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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—AUSUST. 1963—PAGE II
FLORIDA
Suit Filed to Block Use of State College Funds
In Maintaining Negro Graduate Law School
MIAMI
I N AN UNPRECEDENTED move to
block the use of state funds
for a graduate school for Negroes,
four persons filed suit in the Leon
Circuit Court July 8 to cut off
appropriations for the law college
at Florida Agricultural & Mechan
ical University.
The four indicated that their petition
had implications far beyond its effect
on the 12-year-old graduate school. It
raises questions concerning the whole
field of state-supported universities for
Negroes.
Further suits in the area are bemg
considered by the group.
The plaintiffs include three white at
torneys and a Negro leader of CORE.
In the group are Stanley Milledge,
former circuit judge and professor of
law at Stetson University, now a Miami
attorney. A co-plantiff is Dr. John O.
Brown, Miami Negro opthalmologist
who has been active in efforts to deseg
regate schools and other public facili
ties. The other petitioners are Howard
Dixon and Tobias Simon, attorneys who
have been prominent in civil rights
cases.
The suit (Milledge et al v. State
Board of Control) names as defendants
the state board of control, the board of
education, Comptroller Hay E. Green
and Treasurer J. Edwin Larson.
The plaintiffs contend that the law
school is a by-product of the famous
Virgil Hawkins suit (Hawkins v. Flo
rida State Board of Control) that was
filed in 1949 and fought through the
courts for nine years. Hawkins, a Ne
gro educator, sought unsuccessfully to
enter the University of Florida law
school, but his case did result in the
desegregation of the university system.
During the progress of the case, the
present suit contends, the FAMU law
school was set up to substantiate a
“separate but equal” defense plea.
In turning down Hawkins’ appeal at
Oklahoma
(Continued From Page 10)
at upgrading a group of Negro 12th
graders and determining whether it is
feasible. A cadre of academically super
ior Negro students would be selected
from the Central State College student
body and trained.
In turn they would serve as special
tutors for a group of 12th graders at
^unjee High School in Oklahoma
County, beginning Jan. 1, and con
tinuing the rest of the year outside
regular school hours. The assistance
would be concentrated in language arts,
Mathematics and science. Graham said
he
is seeking a small grant to finance
i J
the program, estimated to cost $5,500.
The committee referred the proposal
0 its education subcommittee for
further study.
lender Survey
Totally Biracial
Schools Limited,
Report Shows
vifi Negroes who live in rural areas,
Pq a ® es or small cities and where the
tota] 1 ] at * on °f their race is small attend
)) 0m y n °nsegregated schools in Okla-
Okl t accorc ling to a report of the
t° orna State Advisory Committee
■j^ e C S. Commission on Civil Rights.
^°dso repor * was prepared by Jack E.
at a. -associate professor of sociology
jj e ^ University of Oklahoma.
RUesti aSed bis findings on answers to
of all°rn a ' reS sent superintendents
Negr klahoma school districts with
°btaine!l t! ents ' "Usuble” returns were
districts ^ rom a h>out 75 percent of the
* ( 0kil conc , luded:
finue 0 ma’s public schools con-
» Q n ° predominantly segregated.
Sluders • 6 basis of the number of
^^ution nVCdVed ’ segregation in public
Ur ban an ! s increasingly a problem for
sta^ nd metropolitan areas in the
^ f ° es in r!°kr lent °PP°rtunities for Ne-
'*t ) °n „ a ' c education have depended
mu ed segregation in the
% ‘
byed j® re gati°n of schools has oc-
Statl Ces. Oklahoma in several in-
JJ'kh infrf a * d 31 of 54 districts for
de Sp rmatl0n was reported are
gregated. But, he said, there
Stanley Milledge
His suit questions separation.
one stage of the long proceedings, the
petition points out, the Florida Supreme
Court gave as a reason that, “There is
in operation at the Florida Agricultural
& Mechanical College (since made a
university) a duly established and tax-
supported law school maintained ex
clusively for Negroes at which are
offered law courses similar in content
and quality to those offered at the col
lege of law at the University of Florida,
an institution maintained exclusively
for white students.”
It adds that “said school is not merely
an organization on paper, as has here
tofore been contended by the relator,
but is in full operation and has class
rooms, a law library, a law faculty and
appropriations of public moneys which
appear to be sufficient adequately to
maintain the law school and to offer
legal instruction to such Negro stu
dents as are presently enrolled there
or who may be reasonably expected to
enroll there in the future.”
Most Costly Venture
Actually, the suit says, the FAMU
law school not only violates the con
stitutional ban on segregated education
but is one of the most costly ventures
in higher education in the history of
the state.
Original cost of construction of build
ings and equipping the school was
$350,000. Annual maintenance since
1951 has been about $80,000.
During the school’s existence only 37
students have been graduated. Of these
only five successfully passed the Flo
rida State Bar examinations.
Only 16 students are currently en
rolled.
“It has cost the taxpayers of Florida
more than $200,000 for each Florida
lawyer produced by the college of law
at Florida Agricultural & Mechanical
University,” the suit declares.
“The said college was established in
order to forestall the necessity of ad
mitting Negroes to the University of
Florida, which purpose has failed since
the college of law at the University of
Florida is now a totally integrated in
stitution open to all qualified citizens
of Florida regardless of race and in
cludes Negroes among its student
body.”
The University of Florida could easily
absorb all FAMU law students in its
own law school, the petition contends.
Actually, of the 16 at FAMU, it states,
are only 128 desegregated schools while
there remain 267 totally segregated
schools.
The 31 totally desegregated districts
represent small enrollments with small
proportions of Negro to white students,
Dodson found.
Districts where segregation in ele
mentary schools exists or where some
schools on each grade level are de
segregated represent by far the greater
number of schools and include a very
high proportion of all Negro children
who live in Oklahoma, the report
showed.
“In these partially segregated dis
tricts, there is scant integration of ele
mentary schools, only slightly more in
tegration in junior high schools and
only at the high school level does there
appear to be a substantial degree of in
tegration—which, indeed, is somewhat
specious,” Dodson wrote.
“only one has an admission test score
sufficiently high to qualify for admis
sion to the University of Florida.”
The suit continues:
“The legal education offered at the
college of law at the University of
Florida is vastly superior to the legal
education offered at the college of law
at the Florida Agricultural & Mechani
cal University.
“Plaintiffs allege that it is a self-
evident proposition that Negroes are
entitled to state-provided educational
facilities on an equal basis with whites.
According to segregationists, this edu
cation should be afforded in separate
facilities; according to integrationists
in the same facilities.
“But plaintiffs submit and both
groups should agree that there exists
no basis for the proposition (upon
which the college of law at Florida
Agricultural & Mechanical University
is being maintained) that Negro citizens
of Florida are entitled, either as a mat
ter of legal justice or moral justice, to
extra tax money to support an inferior
law school because few of its students
can meet the standards of the law
school at the University of Florida,
whatever social injustices of the past
may account for the inferior academic
qualifications of the students at Florida
Agricultural & Mechanical University.”
The FAMU law school, its petitioners
declare, is “a complete waste of public
funds” and “is peculiarly unjustified
in view of the fact that the Florida
Legislature has just found it necessary
to impose additional sales taxes on
many of the necessities of life, imposing
additional tax burdens on every citizen
of Florida, many of whom can ill af
ford it.”
$75,000 Saving Seen
Closing the school would not only
save the taxpayers at least $75,000 an
nually, according to the plaintiffs, but
would benefit FAMU students trans
ferring to the University of Florida who
would receive a superior education at
less cost.
The suit was greeted by state leaders
and educators with mixed reactions.
Gov. Farris Bryant told reporters at
his weekly news conference that “there
might be merit” in closing the school.
But he expressed grave concern that
some Negroes might be denied a legal
education if unable to meet standards
at the University of Florida.
John Due, Tallahassee CORE leader
who has connections with FAMU, op
posed the suit. He declared UF stand
ards are above the abilities of the usual
Negro applicant and FAMU, in his
opinion, should remain open to serve
students who could not qualify there.
He pointed out that many of the 37
FAMU law graduates never intended
to practice law but “went into busi
nesses where the knowledge of law
was useful.”
Six graduates do practice law in other
states, he said, and one is general
counsel for the Liberian delegation to
the United Nations.
In private discussions the plaintiffs
expressed the belief that the suit raises
fundamental questions in the field of
separate Negro education.
The legal question is the alleged
misuse of public funds for costly
though inferior legal education. The
moral question, in their eyes, is
“whether there should be professional
schools designed to train Negroes who
have suffered from inadequate pre
paration and cannot meet the stiff re
quirements of other institutions.”
The Miami Herald’s education editor
reported that “the men who filed the
suit say they do not have all the
answers but they are convinced that
they have a good case. And they have
no doubts about the moral and socio
logical rightness of what they have set
in motion.”
Extends Criticisms
Judge Milledge went further in his
criticism of what he called “piddling
little classes” at FAMU law school.
“By no stretch of imagination,” said
the former law professor, “is this a
law school. You can’t learn law with
16 men (the total enrollment in the
two-year school) in the classes. “It
takes interplay, exchange, cross-analy
sis among students.
“Learning law is not a tutoring pro
cess. It’s a discussing, an analytic pro
cess. It is competitive. It is not a
process of absorption.
“Each student does his own analysis
and is critical of the analysis of others.
These piddling little classes don’t per
mit that.
“We are just spending money to give
Negroes what they can get better else
where.”
At least one more suit is being plan
ned by the group. This will raise the
same basic question in regard to the
12 of Florida’s 29 junior colleges which
are operated on a segregated basis for
Negroes.
★ ★ ★
Testimony during the trial of a school
suit involving St. Johns County brought
the announcement in federal court
that seven Negroes will attend pre
Florida Highlights
A suit challenging the use of state
funds for a segregated law school
for Negroes at Florida A&M Uni
versity was filed in Leon County
Circuit Court. The plaintiffs said it
is the first of a series of suits raising
basic questions regarding higher edu
cation for Negroes.
Trial of the St. John County school
suit, first in Florida involving a smal
ler county, brought announcement
that seven Negroes have been admit
ted to previously all-white schools
there.
For the first time in eight years,
no applications from Negroes to at
tend white schools came before the
Dade County (Miami) school board
at its July meeting. Dade recently
announced it has a “completely in
tegrated” system.
Charlotte County is conducting a
feasibility study to determine whether
18 Negro students now transported
by bus to school in another county
shall be assigned to a new white
high school.
viously all-white schools beginning in
September.
The news came during the appear
ance of School Supt. W. Douglas Hart
ley on the witness stand.
Hartley said the school board “has
made a sincere effort to comply” with
court rulings on school desegregation.
Of nine Negroes seeking transfer to
white schools, seven were accepted and
two applications withdrawn, he said.
Only these nine Negroes filed re
quests after the school board announced
all pupils could attend the schools of
their choice, if they met residential and
other requirements.
Hartley testified that the school ad
ministration has held integrated staff
meetings and prepared budgets without
regard to the racial composition of the
schools. The curriculum and teaching
methods were the same in all schools.
During the six-hour hearing in
Jacksonville July 19 in the case (Scott
v. Board of Public Instruction of St.
Johns County), Earl M. Johnson,NAA-
CP attorney representing the plaintiffs,
contended the schools were still
operated on a biracial basis. He offered
a number of exhibits, mostly from
school board minutes, to back up his
claim .
At the conclusion of the testimony,
Judge Bryan Simpson said that “I
could decide this case from the bench
today” without further consideration.
However, he reserved judgment until
attorneys for both sides submitted
written briefs.
This case is regarded by the NAACP
as the first test of school desegregation
(See FLORIDA, Page 13)
Civil Rights, Educational Opportunity
Key Topic at Governors Conference
MIAMI
Z - ' 1 ivil rights, including equality
of opportunity in education,
was the key topic at the National
Governors Conference at Miami
Beach July 22-24.
The debate was touched off by Gov.
Nelson Rockefeller of New York, re
garded as a leading aspirant for the
Republican presidential nomination
next year.
Rockefeller urged his fellow gover
nors to take a strong stand on the
civil-rights issue. Specifically he pro
posed a sweeping resolution. Among
other provisions it would have com
mitted the nation’s governors to “co
operate with the President of the
United States in working with the gov
ernors of each state in a nationwide
program toward achieving equal rights
and opportunities, regardless of race,
creed or color, in housing, in education,
in transportation, in employment and in
places of public accommodation and
assembly.”
To forestall action on this resolution,
Democratic governors voted solidly for
a parliamentary move by which the
conference’s resolutions committee was
abolished. Under the rules which re
quire committee approval of any reso
lution before consideration on the floor,
this effectively killed the Rockefeller
proposal along with 68 other pending
declarations of policy.
The 33 Democrats who opposed the
resolution (16 Republicans were for it)
indicated they felt it was a political
move to boost the Rockefeller cause.
It did not, however, shut off debate
on racial discrimination in schools and
public accommodations. Alabama’s
Gov. George C. Wallace castigated the
federal government for sending troops
to the University of Alabama in June
when Wallace “stood in the door” to
prevent the enrollment of two Negro
students.
“It can happen to you, too,” the gov
ernor told his colleagues, charging that
We and Our Shadow
Saylor, Houston Post
he was given no advance notice that
troops would be used.
A full-dress debate on civil rights
was arranged on the second day. Each
governor was allowed five minutes to
express his views. Most took advantage
of it and several Southern governors
described progress of school desegre
gation in their states. In a television
interview later, however, Arkansas’
Gov. Orval Faubus contended that the
use of federal troops at Little Rock,
when Negro students were enrolled at
Central High School, had delayed
overall desegregation in Arkansas.
Study Voted
On the session’s final day the gover
nors voted, 38 to 3 for its executive
committee to give “top priority” to a
continuing study of civil rights during
the coming year. This was done after
Vice President Lyndon Johnson flew
in for an address in which he urged
a “spirit of togetherness.”
The general impression was that al
though Rockefeller and his fellow Re
publicans were rebuffed in getting a
strong stand on civil rights, the Re
publicans had the upper hand in the
end. Charles F. Hesser, political writer
for The Miami News, said the Republi
cans “took off for home with sweet
dreams” about the conference, but the
Democrats departed with memories of
a political nightmare.
The Rev. A. Leon Lowry, Florida
NAACP chairman, said the refusal of
the governors to take a stand on the
question was “most unfortunate in the
light of world opinion.”