Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—JANUARY. 1964—PAGE 9
FLORIDA
participation in Protests
Debated in Universities
GEORGIA
Desegregation Continues
Without Major Incidents
MIAMI
he right of university stu
dents and faculty members to
take part in or give moral support
t0 racial demonstrations was un
der fire in Florida, and the result
was a spreading controversy.
The situation was touched off last
September when some 350 students,
m ost from Florida A&M University
with a sprinkling from Florida State
University and the University of
Florida, picketed a segregated theater
in Tallahassee.
About 150 were arrested for violating
a court injuction limiting the size and
type of demonstration. Two FAMU
student leaders who were convicted
of contempt for violating the order
were suspended by a faculty committee.
On Dec. 6, the state Board of Control
denied an appeal by the students for
reinstatement, Mrs. Patricia Stephens
Due of Miami and Reubin Kennon of
Lake City.
George Albion, attorney for the Ne
gro students, asked that the suspen
sions be set aside on technicalities.
They said the faculty committee was
not set up in accordance with rules in
the students’ handbook and that con
tempt of court is not a crime as defined
in the university rules.
Arguments Rejected
The board rejected the arguments.
It also denied a plea by Ralph Odum,
assistant attorney general, to bring in
the full records of the students. Both
students have been active in other
demonstrations as members of the
Congress of Racial Equality.
Baya Harrison, Board of Control
chairman, said the decision to uphold
the suspensions was not based on “fine
points.” “Isn’t it more important that
the students get a fair hearing—that
the board is not stacked against them?”
he asked.
The vote to back the FAMU authori
ties was unanimous.
Albion said a suit pending in the
Leon Circuit Court to have the stu
dents reinstated would be reopened.
Tiled earlier, the case was delayed
while the two petitioners completed
their administrative appeal with the
Board of Control.
The immediate issue raised by the
case was only part of the situation.
Other aspects concern other agencies
and universities.
Other Aspects
The Florida State University dis-
ciplinary committee has recommended
action against a white student who was
convicted twice for taking part in
demonstrations against segregated facil-
ities.
Mrs. Katherine Warren, FSU dean
Stephen H. Jones, 26, of Tallahassee,
w “°’ s doing graduate work in econo-
mics - Mrs. Warren, disciplinary com-
'P'ttee chairman, did not disclose the
action recommended by that group.
Jones was involved in the same inci
dents resulting in suspension of the
two FAMU students. He was convicted
later of trespass when he and three
other picketed an off-campus restau
rant that refuses to serve Negroes.
The FSU student newspaper, The
Flambeau, carried a full-page adver
tisement paid for by 116 members of
the faculty asking that restaurant
facilities near the FSU and FAMU
campuses be desegregated as a tribute
to the late President Kennedy.
This was interpreted by some in
Tallahassee as a defiance of the Board
of Control.
President Called In
Earlier, the board had called in Dr.
Gordon W. Blackwell, FSU president,
for questioning about faculty activity
in racial matters. Board members cited
the case of 10 professors who solicited
money to pay fines for students ar
rested for picketings and sit-ins.
Dr. Charles Forman, board member
from Fort Lauderdale, said the faculty
members were “embarassing the uni-
vesity and all of us.” He demanded
to know whether Dr. Blackwell ap
proved of these acts.
Dr. Blackwell said the university
had taken “strict disciplinary action”
against students who violated laws or
campus regula
tions. He defend
ed, however, the
professors’ right
t o independent
action, declaring
they were “moti
vated by humane
considerations.”
The board criti
cized the FSU
president for
“allowing" f a c-
ulty members to
solicit funds or otherwise take part in
matters of racial controversy.
Academic Freedom
The Gainesville Sun, which often
reflects thinking in the university com
munity, commented that the board’s
rebuke of Dr. Blackwell and the FSU
faculty members raises a crucial ques
tion of academic freedom.
“Does a professor surrender his
individual liberty as a citizen when
he signs his university contract?” the
newspaper asked editorially. “Dr.
Blackwell believes that a faculty can
not or should not be chosen on the
basis of whether their social and
economic views coincide with those of
a special group which currently may
have influence.
“The attempted curtailment of the
personal and civil rights of a teacher is
not a new development, but it is being
highlighted by the new look the nation
is taking at its constitutional bill of
rights.
“If this controversy over a teacher’s
Florida Highlights
Participation of students and fac
ulty members in racial demonstra
tions has created a sharp issue in
the state university system.
Teachers in Dade County began a
fund-raising campaign to help sup
port free private biracial schools in
Prince Edward County, Va.
A second desegregation suit was
filed against the Bay County (Pana
ma City) school board.
A Negro was the apparent victor
in an election for school trustee in
Indian River County.
right to be thinking person and a par
ticipating citizen in community activi
ties should develop into a continuing
haggle between the administrative (or
political) power groups and the schools
themselves, it would be a dangerous
threat to the entire educational pro
cess.”
★ ★ ★
Student Editors Uphold
Right to Speak on Issue
Editors of student publications of
junior colleges in eight South Florida
counties, meeting at Boca Raton, up
held the right of students to speak out
in racial matters, and the duty of cam
pus editors to discuss the subject with
out fear of reprisal.
Discussing the controversy over stu
dent demonstrators, the editors urged
that students’ rights be not abridged.
“I don’t think the university is justi
fied in expelling students if the stu
dents are mature and are demonstrators
in a good cause,” said Ron Johnson,
editor of the Palm Beach Junior Col
lege publication. “But I can see the
administration’s viewpoint and I don’t
think the administration is predjudiced
if some are expelled because they take
advantage of the situation.”
Adrienne Katz, editor of the Miami-
Dade Junior College newspaper, said
civil rights is a moral issue and stu
dents should be able to support it
without fear.
“What I do on my own time is my
own business,” she declared. “But if
demonstrations interfered with my
studies, the university would have the
right to discipline me.”
Political Action
Negro Leads Race
For School Board
Walter M. Jackson of Gifford was
the apparent winner in an election for
the three-man board of school trustees
of Indian River County. He would be
the first Negro to win such a post in
the county’s history.
Jackson led by virtue of a flood of
write-in votes although his name was
not on the official ballot. Court action
may be necessary to remove any ques
tion about the outcome.
Schoolmen
Teachers Group
Moves To Assist
Virginia Project
Dade County’s desegregated Class
room Teachers Association has organ
ized a campaign to raise funds for free
private desegregated schools in Prince
Edward County, Va.
Public schools there were shut down
four years ago to avoid desegregation.
Negro children were without public
school facilities until arrangements
were made this fall for a private
desegregated system. The Dade
teachers will help finance this opera
tion
A donation of $500 from CTA
treasury was authorized as a starter.
No goal was set but the teachers will
solicit gifts from the public as well as
teaching personnel.
★ ★ ★
State Cabinet Upholds
Refusal to Transfer
After a public hearing, the state
cabinet, composed of the governor and
other elected officials, upheld refusal
by the Pinellas school board to trans
fer a Negro first-grader to a predomi
nantly white school.
Mrs. Emme Lee Barron appealed
from the board’s decision in behalf of
her daughter Sylvia. She contended
the Melrose Elementary School at St.
(See FLORIDA, Page 16)
ATLANTA
tlanta has had more than
two years of experience with
desegregated public schools, but
no serious incidents have resulted
from this first mixing of white
and Negro students in Georgia
classrooms.
Savannah, Brunswick and Athens
have had only a little more than three
months of desegregated schools but,
a check by Southern School News
reveals, their experiences parallel that
of Atlanta.
Information concerning situations in
desegregated schools is sometimes diffi
cult to obtain. Administrators say they
have been plagued by a number of
press, radio, television and magazine
reporters but their reluctance to talk
stems more from a desire not to “rock
the boat.” All shared the traumatic
experience of desegregating a Deep
South school and indicated that they
do not wish to call attention to them
selves or to their schools.
Chatham County
The schools in Chatham County (Sa
vannah) were desegregated in the fall
of 1963 by federal court order after
lengthy litigation. Twenty-one Negroes
attend the 12th grades in two high
schools.
There have been no incidents in
school or on the school grounds as a
result of desegregation and so far as
is known no complaints have been
heard from any of the white teachers
who have Negro students in their class
rooms. Not all of the Negro students
are getting passing grades.
Some of the Negro students partici
pate in school clubs, the school band
and in the Reserve Officers Training
Corps but Negroes do not participate
in sports because of the regulations
of the Georgia Athletic Association.
As to the general attitude of white
students toward the Negro students,
some of the whites are resentful but
this has not erupted into incidents.
Clarke County
In Clarke County (Athens), volun
tarily desegregated last fall, the same
general observations can be made. No
one has voiced any strong pro or con
opinions on desegregation and it is
known the situation is “touchy,” but
no incidents have taken place. The
Negroes are getting passing grades
but do not participate in extra-curric
ular activities at the school. No white
teachers have complained about having
to teach Negroes.
The 11th grade in one senior high
school, the seventh grade in one junior
high and the third grade in one ele
mentary school are desegregated. Five
Negroes in all attend desegregated
schools.
Glynn County
Six Negroes attend the 12th grade
at the only white high school in Glynn
County (Brunswick). There has been
no friction but some white students
are reported resentful.
Thirty-nine per cent of the total
school enrollment in Chatham is Negro.
In Clarke, it is 35 per cent. In Glynn,
it is 30 per cent.
In Atlanta, the figure is 52 per cent.
There has been desegregation of super
visory personnel, the adult education
program, the school detective force and
in other fields. Grades nine through
12 are desegregated and 145 Negroes
attend former white schools. Atlanta
school officials, however, do not report
enrollment by race and figures must
be obtained elsewhere.
★ ★ ★
Large Program Announced
To Aid Negro Education
A multimillion-dollar program to
improve Negro education was announ
ced by the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools which has head
quarters in Atlanta. The association
convened last month in Memphis, Tenn.
Georgia would be one of the states
affected by the experimental program
Georgia Highlights
No serious incidents have taken
place as a result of desegregation in
Savannah, Athens and Brunswick,
the three communities which accepted
Negroes in white schools for the first
time in the fall of 1963.
Plans to improve Negro education
were unveiled by the Southern Asso
ciation of Colleges and Schools.
Leading Negro educators praised a
recent Negro leadership conference
but Dr. Martin Luther King said Ne
groes are disappointed in Atlanta’s
racial image, and he warned that
time is running out.
Plans for a “vigorous voter regis
tration drive” to break up a conserva
tive coalition in Congress were an
nounced by Dr. King.
and the board named by the associa
tion’s executive committee to help get
the project started includes two promi
nent Atlantans: Dr. John W. Letson,
superintendent of schools and Dr. Ruf
us Clement, president of Atlanta Uni
versity.
It is anticipated that four to seven
“centers” would be based in various
Southern communities, each to cost
$1,200,000 over a five-year period. The
“centers” would be designed to streng
then the full range of instruction from
elementary school to college.
“This program will raise the total
cultural level of the community as well
as seek out promising youngsters who
otherwise might not be able to go
through high school or college,” an
Atlanta educator said.
The project has already received a
$405,000 grant from the Danforth Foun
dation. Grants from other private
foundations will be sought as well as
public funds to finance the effort.
The association is composed of some
385 colleges, 2,600 high schools and
4,000 elementary schools. It is the re
gional accrediting agency. Dr. Frank
G. Dickey, executive director, hopes the
new project can be launched by next
fall.
Miscellaneous
LaGrange Students
Polled on Issue
A survey by the college newspaper
revealed that 70 per cent of the stu
dents at LaGrange College believe edu
cation should ideally be on a separate
but equal basis, but three-fourths of
the students expressed willingness to
accept qualified Negroes in their stu
dent body.
LaGrange is a private, Methodist-af
filiated college with a coeducational all-
white student body of about 500.
★ ★ ★
Atlanta aldermen agreed without de
bate to revoke all of the city’s segrega
tion ordinances. Some already had been
overuled by federal court decisions.
Community Action
Negro Educators
Laud Conference
For Leadership
The recently organized Negro leader
ship conference in Atlanta was praised
by leading educators in the Atlanta
University (Negro) complex.
Dr. Frank Cunningham, president of
Morris Brown College, said positive
action in bettering race relations should
be possible but urged that more heads
of institutions of learning be invited
to such conferences.
Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, president of
Morehouse College, called for increas
ed participation in local and national
government affairs and said this is one
of the best ways of getting to the heart
of race problems.
Dr. James P. Brawley, president of
Clark College, said organized leader
ship is a good thing and, like Dr. Cun
ningham, regretted that leaders in the
community had not seen fit to confer
with the heads of educational institu
tions.
(See GEORGIA, Page 10)
South Carolina
(Continued From Page 8)
str ° l ^ er ur ged the adoption of a
I compulsory school attendance
^° ut ^ Carolina. Such a law was
Sun t ^ le sta te’s books after the
°f 1954 16 Court s desegregation decision
Th
. e resolutions were passed by vary-
maH mar ®® s on Nov. 19 but were not
Public until Dec. 6.
or gar> S Hutto, president of the
of th Uati ° n , said at the time that some
in di e . res olutions adopted “were not
Sroun’! V cu° f the deling of the whole
dentT, ~f e saic * approximately 30 stu-
l^nad been present at the meeting.
noun c ? ctIons were subsequently de-
St^ y many groups, including the
which •° Ung Democrat organization,
Unive.- 1 ? not directly affiliated with the
^ ers % club.
fiutt 0 ® ,^ e ens uing controversy, Miss
resi gned as president of the club.
* c b°ol Issue Tops
^63 News Stories
ot her , desegregation stories and
dghts d a ?d events in the field of civil
mi nated the Associated Press’s
list of top South Carolina news stories
in 1963.
Voted the top news story of the year
by newspaper editors and radio-TV
news directors was the desegregation
during the year of two state-supported
colleges (Clemson and the University
of South Carolina) and the public
schools of Charleston.
These events, which gave South
Carolina its first biracial public schools,
were accomplished without violence.
The passage by the General Assem
bly of tuition-grants bill—designed
to provide parents with an alternative
to mixed schooling—was named Top
Story No. 5.
In seventh place of the list of 10 was
the desegregation issue at Baptist-sup
ported Furman University at Green
ville. Its board of trustees voted to ad
mit qualified Negroes but the State
Baptist Convention postponed the ac
tion for at least a year and named a
committee to study the matter.
Two related stories made the Top
10. One was the attendance of Negroes
at Gov. Donald S. Russell’s inaugural
reception. The other was the occasion
ally violent racial demonstrations in
Charleston during the summer.
BLACKWELL
CLEMENT
LETSON