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PAGE 12—MARCH, 1964—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS DELAWARE Board Member Proposes End of Uniracial Schools Delaware Highlights DOVER LIMINATION OF schools with all-Negro enrollment, per haps by this September, was proposed by a member of the State Board of Education at its meeting in Dover on Feb. 24. The recommendation by Harry D. Zutz resulted in unanimous agreement to conduct a comprehensive study of the status of segregated schools. Zutz first proposed that the state superintendent of public instruction report his findings at the March meet ing but later agreed to extend the time limit until the April meeting. The decision for the study drew strong support from Dr. Woodrow Wil son, who last year became the first Negro to serve on the state board. President Absent The action by the board was taken in the absence of President J. Ohrum Small, who, like Zutz and Dr. Wilson, is from the northern end of the state where desegregation is less of an issue. Earlier in the month Dr. Wilson and Dr. Hiram C. Lasher expressed di vergent views on the desegregation policies of the board. Dr. Lasher, who lives in Sussex County, where the majority of the all- Negro schools are located, presided at the February board meeting which di rected that the survey be undertaken. However, he did not express an opin ion from the chair. Zutz brought up the issue as the board was on the verge of adjourning. Zutz Disturbed “I am disturbed,” he said, “that Del aware continues to operate segregated schools with the blessing of the State Board of Education. ‘We have de facto segregation whether we acknowledge it or not, Lasher and Wilson Divergent views. and if we are truly interested in a system of education that is fully inte grated now is the time for us to look into how to bring it about.” Zutz cautioned his four fellow mem bers against delay. “We should not wait for others to beckon with a clarion call,” he said, in an apparent reference to protests against de facto segregation in Wil mington schools from a civil rights leader from West Chester, Pa. Boycott Suggested A comprehensive survey will be conducted to determine the status of segregated schools. The problem of placing Negro stu dent teacher from Delaware State College in white schools has been solved, according to the president of the predominantly Negro institution. Divergent views on the desegrega tion policies of the State Board of Education have been expressed by two of the six board members. schools is both financially unsound and definitely un-Constitutional.” In the past, Dr. Wilson said, “The reasoning has been that the hands of the State Board are tied.” But in the light of recent legal de cisions, he said, “it is apparently un constitutional to maintain the schools solely because no one has asked that they be abolished.” Dr. Wilson pointed out that “I am not in favor of closing, or burning school buildings, per se, to bring about desegregation.” Overlapping Districts But in many instances, he said, white and Negro districts overlap. “It is time,” he continued, “that the board address itself to this problem be fore we have pickets and boycotts.” u Dr - Wilson expressed the belief that “this can be solved without putting the board in this embarrassing position.” Dr. Gousha asked Dr. Wilson if the report should be prepared with a view toward the preparation of legislation to submit to the General Assembly. Legislation Unneeded I don t think we need legislation to decide what to do, I think the court has told us we can’t operate so-called all- Negro schools,” Dr. Wilson replied. “Our problem is what to do with these districts once they are integrated,” he said. Some of the barriers which still exist were discussed by Dr. H. B. King, assistant state superintendent in charge of elementary education. “As long as each of these schools has a separate board of trustees, and teach ers on tenure, these schools will con tinue to exist because the teachers are going to keep the school open until they can find another position.” And the problem of a Negro teacher finding another position, particularly in a white school, is substantial, Dr. King said. Dr. Wilson disagreed. “I don’t know why qualified Negro teachers from schools which are closed will have to worry about where to teach,” he said, “since we will have the same number of children who have to be taught.” In any case, he said, “this is not a valid reason for the continuation of all-Negro schools.” Harry D. Zutz ‘We should not wait . . .’ In The Colleges Student Teacher Placement Seen Much Improved The problem of placing Negro stu dent teachers from Delaware State College in white schools has been solved for this semester, and perhaps permanently, in the opinion of Presi dent Lima I. Mishoe. Dr. Mishoe, who brought the problem to the attention of the State Board of Education in December, expressed his appreciation to the board at its Febru ary meeting. “I am authorized by the board of trustees at Delaware State College to thank you for the action you have taken,” Dr. Mishoe said. Among the actions by the state board was appointment of a committee from the State Department of Public In struction, which arranged a discussion before the January meeting of the Delaware School Boards Association. Among the barriers cited at the meeting was a lack of communication between the college, the State Depart ment of Public Instruction, and the local school districts. Meeting Credited Dr. Mishoe credited this meeting with the placement of four Negro teachers in schools that had not used them prev iously, and another at a school that had not had a Negro student teacher in several years. Among the new districts to take a Negro student teacher for the first time was Seaford, which accepted Miss Ernestine Mumford in business educa tion. Seaford is the first school in Sussex County, the southern-most county in Delaware, to use a Negro teacher in a predominantly white school. Other practice teachers were placed in Claymont, and Dickinson, near Wilmington, while P. S. du Pont, also in Wilmington, after a lapse of several years, also accepted a student teacher. Marshallton, also near Wilmington, offered to place practice teachers. Ac cording to Dr. Milford Caldwell, stu- (See DELAWARE, Page 13) What They Say Philadelphia NAACP Leader In Controversy After Speech Stanley E. Branche, president of the Committee for Freedom Now, on Jan. 14 suggested a boycott of Wilmington schools, but it failed to develop. “One year runs into the next,” Zutz continued, “but little has been done to abolish the small schools, with small enrollments, many of them Negro schools.” Zutz took note of the fact that Dr. Richard P. Gousha, who became state superintendent in January, will face a formidable task without much back ground. “But we must begin; we can’t wait. I look to September for the elimination of de facto segregation.” ‘Time to Start’ Zutz was also critical of the Negro leadership: “I realize that it is incumbent upon the Negro leadership to also do some thing, and I admit that the Negro lead ership has been derelict in the past. “But we need the facts, and this is the time to start.” . Zutz suggested that the report also include pictures of the facilities at the all-Negro schools. “We will be mutually appalled at the information. “I think we should make a start on our own, before outsiders come in. We know the facts and what ought to be done,” he said. Dr. Wilson endorsed the views ex pressed by Zutz, and said the continued operation of “so-called all-Negro The president of Philadelphia’s branch of the NAACP was quoted as having advocated a “scorched-earth” policy in that city unless something is done about school desegregation, but he later said he was “misrepresented.” Ned Davis, who heads the Dover bureau of the Wilmington News- Journal Co. and covered the convoca tion speech at Delaware State College, denied he had misquoted Cecil B. Moore. Davis, in the Wilmington Morning News, reported that Moore vowed that “if we can’t have equal opportunities of education, then we’ll bum the schools down and all be illiterates.” Statement Criticized Moore’s statements were subsequent ly criticized by numerous civil rights leaders, including Rep. Herman M. Holloway, the only Negro in the Gen eral Assembly. And Dr. Luna I. Mishoe, Delaware State College president, said he thought Moore’s remarks on violence were all “bad.” “It was not the proper kind of lan guage,” Dr. Mishoe said. Dr. Woodrow Wilson, the first Negro to serve on the State Board of Educa tion, said he expects no one to “rise up in arms” in Delaware after such speeches “but if this is drummed into people long enough there may be danger.” Teachers Accused Moore, in a subsequent speech at the Wilmington NAACP’s membership campaign, accused Wilmington Negro teachers of allowing de facto school segregation while they “fatten their own pocketbooks and bellies.” In an interview, Moore denied advo cating a scorched-earth policy. “We’re not going to bum the schools down. We’re just going to completely destroy the curriculum. Because if they don’t have any students in them to teach, how are they going to teach anything?” This was an apparent reference to a boycott of the Wilmington schools which was proposed, but failed to de velop, in January. WEST VIRGINIA Meeting Set on Ending Negro Public Schools CHARLESTON M embers of the State Human Rights Commission will confer with the State Board of Education March 12 about its recommendations that the board establish a policy for eliminating all Negro public schools in West Virginia. The hearing for the commission has been set for 10 a.m., and Director Howard W. McKinney says the board has allowed 30 minutes for discussion. McKinney said the commission will ask the board for a policy determina tion on recommendations contained in the commission’s last annual report. They are: • That the board set a date of not more than five years hence for elimi nation of all separate Negro schools within the state. • That the board adopt a policy of positive leadership for the desegrega tion of faculty and administrative per sonnel. • That the board adopt a policy of promoting human relations in the schools, and that attention be given to curriculum content and assistance to teachers in dealing with prejudices and handling inter-racial activities. No Study Undertaken The commission has not undertaken a full study of school desegregation but has assembled information which would indicate there are approximately 88 all-Negro public schools still left in the state. These are mainly in the junior and senior high school area. McKinney says that from his discus sion of the desegregation problem with school people he is of the opinion a significant number of the all-Negro schools could be eliminated without any great trouble. They are centered mainly in six southern counties. The biggest problem county, he remarked, would be Mc Dowell, which has 23 Negro elementary schools, one three-year junior high and four six-year high schools. He said there is evidence that Negro children are transported by school bus in McDowell County past all-white schools to Negro schools. No Negro Principals McDowell is a coal mining county at the very southern tip of the state. It has had some racial discord back through the years but not much. Mainly its troubles arose after the racial strife in Little Rock, Ark., when efforts were made to desegregate Cen tral High School there. McKinney also said a public policy is needed in the hiring and placing of Negro teaching personnel. He said he knows of no desegregated school in the state where a Negro serves as principal. Likewise, he said, although West Virginia has a policy of racial desegre gation in every county system where Negroes live, there has been no posi tive effort on the part of school au thorities to convey through the curric ula an understanding of desegregation and what it means to the state and nation. ★ ★ ★ Kanawha President Denies Discrimination Charges Dr. C. Carl Tully, president of the Kanawha County Board of Education, said the board supports a policy of hiring and promoting teachers with out regard to race. His statement followed questions charging racial discrimination. His comments came Feb. 20 at a meeting of the Charleston Business and Pro fessional Men’s Club. He made it clear that board members have no legal power to hire or promote school personnel. All their actions in this field are on the recommendation of the school superintendent. At the meeting Willard Brown, pres ident of the Charleston branch of the National Association for the Advance ment of Colored People, said a special committee had conferred recently with Supt. L. K. Loverstein on charges of discrimination in the employment and promotion of Negro teachers. Brown charged that a “nose count” by the committee showed there are 109 Negro teachers in the Kanawha County system now as compared with 134 before schools were desegregated in 1956. The Kanawha system is the largest in West Virginia, and consid ered one of the most desegregated. West Virginia Highlights The West Virginia Human Rights Commission will ask the State Board of Education March 12 to eliminate all Negro schools in the state within five years. Only one person filing for state wide office in West Virginia this year pledged an anti-segregation plank in his platform. Out of 157 clerks and stenographers in the school system, Brown said, only one is a Negro. He said another con ference has been arranged on the problem. About two years ago Brown said the NAACP was thinking of bringing court action in Kanawha County to gain better opportunities for Negro teachers. ★ ★ ★ The State Human Rights Commission has commended Charleston High School for adopting a preamble to its code of conduct for students which deplores racial discrimination. The student council adopted the pre amble, printed it on billfold-size cards and distributed it to all students, with the hope that they would sign and keep it. The preamble reads in part: “. . . We consider it essential to give equal opportunity and respect to all pupils regardless of financial back ground, race or creed. . . . We are aware that any practice of discrimi nation and behavior unworthy of Charleston High School students breed internal destruction of our school and of ourselves. . . The Human Rights Commission com mented: “So responsible an understanding of the meaning of democracy is a very great credit to them (Charleston High students, student council and their ad visors). Our congratulations and deep appreciation.” ★ ★ ★ The West Virginia legislature as sured continued operation of Bluefield State College on an expanded basis for at least another year. The legislature passed a 1964-65 fiscal budget which included an increase in funds for Bluefield. Where the budget of this southern-most state-maintained college is $584,197, it will be $593,353 next year. Political Activity Candidate Brown Plans to Support Desegregation Only one candidate who has filed in the West Virginia primary election has taken a formal stand on the school racial problem. He is Bonn Brown, Elgins lawyer who is seeking the Dem ocratic gubernatorial nomination. Filing for public office in West Vir ginia closed Feb. 1 for both Demo crats and Republicans. A New York Negro, Paul Zuber, said he would seek the presidential nomination in West Virginia’s P re ^?j ential Democratic primary, but he di not pay his $1,000 filing fee. He said he would run as a write-in candidate. Under West Virginia law it is ^ tremely difficult to poll a vote of aW size as a write-in candidate. Zu has not yet made an appearance the state though he has said in on two or three occasions, as well in telephone conversations, that would campaign here. His reason for seeking the nomin tion, he said, is to focus national at tion on the school racial problem w^ exists in America. He decided on ^ Virginia as a battleground because its experience with school desegr tion since 1954. u e Brown said if elected governor, ^ would make every effort to P us _ total desegregation in the schoo terns which don’t have it. . Another person with a record school desegregation field who has for office is Cecil H. Underw'OO ’ r , publican, who is seeking the g° % e ship for the second time. No Wes ^ ginian has ever before run twi governor.