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PAGE 10—AUGUST, 1963—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
OKLAHOMA
Court Bans Race-Based Transfers; Biracial Staffs Ordered
OKLAHOMA CITY
TPhe Oklahoma City board of
education was ordered by a
federal district court in July to
stop transferring pupils on the
basis of race and to begin biracial
faculty assignments.
The board, stunned by court censure
of what it thought was acceptable school
desegregation progress, at first indi
cated it would appeal the decision. At
month’s end, however, it was reported
formulating a comprehensive deseg
regation plan ordered by the court.
The school officials were given 90
days from the date of the ruling, July
11, to file the plan.
It must provide for the “integration
of the Oklahoma City school system,
both as to the student body and teach
ing and supervisory personnel.”
A policy of faculty desegregation—
“in good faith and with deliberate
speed”—must be established for the
school year beginning in September,
1963.
The court banned what it called the
“minority-to-majority” special transfer
policy followed by the board since
1955. The policy was termed uncon
stitutional, void and unenforceable.
Such a policy was designed to per
petuate and encourage segregation, the
court declared. It said that type of
transfer policy was “unmistakably put
at rest” by the U.S. Supreme Court in
Josephine Gross v. Board of Education
of the City of Knoxville, Tennessee.
The ruling against the Oklahoma City
school board came in a 45-page opinion
and order by U.S. District Judge Luther
BOHANNON
Bohanon, Okla
homa City. It was
based on the May
10, 1963, trial of
Robert L. Dowell
v. The School
Board of the City
of Oklahoma City
Public Schools.
Specifically, the
case involved a
Negro student’s
effort to obtain a
transfer from an all-Negro high school
to a desegregated high school without
taking a course in electronics required
by the school board as a condition of
the transfer.
Judge Bohanon used the occasion,
to examine the whole desegregation
situation in the Oklahoma City public
school system.
He concluded there was no tangible
evidence to show the board has made
a good-faith effort to desegregate the
schools beyond the terms of a resolu
tion adopted on Aug. 1, 1955. He said
the eight years that have passed were
more than enough time “to begin to
adjust the inequities which have existed
Dr. Alfonso Dowell and Son
Robert was the plaintiff.
unnecessarily as long.” But he said the
record is void of any evidence to indi
cate the school board will make any
improvement in the future.
The court found that Robert Dowell’s
request for transfer from Douglass High
School to Northeast High School was
denied because of his race and color.
It ordered that he be enrolled in
Northeast for the school term begin
ning in September should he present
himself as a student there. He is not
to be required to enroll in any course
of study other than that required for
other Northeast students, the court said.
For the past two years Dowell has
been attending Bishop McGuinness
High School, a Roman Catholic high
school in Oklahoma City.
The court permanently restrained and
enjoined the board from continuing or
pursuing the “minority-to-majority”
policy.
This refers to the board’s practice
of allowing students to transfer from
schools where their race is in the mi
nority to schools solely of their race or
where their race is in the majority.
The court decreed there shall be no
special transfers from one school to
another except in cases based solely
on scholastic study requirements or
other valid good-faith reasons but in
no case based in whole or in part on
race or color.
Biracial Faculty
Decision Outlined
In ordering the immediate desegrega
tion of supervisory and a teaching
staff the court said that normally the
school board would be called on to
show cause why there should not be
faculty as well as pupil desegregation.
But it pointed out that testimony by
the school superintendent, Dr. Jack
Parker, indicated the board does not
Delaware
(Continued From Page 9)
per cent state aid because of their high
Negro enrollment.
The new formula followed by two
days a meeting between the state board
of education and the House Education
Committee. The press was excluded.
The only member of either the state
board or the committee to voice dis
approval was Dr. Woodrow Wilson,
who earlier in July became the first
Negro named to the board.
Dr. Wilson said it is wrong to base
state aid on race instead of ability to
pay, and said it is “doubletalk” to say
race is not the basis for the formula.
But Rep. James D. McGinnis said a
“step by step” approach is needed and
that “while we have used the Negro
basically as a wedge, we have also
used ability to pay.”
What They Say
Press Chides Carvel
For Basing Wilson
Selection on Race
Delaware’s daily newspapers chided
Gov. Elbert N. Carvel for his state
ment that he appointed a Negro to
the State Board of Education “because
20 per cent of the population is Ne
gro.”
The News-Journal Co. in Wilming
ton, which publishes two of the three
daily papers in the state, commended
Gov. Carvel for appointing Dr. Wood-
row Wilson to the board. /
But in the editorial, which was en
titled “Wrong Reason,” it further
stated:
“. . . we regret that Gov. Carvel saw
fit to base his appointment on the pre
mise that ‘20 per cent of the state’s
population are Negroes, and they are
certainly entitled to representation on
the board.’
“To say this is to downgrade Dr.
Wilson’s personal qualifications and
make the fact of his race (it could just
as well be membership in another mi
nority group) the principal reason for
selection.
“The governor, incidentally, cited
the wrong statistic; the percentage of
Negroes in Delaware is less than 14,
not 20.
“The governor has demeaned an
otherwise good appointment by basing
it on the fact of race. Percentages . . .
don’t set educational standards. Neither
should they be used as the principal
basis for gubernatorial appointments.”
Delaware’s other daily newspaper,
the State News, in Dover, entitled its
editorial, “Color Blindness: Does It
Work Both Ways,”
The State News suggested that Gov.
Carvel, in effect, was saying “Let’s
discriminate for the Negro.”
The editorial further stated that Dr.
Wilson should reject the appointment
on the basis of the governor’s reason.
It pointed out that a labor leader
turned down an appointment two years
ago when Gov. Carvel stated that or
ganized labor deserved a place on the
board.
“If the governor rephrases his rea
son (‘He’s a great man and will serve
all the people of Delaware well’) then
the Negro ought to accept,” the edi
torial continued.
intend to desegregate the supervisory
or teaching faculty.
Parker had testified the only reason
for doing this would not be an educa
tional one but rather “merely for the
sake of integration.”
He told the court he and the board
feel this is not sufficient cause since
their responsibility is primarily an edu
cational one. The judge quoted Parker
as saying there is no feeling that Ne
gro teachers are not equal to white
teachers.
The court also ordered the board to
maintain complete records of all trans
fers made from dependent school dis
tricts into the Oklahoma City school
district. It was also told to keep full
records of all special transfers from
school to school within the district.
The race or color of each student and
the specific reason or reasons for each
transfer must be kept on file until
further order of the court.
Boundary Request Made
The court also told the board to file
within 90 days all pertinent informa
tion used in the formation of elemen
tary, junior high and senior high-school
attendance boundaries in the areas of
Douglass, Northeast and Central High
schools.
Central also is a desegregated high
school. The court said it wants the
information to help it determine whe
ther “gerrymandering” has been prac
ticed in setting up the attendance areas.
The opinion stated that there was
insufficient evidence before the court
to date to show any gerrymandering
and it would have to hear proof of this
“at some early date.”
Within hours after Judge Bohanon
handed down his opinion July 11, the
school board was called into special
session. Copies of the rulling were
given members by the board attorney,
Walter Lybrand.
The president, Mrs. Warren F. Welch,
said the school board wanted to co
operate with the court “in every way
possible.” She added: “In fact, we
thought we had been co-operating and
had been following the law.”
Judge Bohanon had stated, however,
that the constitution imposes on the
board of education the duty to end
segregation in good faith and with
deliberate speed.
“It is patently clear that this obliga
tion has not been fulfilled by the
Oklahoma City board of Education,”
he wrote.
“Since the first Brown case, nine years
have passed, and segregation has con
tinued, and on April 10 of this year
the policy was reduced to writing,
evidencing the plan to continue such
segregation of the school children as
in the past. This policy is called minor
ity-majority policy.”
The board took no action July 11
because the superintendent was out of
the state on vacation and one of the
veteran members, Phil Bennett, was
absent.
It met again informally July 15 and
instructed Lybrand to prepare a motion
asking for a hearing before Judge
Bohanon. Board members indicated
they did not fully understand the opin
ion and wanted clarification.
Oklahoma Highlights
A federal court ordered the Okla
homa City school board to stop race-
based pupil transfers and to begin
faculty desegregation immediately.
The Tulsa school board, heeding
a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, re
scinded its eight-year-old policy of
“minority-to-majority” transfers.
A civil rights committee said its
survey of Oklahoma indicates public
schools in the state continue to be
predominantly segregated.
A Negro psychiatrist denied he
was passed over for appointment as
state mental health director because
of his race.
Academic upgrading of college-
bound Negro youths through a spec
ial high school tutoring plan was
proposed by an Oklahoma college
professor.
wmwmm ' —*'' **'
Mrs. Welch issued a prepared state
ment saying the board has operated and
will continue to operate the Oklahoma
City school system for the best possible
educational opportunities for all child
ren, regardless of race.
She said the board has been operating
desegregated schools since the fall of
1955. She cited the various activities
and programs she said have been con
ducted on a “totally integrated basis.”
The following Saturday, July 20, the
board met again and voted unanimous
ly to direct its attorney to file a motion
for a new trial on Monday. Members
said the chief purpose was to give them
more time to develop a desegregation
plan in accordance with the July 11
order.
Bennett said the board’s aim was to
decide what is best for the 70,000
children in the Oklahoma City school
system.
Lybrand advised the members that,
by filing a motion for a new trial, they
would have 30 days from the time it
is acted upon to file an appeal. This
would give them time to work out a
plan without having to say, “We ap
peal,” he said.
The new trial motion was formally
filed in federal district court July 25,
alleging evidence in the case does not
sustain the order and that the order
is not sustained by law.
By July 25, there were authoritative
reports the board would accept the
decision of July 11 without further
hearings or without an appeal to the
10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in
Denver.
It was understood the board began
work almost immediately on the deseg
regation plan and that it would be
ready to present to the court well in
advance of the date for the new trial
motion Aug. 8.
Despite earlier statements about ap
pealing the decision, it was known the
school board would prefer to accept
the order without an appeal.
PIERCE
In The Colleges
Negro Doctor
Denies Race Cost
Him State Post
A medical school professor charged
that an Oklahoma City psychiatrist was
eliminated from consideration as state
mental health director because he is a
Negro.
The allegation was made July 2 be
fore the Mayor’s Committee on Com
munity Relations by Dr, L. J. West. He
is professor and head of the department
of psychiatry at the University of
Oklahoma school of medicine.
However, the Negro involved, Dr.
Chester Pierce, expressed belief that
his race had nothing to do with the
failure of the state
mental health
board to select
him as the direc
tor.
Gov. Henry
Bellmon also
“categorically” de
nied the charge.
The board was
looking for some
one to take the
director’s job on
a temporary basis
until it could find a permanent replace
ment for Dr. T. Glyne Williams, who
resigned.
West told the mayor’s committee that
Pierce, chief of psychiatrics services
at Veterans Administration Hospital
and associate professor of psychiatry
at the medical school, was the only man
qualified and willing to serve as state
mental health director. West said his
recommendation of Pierce received a
cool reception from the board.
However, Pierce said he was not a
candidate for the post. He said he con
sidered serving as acting director only
because at the time there was no other
doctor who wanted to take the posi
tion.
Pierce said he will take a leave of
absence in October from his VA hos
pital position to go to the Antarctic on
a National Science Foundation research
project.
★ ★ ★
Academic upgrading of college-
bound Negro youths through special
high-school tutoring was proposed to
the Oklahoma City Mayor’s Committee
on Community Relations.
John Graham, speech department
chairman at Central State College, Ed'
mond, asked July 2 for the committees
endorsement of the plan.
He said Negro college freshmen are
not as well equipped to handle c °U^ e
classes as white students, largely be
cause of “socio-economic factors.
Deficiencies are most evident, e
said, in language arts and communica
tion skills. This tends to handicap ^
Negro student in many other areas
study, Graham said. . .
Graham proposed a pilot study aun
(See OKLAHOMA, Page 11)
Schoolmen
Tulsa Stops Race-Based Transfers
As a result of a United States Su
preme Court decision, the Tulsa board
of education rescinded its eight-year-
old, race-based transfer policy in July.
The action was taken on advice of the
school board attorney, Claude H. Ros-
enstein.
The reason for the board’s concern
and subsequent action was the U.S.
Supreme Court’s June 3 ruling in
Josephine Goss v. Board of Education
of the City of Knoxville, Tennessee that
the minority-majority transfer policy
is discriminatory and, therefore, in
valid.
Under the Tulsa policy adopted in
1955, a student, either Negro or white,
who found himself in a racial minority
in a school could transfer to the
nearest school where his race was in
the majority.
The board met July 25 and, by a 7-0
vote, rescinded the 1955 policy—with
out, however, revoking transfers al
ready granted.
“We may be on thin ice there,”
Rosenstein commented later, “but we
decided to do it that way until someone
makes an issue of it. There are enough
problems in this as it is.”
The action was made effective im
mediately. No more transfers from
school to school can be given on the
basis of race or color. Rosenstein said
the board’s new policy does not pro
hibit transfers for good reason, such
as scholastic, health or special child
care arrangements.
The attorney said the Tulsa board did
not get into the matter of faculty de
segregation—a problem facing the Okla
homa City school board as the result
of a federal district court ruling.
Rosenstein and Dr. Charles Mason,
superintendent, pointed out that Tulsa
has biracial faculties at two elementary
schools. Burroughs, a former white
school that was desegregated and then
became resegregated as a Negro school,
has a faculty that is 60 percent Negro,
Mason said.
Emerson has a 60 percent white
faculty although three-fourths of its
pupils are Negro.
Dr. Byron Shepherd, assistant super
intendent for pupil personnel, said Tul
sa’s transfer policy was administered
differently from Oklahoma City’s in
that transfers were granted on the
same basis for Negroes and whites.
He said many transfers were made
from majority to minority. A good ^
son was required but Negroes ^
white were treated the same, he sav ~\ s
Shepherd said more transfer req u ^^
have been received from Negro
dents than from whites. .
At the close of the 1962-63 s
year, he reported, 339 Negroes w ° ^
in a predominantly white sc ^ oO jj e gr0
asked to be transferred to ^
schools. Of the white pupils w 0 -re
in school districts where Negro®^ ^
in the majority, only 176 as e
transfers, he said.
★ ★ ★ ^
In Lawton, Okla., the high co V I ^ UJ1 ior
ing would affect elementary a 11 ^
high pupils but not those in hig
Supt. John Shoemaker sai se njo r
has no district boundaries for 1 e jtb« r
high schools. Negroes can attena
Douglass or Lawton High Sc ° ^jghs
The elementary and j unl ° aS ho*"'
have prescribed attendance are > foe#
ever. Shoemaker said transfers to
are granted under a policy s
that struck down in Oklahoma^^gJ
In Muskogee, Negroes are
to transfer without discrirnrn
same as
er witnoui ^
white students, the ^
I