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PAGE 2—FEBRUARY, 1964—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
LOUISIANA
Racial Issues Major Factor in McKeithen’s Nomination
NEW ORLEANS
13 acial issues were a key fac-
tor in the Jan. 11 victory of
John J. McKeithen over deLes-
seps S. Morrison for the Demo
cratic nomination for governor of
Louisiana. But race has been soft-
pedaled thus far in the campaign
ing heading for the March 3 gen
eral election. Contenders in that
election will be McKeithen, Re
publican Charlton Lyons and
Thomas S. Williams, nominee of
the States’ Rights Party of Lou
isiana.
McKeithen, 45-year-old Columbia
attorney and farmer, polled 495,400
votes in the runoff to 452,391 for Mor
rison, former mayor of New Orleans
and recently U.S. ambassador to the
Organization of American States.
Lyons, an elderly Shreveport oil
man, has mounted one of the most
vigorous campaigns for governor ever
staged by a Republican in this normal
ly Democratic state. He is sticking
close to issues of economics and gov
ernment in stumping the state. Wil
liams, an East Feliciana Parish busi
ness man, pledges to support segrega
tion and preserve states’ rights.
However, the state’s long Democratic
party tradition is expected to place
McKeithen on May 12 in the new mil-
lion-dollar mansion at Baton Rouge
built by outgoing Gov. Jimmie Davis.
Barely Visible
Undercurrents of race that were
barely visible during the first primary
campaign coursed to the surface soon
after the Dec. 7 voting. Adopting the
tactic that was decisive in the I960
gubernatorial campaign and the 1962
New Orleans mayorality election, Mc
Keithen accused Morrison of corailing
the “Negro bloc vote” in the first pri
mary. He cited first primary election
returns from predominantly Negro
precincts in New Orleans and other
cities to make his point.
As the Jan. 11 election approached,
McKeithen intensified this line.
“There has not been a racial dem
onstration in Louisiana since Roy Wil
kins, national secretary of the NAACP,
visited the city of New Orleans four
days prior to the first primary in the
governor’s race,” McKeithen said on
Jan. 2.
He accused Morrison and his sup
porters of making a deal to permit
mass Negro voters registration in re
turn for “bloc” support.
On Jan. 5, Mrs. Blanche Long, widow
of former Gov. Earl Long and cam
paign manager for McKeithen, said at
rallies in the river towns of Reserve
and Gonzales: “You and I don’t want
a man like deLesseps Morrison who
would probably entertain Lena Home
in our governor’s mansion.”
Cards Appeared
During the day, cards appeared in
several Louisiana towns bearing this
inscription: “Chep Morrison & The
NAACP—or John McKeithen—It is up
to you!”
And on Jan. 9, newspaper ads “paid
for by John McKeithen” carried this
final line: “Let us refer to Chep Mor
rison’s Record as an Integrationist.”
Morrison, confident that this third
try for governor would be the charm,
conducted what he called a “positive
campaign.” He stuck to economic (and
by comparison, colorless) issues. He
campaigned as a segregationist “with
in the rule of reason.”
He denied McKeithen’s charges of
“deals” and “bloc votes.” And Morri
son partisans showed that in Mc
Keithen’s previous election as public
service commissioner for the fifth dis
trict he had polled majorities in pre
dominantly Negro precincts of Alex
andria in Central Louisiana that ri
valed or exceeded the Morrison vote
in the Dec. 7 primary in those same
precincts.
Nonetheless, McKeithen carried the
race-conscious northern half of the
state by proportions ranging up to 90
per cent. He carried about half of the
Florida parishes (above Lake Ponchar-
train bordering Mississippi), and even
the Seventh Congressional District of
Southwest Louisiana which has been
Morrison country in previous elections.
The school segregation-desegregation
questions featured in the campaign
obliquely. Early in January, letters
were mailed out to persons receiving
state tuition grants saying: “Your only
hope to continue to get state cheeks
to help your children go to private
schools is by electing John McKeithen
Gov. Nominate McKeithen
Undercurrents of race.
on Saturday, January 11.”
Enclosed was a facsimile of a clip
ping of Sept. 20 quoting Morrison as
saying he was opposed to the grant-
in-aid program. The letter, on state
Senate stationery, was signed by Sen.
E. W. Gravelot Jr., chairman of the
Louisiana Financial Assistance Com
mission.
In one of the few direct references
to the school question, McKeithen was
asked by an opponent group, “What
is your stand on segregation in the
public schools?” He answered:
“My father taught me that the worst
thing that can happen in this state is
to put religion against religion and race
against race. I am not a hell-raising
segregationist; I am frankly in favor
of having all the candidates make the
same statement on segregation and
LYONS WILLIAMS
dismiss the issue from the very be
ginning and let each man be elected on
his merits.
“I will do everything legally possible
to maintain our Southern way of life,
but I will not close the schools to keep
them from integrating.”
First fallout from the election
touched the school segregation-deseg
regation issue. Frank Voelker Jr. of
Lake Providence submitted his resig
nation as chairman of the State Sov
ereignty Commission, and it was
promptly accepted by Gov. Davis. The
commission has been a chief architect
of the state’s segregation defenses.
Voelker, once an announced candi
date for governor who changed his
mind, announced his support of Mor
rison on Jan. 8. On Jan. 15, McKei
then said he felt Voelker had de
stroyed his usefulness as head of the
commission. And on Jan. 15 the Citi
zens’ Council of Greater New Orleans
took up the demand for Voelker’s res
ignation.
Legislative Action
State Legislature
Convenes on May 11
The Louisiana legislature, which will
convene May 11, will have a large con
tingent of new faces. As a result of the
Jan. 11 Democratic primary and the
March 3 general election, there will be
60 new members in the 105-seat House
of Representatives and 16 new mem
bers in the 39-seat Senate.
Selection of the new members has
not been completed yet, however.
Twenty-six Democratic nominees in
nine parishes face opposition. Twenty-
five Republicans and one States’ Rights
candidate are contesting for legislative
seats.
With the large turnover in member
ship (55.1 per cent), the tenor of the
new legislature will remain unclear for
some months. Thus far, pre-filed legis
lation has not touched on the school
issues. However, many of the leading
segregation advocates will be back, in
cluding such men as Sen. E. W. Grave-
lot Jr. of Plaquemines Parish, Rep.
Welbom Jack of Caddo Parish, Rep.
John S. Garrett of Claiborne Parish,
Rep. Lantz Womack of Franklin Par
ish, Rep. Parey Branton of Webster
Parish.
Among the probable newcomers will
be J. D. DeBlieux (pronounced “W”),
who is chairman of the Louisiana Ad
visory Committee to the U.S. Commis
sion on Civil Rights. A former state
senator and active liberal, DeBlieux
defeated incumbent Wendell Harris of
East Baton Rouge Parish, a conserva
tive and segregationist. DeBlieux will
be challenged March 5 by Floyd C.
Crawford, Republican.
Legal Action
Two Suits Filed
For Desegregation
Of State Colleges
Desegregation of state-operated col
leges and universities was sought in
two cases filed in federal courts. One
of them was on behalf of a white school
teacher seeking enrollment at all-Negro
Southern University, New Orleans.
(Welch v. State Board of Education)
Virginia Cox Welch on Feb. 3 asked
for a temporary restraining order and
a permanent injunction to prohibit the
defendants from acting in accordance
with a state law that limits attendance
at Southern to Negroes. The petition
asked that the plaintiff be admitted to
the branch university for the spring se
mester which began Feb. 4.
Defendants are the Louisiana State
Board of Education; Dr. Boyd Wood
ward, its president; Shelby M. Jackson,
state superintendent of education; Dr.
Felton Clark, president of Southern
University; Dr. E. W. Bashful, dean;
and Herman F. Plunkett, registrar.
Northeast Louisiana State College at
Louisiana Highlights
John J. McKeithen won the
Democratic nomination for governor
in a runoff campaign that featured
racial issues. He will face Republi
can Charlton Lyons and State’s
Rights candidate Thomas S. Wil
liams in the general election March
5.
The Louisiana legislature will have
76 new members when it meets May
11.
Lawsuits seek to desegregate all-
Negro Southern University at New
Orleans, Northeast Louisiana State
College at Monroe and the Iberville
Parish public schools.
Negro children applied at a New
Orleans private school attended by
white pupils receiving state grants-
in-aid, and legal action was threat
ened either to place them in the
school or to overthrow the tuition-
grant program.
A Catholic school in Plaquemines
Parish, boycotted and damaged by
an explosion last year, remains
closed, although repaired, because
building permits have not been is
sued.
Monroe is the target of a desegregation
suit filed by a Negro plaintiff in U.S.
District Court at New Orleans.
Plaintiff in the suit, filed on Jan. 15,
is Sarah Louise McCoy of Monroe.
Respondents are the State Board of
Education, William J. Dodd, board
president; Shelby M. Jackson, state
superintendent of education; George
T. Welker, president of Northeast State
College; Lake C, Oxford, registrar; and
C. C. Hanna, dean of instruction. The
case is styled McCoy v. State Board of
Education.
The petition asked the federal court
to grant a temporary restraining order
without notice against the defendants
so that the plaintiff can enter the col
lege in the spring semester. The docu
ment asserts that Miss McCoy attended
Southern University at Scotlandville
(near Baton Rouge) for one semester
and Grambling College at Grambling
for two summer sessions. The petition
states: Efforts to obtain application
forms for enrollment at Northeast were
barred in 1961 and 1963; and an appli
cation sent to the school on Dec. 3,
1963, had elicited no response at the
time the petition was filed with the
court.
The petition also asks that the de
fendants be restrained from acting in
accordance with Act 527 of 1950 which,
in changing the name and the super
visory body of the institution, described
Northeast as “a school of higher educa
tion in the arts and sciences for the
education of white children in the state
of Louisiana.”
★ ★ ★
Three court cases were filed asking
for desegregation of public elementary
and secondary schools in Iberville and
Calcasieu parishes.
Two of the cases were filed with the
U. S. District Court for the Western Ju
dicial District at Shreveport. They in
What They Say
Abuse of Tuition Grants Charged
The Louisiana School Boards Asso
ciation, in convention here, heard sharp
criticism of alleged “abuses” in the
state financial assistance (tuition-
grant) program and heard warnings
against federal interference in school
affairs.
H. A. Norton, Calcasieu Parish
school board member, sounded off
against abuses in the grant-in-aid pro
gram. He said some pupils in Louisi
ana have fallen vicitm to ‘“fly-by-
night” schools operated with tuition
grants.
“Legislation should strictly prohibit
sectarian teaching and profit-making,”
Norton asserted. “Any school that par
ticipates should be required to meet
the standards set by the Southern As
sociation of Colleges and Schools on
physical facilities, curriculum and
teachers,” he added.
He identified no particular school by
name as the target of his critical re
marks. Some 60 schools, the majority
in New Orleans and vicinity, are at
tended by children receiving the tui
tion grants.
During the biennial convention of the
school board members, U.S. Rep. F.
Edward Hebert warned: “Federal
funds mean federal controls (over the
schools). Today it’s brick and mortar
for the buildings; tomorrow it will be
the text books.”
“Without hesitation, I can say I pre
fer not to have a single classroom in
the country open if it’s going to be
under the direction of the national
government.”
In a similar vein, outgoing State
School Supt. Shelby M. Jackson told
the gathering in New Orleans that the
question of state versus federal control
of public education “transcends in im
portance all other issues which face
the American people today.” Jackson
added, “Our schools have been close to
the people and their programs have
been diversified in keeping with local
needs and purposes.”
“Every sincere school person,” he
said, should “stand up against all at
tempts of the federal government to
destroy the state’s sovereignty and gain
control of our public schools.”
Among its formal actions, the Lou
isiana School Boards Association
adopted resolutions:
• Asking clarification of the com
pulsory school attendance law and ap
proving in principle the concept of
compulsory school attendance.
• Opposing federal aid to education.
• Opposing local taxation in lieu of
state equalization for teachers pay.
Leon M. Knight, a member of the
Washington Parish School Board, was
elected president of the organization
for the next two years. Harry McKen
zie of Claiborne Parish was elected
first vice president, and Fulton J. Bacon
of Evangeline Parish, second vice
president.
volved public schools in Calcasieu
ish and in the port city of u'
Charles which is part of Calcasieu!/
which operates one of four indepenj
ent city school systems in the state
The cases were filed on behalf 0 ;
five Negro parents who had applied f 0t
enrollment of their 14 children in ^
Lake Charles system (Conley v. Lak '
Charles School Board) and for f 0Uf
Negro parents whose eight children had
been denied enrollment in whit e
schools of the Calcasieu Parish system.
(Booker v. Calcasieu Parish Schorl
Board)
A. P. Tureaud, attorney for the Na-
tional Association for the Advancement
of Colored People, who represents the
plaintiffs, said he had asked authorities
of the two school systems on Aug. p
to end discrimination but had received
no reply to his request. The cases were
filed on Feb. 3.
In the petitions, the plaintiffs asked
the court to order school authorities to
submit plans for desegregation within
a period to be specified by the court.
Immediate and total desegregation o!
all Iberville Parish public schools was
sought in a suit filed in U.S. District
Court at Baton Rouge Jan. 23. The
action was brought by the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People on behalf of 11 Negro
parents acting for their children.
The plaintiffs asked that all levels of
all public schools be desegregated, and. ‘
if immediate relief could not be grant
ed, that the court direct the school
board to submit a plan for total de
segregation within a year. They asked •
that any grade-a-year plan be rejected.
(Williams v. Iberville Parish School
Board.)
Iberville Parish is a Mississippi River
parish just south of Baton Rouge. Pla
quemines, the parish seat, was the
scene of racial tension and civil rights
demonstrations last summer.
In 1962-63, the parish public schools
enrolled 3,088 white pupils and 4,525
Negroes.
»
Schoolmen
Negroes Attempt
To Desegregate
Private School
Negroes in New Orleans launched )
the first attempt to desegregate private
schools receiving grant-in-aid support j
Two Negro parents appeared on Jan
24 at the Ninth Ward Elementan I
School, requesting enrollment of three
children. They were denied admittance.
The school was organized by w "' e
parents in 1961 after desegregation be
gan in the Frantz school of the same
general area. Last year the prj va ®
school had enrollment of 1.291 and re
ceived under the state financial ass>
ance program grants in aid total®..
$333,204.
Negroes making the attempt wer
Mrs. Lorraine Poindexter, with ^
seven-year-old son, and Robert
with his 11-year-old daughter an
10-year-old son.
A. P. Tureaud Sr., chief counsel
the National Association for the
vancement of Colored People m
isiana, said: “We will look in o
matter with a view of getting them ^
mitted to this school.” He adde . g
will take the position that t s
public school operating under the gu
of a private school.
Legal Attack
id said the move was not ^
n the grant-in-aid progr
but if the effort to n
to the school should fai ■ , s
le system of using sta e ho0 ls
upils’ tuition at privat ^
e brought under legal (erS
;rant-in-aid program
n New Orleans, first of _
to have begun schoo vea r
For the current schoo ^
an 10,000 students f ave
1 for receipt of tuition ^
546 of them in New
icent areas. ,,blish^
?nt statistical report p
Orleans Parish Schoo n0 „-
that enrollment in P* 1 ' a ah
i schools in the pansh
jubled, from 5.946 0 .
31 when the tuition gr®* pI -i-
is inaugurated. Six of iv inf
hools with pupils u a vil>£
in aid are new ones