desegrega tion of both school systems. No Jury Trial In another hearing on June 2, Judge Brown ruled that the county school board could not submit the question of desegregation to a jury trial as it had requested and also refused to allow white students or teachers to intervene in the case. The question of a jury trial was pre sented by William M. Shaw of Homer, La., attorney for Taylor Robinson, one of the seven members of the county school board and a defendant in the suit. Shaw also had sought permission of the court for 20 white students as well as white teachers to intervene in the case on the grounds that their rights were in question in the suit. “It has been held by the Supreme Court that a segregated school system is unconstitutional,” Judge Brown de clared. “The only purpose the interven tion of these parties could have is to attempt to convince the court that it should not follow the law.” Summary Judgment Judge Brown on June 14 granted a motion for summary judgment filed by Nashville attorney Avon N. Williams Jr., representing the plaintiffs, and directed both systems to proceed to formulate desegregation plans. He had withheld a decision on the summary judgment at the June 1 hearing so that school board attorneys could study the matter further. The judge said that although nine years have passed since the Supreme Court’s decision in the Brown case, “we must consider the present-day circum stance and what is practical. Even if I were to feel the Negroes were entitled to immediate desegregation including faculties, I have doubts that I would grant it all at one time.” Although separate hearings have been scheduled in the cases, a motion for severance of the cases is pending. The suit originally was brought in behalf of Jackson students and later amended to include pupils living in Madison County. Appeal Expected Shaw said he would appeal to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in be half of Robinson, but other county at torneys were quoted as saying they would not join in the appeal. Robinson filed a separate answer to the suit. Madison County Attorney Jack Man- hein and Edwin F. Hunt, Nashville lawyer, represented the other county board members and concurred in the request for a jury trial. City school officials, however, had not asked for a jury trial. ruling prohibited racial transfers under state laws providing for them. He added, however, that parents of Negro or white students who feel their chil dren may not do well in schools pre dominantly of the other race may seek transfers. If such requests are made by parents, and not as applications under state laws, Dodson continued, the school board may grant them. Attorneys for both sides in the Da vidson County and Knoxville cases earlier had indicated the court’s de cision would affect other systems fol lowing similar transfer provisions. ★ ★ ★ Eight families, four white and four Negro, joined in a suit filed July 3 in U.S. District Court seeking desegrega tion of the Franklin County school sys tem in lower Middle Tennessee. Court officials said it was the first case in Tennessee in which white and Negro parents have filed a desegrega tion suit jointly. Signed by attorneys for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the suit asked the court to enjoin the board from operat ing a segregated school system. The board operates a Negro high school at Winchester and elementary schools at Cowan, Belvedere, Decherd, Sewanee and Winchester. White parents involved in the suit are all affiliated with the University of the South at Sewanee. In The Colleges First Negroes Enter U. of Chattanooga Eight Negroes were admitted to the University of Chattanooga’s summer session for graduate students on June 5, the first of their race to be enrolled at the private institution. The board of trustees had voted earlier to admit qualified graduate stu dents “without regard to race, color or creed.” (SSN, March.) Dr. August Eberle, university provost who helped supervise registration for the summer session, said: “I am delighted that the University of Chattanooga could and did observe this historic occasion very much in the manner of business as usual.” The Negro students, seven of whom are teachers, we-e among 152 who reg- (See TENNESSEE, Page 12) The Region (Continued From Page 10) entered the university’s center at Huntsville. Cleve McDowell entered the Univer sity of Mississippi Law School without incident on June 5. Two Georgia colleges, Armstrong in Savannah and West Georgia in Carroll ton, each enrolled one Negro student during the month while in Texas, three Negroes were admitted to Texas A & M College and two others began classes at Texarkana College. Texarkana and Armstrong are municipal institutions; the others are state-supported. University of Chattanooga, a private institution, admitted eight Negro grad uate students for the summer session. A Nigerian student was ordered ad mitted to Louisiana State University at New Orleans. In court rulings and other legal de velopments, most of the activity oc curred in Alabama, Mississippi and Virginia. U.S. District Judge Daniel H. Thomas ordered the Mobile County school board to present a desegregation plan for 1964-65, while the U.S. Firth Cir cuit Court of Appeals took under advisement a decision on whether Bir mingham should be required to begin biracial classes in September. In other Alabama cases, the Justice Department said it would appeal a ruling that it has no right to bring suits in Huntsville and Madison County, and the Univer sity of Alabama board of trustees filed notice of appeal to overturn a district court’s order refusing a delay in de segregation. Cases Dismissed In Mississippi, U.S. District Judge Sidney C. Mize dismissed desegregation suits against Jackson and Leake Coun ty along with others brought by the Justice Department against Biloxi and Gulfport school districts. He also de layed until October a hearing in a case involving the Biloxi Municipal Separate School District. The right of the U.S. Government to bring a desegregation suit in behalf of children of military and civilian per sonnel at Ft. Lee in Prince George County, Va., however, was upheld by a federal district court. In other Virginia cases, King George County school board was ordered to admit 38 Negroes to biracial classes this fall and the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district court order enjoining the Powhatan County school board from taking action to close the public schools. Two Negro brothers were ordered enrolled in white schols in Palm Beach County, Fla., while the U.S. Fifth Cir cuit Court of Appeals refused to direct Atlanta to accelerate its reverse stair step plan. Faces Hearing In Louisiana, the director of a voca tional-technical school at Lake Charles faced a hearing on why he should not be cited for civil contempt for failing to obey a desegregation order. A plan for desegregation of Charles- to, Mo., schools was approved by a federal judge. Two Tennessee districts, Jackson and Madison County, were ordered to submit plans during July to U.S. dis trict court. In Texas, the Longview school dis trict was directed to file a plan for biracial schools and a school board proposal for g ade-a-year desegrega tion at Georgetown beginning in Sep tember, 1964 received fede.al court approval. Race-Based Transfer Provision Deleted
