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Objective
FEBRUARY, 1964
ALABAMA
Order to Mo\W
\egro Pupils
Stirs Tuskegee
MONTGOMERY
T en more Negro students were
admitted without incident to
previously all-white schools in
Huntsville Jan. 27. In Macon
County, it was different, although
six Negro transfers from Tuske-
gee High entered at Shorter Feb.
5 without serious incident.
L xhe State Board of Education or
dered the closing of Tuskegee High
School, where 12 Negroes had been
going to classes since the school was
[ ordered desegregated last September.
All whites, some 250, withdrew shortly
after the Negroes were admitted, leav
ing the 12 Negroes the only students
with a faculty of 13.
On the advice of Attorney General
Richmond Flowers, Macon officials
turned away the 12 when they report
ed for classes Feb. 3. U.S. District
Judge Frank M. Johnson Jr. of Mont-
' gomery, who had ordered the Macon
board to desegregate the high school
last fall, immediately directed the ad
mission of the 12 to the two remaining
white high schools in the county—six
to Shorter and six to Notasulga. The
order did not extend to other Negro
| students, although the Macon board is
under court order to present a com-
[ prehensive plan of desegregation by
March 2.
Johnson agreed that the continued
operation of Tuskegee High was uneco
nomic.
Six Admitted, Six Turned Away
At Shorter, the six assigned there
were admitted Jan. 5. At Notasulga the
other six white were turned away by
Mayor James Rea, who cited a newly
adopted fire and safety ordinance. He
told the Negroes the high school al
ready has as many students as it could
safely accommodate.
All schools at Notasulga were ordered
dosed Feb. 6 after a fire the night of
reb. 5 at the city’s water filter created
a water shortage. Mayor Rea said he
believed the fire was accidental.
Mayor Rea announced he would obey
any federal court order to admit Ne-
‘‘Tees. A hearing, requested by Justice
-epartment attorneys, was set for Feb.
3 challenging Rea’s use of the fire-pre-
'ention ordinance to keep Negroes out
? schools. The hearing originally
bad been set for Feb. 7.
Vernon Merritt HI, a commercial pho-
?rapher aboard the buses bound to
fou b^ ga Was forcib ly removed and
Shed-up with state troopers looking
w as ordered to leave. He was
Pied 6 k UP a car reportedly occu
lt n State agents. The next day,
- roo George Wallace ordered state
venMe? t0 pr °tect newsmen and pre-
' pL disorde rs of any type.”
Pdes era .i agents were present at Nota-
to and Shorter, but did not attempt
thU"* 8 ^ nes established by state
At and k>cal officers,
in e or ter, attendance was down but
dents j j ted * ot al boycott by white stu-
ld n °t materialize on either Feb.
(See Huntsville, Page i?)
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Memphis Commercial Appeal
Gov. Johnson Takes Oath
From Slate Supreme Court Justice Tom Brady.
MISSISSIPPI
New Governor Omits Race
In His Inaugural Speech
JACKSON
66 XX ate, or prejudice, or ignor-
ance will not lead Missis
sippi while I sit in the governor’s
chair.”
With those words, Paul B. Johnson,
who had won the governorship as the
most defiant and vociferous segrega
tionist in the 1963 campaign, became
Mississippi’s 54th governor on Jan. 21.
The former lieutenant governor made
no mention of segregation, hatred for
the national leadership of the Demo
cratic Piarty, or how Mississippi “stirred
the admiration of the world by heir
spirited stand against federal invaders”
during the 1962 desegregation of the
University of Mississippi.
Neither did the 47-year-old Marine
veteran of World War n and first son
of a former governor to win the of
fice, refer to his stand at the university
in temporarily blocking the enrollment
of Negro James Meredith. Gov. Johnson
surprised those who had “waved racial
banners” in his behalf in the 1963 cam
paign. His speech of moderation was
pitched to gaining a new image for
Mississippi nationally.
Johnson delivered a 22-minute speech
on the south steps of the capitol after
he had taken the reins of state govern
ment from the hands of the “unrecon
structed segregationist” Ross R. Bar
nett, a critic of the national govern
ment and its civil rights efforts. Mis
sissippi’s new governor said:
‘Part of this World’
“You and I are part of this world,
whether we like it or not; what hap
pens in it, through no fault of ours,
affects us.
“Too, we are Americans as well as
Mississippians. As a practical matter,
we are at this moment ‘in the main
stream of national life.’ National poli
cies have direct bearing on our econ
omy, on our political freedom, on our
daily living, whether we like it or not.”
Pointing out that “the Mississippi
economy is not divisible by political
party or faction, or even race, color or
creed,” he said “as of this hour, Paul
Johnson is working for everybody with
every resource at his command.”
Assuring “my people” that he is
“fully aware of the forces, the conflicts
that fashion our environment,” Gov.
Johnson went on to say:
“I will oppose with every fiber of my
being, and with every resource at my
command, any man, any faction, any
party or any authority which I feel is
morally wrong or constitutionally in
error.
“And,” he added, “I will stand ac
countable for my action; but, if I must
fight, it will not be a rear-guard de
fense of yesterday—it will be for our
share of tomorrow.”
He closed his inaugural address by
asking God to bless “all Mississippians,
both black and white, here and away
from home.”
The address carried a moderate
tenor, which was not in evidence while
he was campaigning for the governor
ship last year. It drew praise from two
of his most bitter newspaper critics:
the Greenville Delta Democrat-Times,
edited by Pulitzer-prize winner Hod-
ding Carter, and the Lexington Adver
tiser, owned by Mrs. Hazel Brannon
Smith.
Many legislative leaders hailed the
address “not so much for what he said
but what he left unsaid.”
The softly toned address was deliv
ered while there still pends before the
United States Supreme Court the case
charging Gov. Johnson and former Gov.
Barnett with contempt of federal court
in seeking to block desegregation of
the University of Mississippi.
The United States Fifth Court of Ap
peals, which filed the contempt charges,
deadlocked four-to-four on the demand
for a trial by jury, and referred the
issue to the Supreme Court in Wash
ington.
Gov. Johnson’s address contrasted
with that of Lt. Gov. Carroll Gartin,
(See MISSISSIPPI, Page 15)
, uv>KlDA
Teacher Assignments
By Race Held Illegal
MIAMI
T he U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals at New Orleans on Jan. 9
ordered the Duval County (Jacksonville) school board to end
assignment of teachers on a racial basis.
Negro pupils are injured, the court’s majority opinion said, when
they are required to attend segregated schools taught by Negro
teachers. The case was returned to U.S. District Court with instruc
tions to require a plan of compliance from Duval County school
officials.
The order to desegregate teachers and administrative personnel, as
well as to end budgeting for schools on a segregated basis, was part of
the district court’s original order in the case of Braxton v. Board of
Public Instruction of Duval County, which was decided more than a
year ago.
This same decision by the district court was applied to similar cases
affecting Volusia and Hillsborough counties. All have begun desegre-
*“““ °' “ fir “ ** b “‘ BACKGROUND
Teacher Order
First to Come
From Appeal
T he Duval County, Fla.,
school suit is the first in the
region in which a federal circuit
appellate court has ordered de
segregation of teachers and staff
—an issue that in recent years
has become a major part of school
desegregation cases.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
at New Orleans on Jan. 10 upheld the
order of U.S. District Judge Bryan
Simpson for Duval County (Jackson
ville) to end racial discrimination in
the assignment of teachers and other
personnel (Braxton et al v. Board of
Public Instruction of Duval County).
However, neither court set a deadline
for the start of teacher desegregation.
In the first half of 1963, two U.S.
District Court judges in Kentucky
ordered teacher desegregation to begin
in four districts for 1963-64: Judge
Mac Swinford in Lawrence v. Bowl
ing Green Board of Education, and
Judge H. Church Ford in Mack v.
Frankfort Board of Education, Mason v.
Jessamine County Board of Education,
and Walker v. Richmond Board of
Education.
Oklahoma City also initiated deseg
regation of its teachers and adminis
trative personnel in the 1963-64 school
year, by order of a federal district
court. Judge Luther Bohanon directed
the city school board to begin biracial
faculty assignments in his order of
(See 7 DECISIONS, Page 16)
asked more time to work out teacher
desegregation. Duval County was the
only one appealing the decision.
Upheld Plaintiffs
The majority opinion by Chief Judge
Elbert Tuttle of Atlanta upheld spe
cifically the contention by the plain
tiffs that “Negro children are injured
by the policy of assigning teachers,
principals and other personnel on the
basis of race or color of the children
attending a particular school.”
The circuit court decision said:
“The argument of appellants here
is largely to the effect that no court
heretofore has expressly required the
elimination of teacher assignment by
race or the planning of schools and
finances to avoid racial operation of
the schools. This argument, of course,
falls far wide of the mark.”
“There is clear and binding prece
dent “to order full desegregation of
teaching staffs,” the opinion declared.
Judge Jones Dissents
In a special dissent, Judge Warren
Jones of Jacksonville said the U.S.
Supreme Court school mandate of 1954
was based on findings of injury to pu
pils. In the Braxton case, he declared,
no such proof had been offered in
connection with teachers beyond the
general assertion of harm.
“It is my belief,” he wrote, “that
there should be proof made. I think
it should be shown, if it can be shown,
that the manner of assignment has a
detrimental effect on the Negro chil
dren.”
Members of the Duval school board
considered the ruling at their January
meeting and asked Fred Kent, special
legal representative, for recommenda
tions. Kent suggested that the board
seek a rehearing. Formal petition was
filed with the court of Appeals on Jan.
25, automatically staying application of
the order.
(See FLORIDA, Page 16)
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
House Debates Civil-Rights Bill
WASHINGTON
T he House of Representatives
opened debate on the ad
ministration’s civil rights bill on
Jan. 31 and began voting or
amendments to the measure Feb
3. Supporters and opponents of
the measure agreed to take a final
vote before Lincoln’s Birthday,
Feb. 12.
The bill contains provisions to step
up the pace of school desegregation, as
well as sections dealing with voting
rights, employment, administration of
federal aid programs and the highly
controversial public accommodations
section. It also would make the U.S.
Civil Rights Commission a permanent
agency of the government.
The measure reached the House
floor after nine days of hearings by
the House Rules Committee, which
often has delayed or blocked civil-
rights measures. Chairman Howard W.
Smith (D-Va.) said he had felt “pres
sure” from the leadership to expedite
the bill.
Chairman Emanuel Celler (D-N.Y.)
of the House Judiciary Committee,
Mason-Dixon Line
Shoemaker, Chicago’s American
which wrote the bill, led off the House
debate. He said:
“What we are considering, in ef
fect, is a bill of particulars on a peti
tion, in the language of our Constitu
tion, for a redress of grievances. The
grievances are real, the proof is in,
the gathering of evidence has gone on
for over a century. The legislation . . .
places into balance the scales of
justice, so that the living force of our
Constitution shall apply to all people.”
Rep. Edwin E. Willis (D-La.), the
senior Southerner on the Judiciary
Committee, called the bill “the most
drastic and far-reaching proposal and
grab for power ever to be reported
out of a committee of the Congress in
the history of our republic.”
As the House debate got under way,
President Johnson expressed the hope
and belief that the civil-rights bill
would be passed “without any crip
pling amendments.” At a Feb. 1 press
conference, Johnson was asked wheth
er he thought the measure would face
a filibuster in the Senate and, if so,
whether it would be necessary to
water down provisions of the hill. The
President smiled and said the answer
to the first question was “yes,” and to
the second, “no.”
In his State of the Union address to
Congress on Jan. 8, the President ex
pressed an urgent appeal for passage of
(See HOUSE, Page 13)
