Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 14—MARCH, 1964—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
Politics
(Continued From Page 13)
In Texas, school segregation-deseg
regation appears unlikely to be a
political campaign talking point. De
segregation of public schools and other
facilities has proceeded markedly dur
ing the past year, even in East Texas,
adjacent to Louisiana.
Texas Gov. John Connally, who was
wounded when President Kennedy was
assassinated in Dallas, will be opposed
for nomination in May to a second
two-year term. Don Yarborough a
Houston lawyer who also was Con-
nally’s Democratic primary opponent
two years ago again seeks the nomi
nation. Neither is expected to venture
far into race-relations as a campaign
issue.
C. S. Weakley Jr., a Dallas insurance
man, is a Republican gubernatorial
candidate. A Republican, Jack Cox, a
Breckinridge oil man, waged a hard-
fought campaign with Connally for the
governorship in 1962. One of Texas’
two U.S. senators, John G. Tower, is
a Republican identified with Sen. Gold-
water’s forces.
U.S. Sen. Ralph Yarborough, a Dem
ocrat who is not related to Don Yar
borough, will seek re-election this
year. His Democratic opponents in
clude John Van Cronkhite, a Dallas
insurance man, and Gordon McLen
don, a Dallas radio executive. Mc
Lendon described himself as a con
servative except on civil rights—“I’m
a liberal on that.” Republican primary
candidates for the senatorial nomina
tion include Cox (Connally’s past op
ponent); George Bush, a Houston oil-
drilling executive; Dr. Milton Davis,
a Dallas surgeon, and Robert Morris,
Dallas lawyer.
The Political Association of Spanish-
Speaking Organizations, a militant
group of Latin-Americans, charged
last month in a meeting at Waco that
Gov. Connally is guilty of “racism”
and has “failed to represent all the
people of Texas . . . (by) believing
that property rights are superior to
human rights and opposing the civil
rights program of the late President
Kennedy and President Johnson . .
The organization endorsed Don Yar
borough for governor and Ralph Yar
borough for senator.
North Carolina
School segregation-desegregation has
not been a major issue in North Caro
lina politics, but there are racial over
tones in the campaign for governor.
Five candidates are in the field to
succeed Gov. Terry Sanford, three of
them Democrats and two Republicans.
Neither Republican has made a state
ment on race issues, but the Demo
crats offer three shades of opinion and
one has made a segregationist com
mitment.
L. Richardson Preyer of Greensboro,
a former U.S. district judge, says the
question of segregation or desegrega
tion of schools has been settled by the
courts and that race is a closed issue
in North Carolina politics. His position
is similar to that of Gov. Sanford.
Dan K. Moore of Canton, a former
Superior Court judge, has made this
statement: “I do not believe you can
legislate equality. It must be earned.
To that end, the Negro deserves and
should be given equality of opportu
nity. This will not come through vio
lence or by additional laws which take
away private property rights in the
name of civil rights. North Carolina
should be allowed to work out its own
problems.”
Dr. I. Beverly Lake of Raleigh, a
lawyer and former faculty member at
Wake Forest College who ran against
Sanford in 1960, advocated public ac
ceptance of racially separated educa
tion as being “in the best interest of
all our children.” (See North Carolina
report.) Previously, he said: “I shall
strive to conserve and develop the
friendly spirit of mutual helpfulness
which has characterized the relations
of white and Negro North Carolinians
for generations. Through that spirit, we
can move ahead to greater comforts
and satisfactions for us all. Our tra
ditional ways of life have proved their
value to both our races.”
Byrd’s Term Ending
In Virginia, the term of Sen. Harry
F. Byrd, long a major factor in politics
and a principal backer of the state’s
previous “massive resistance” policies,
expires at the end of this year. In
the forthcoming election, Byrd’s dif
ferences with other Virginia leaders on
segregation - desegregation issues may
be underlined. Former Gov. J. Lindsay
Almond Jr., who sponsored the state’s
present “freedom - of - choice” educa
tional program based on tuition grants
for pupils attending schools outside
their zones, became a federal judge on
appointment of President Kennedy last
year without the support of either Sen.
Byrd or Sen. A. Willis Robertson.
West Virginia’s 1964 campaign for
governor will include advocacy of fur
ther school desegregation. Bonn Brown,
an Elkins lawyer, said he would en
deavor to expand acceptance of deseg
regation in the few counties where
it remains on a voluntary basis. Former
Gov. Cecil Underwood, again a candi
date, has a record of outspoken ad
vocacy for school desegregation. He is
a former chairman of the Southern
Regional Education Board.
Meanwhile, a New York Negro law
yer, Paul Zuber, is seeking write-in
support as a Republican in the West
Virginia presidential preferential pri
mary, stating that he is seeking a
forum for discussion of national school
desegregation problems and other hu
man-relations subjects.
Maryland Senate Race
In Maryland, the Senate seat now
held by J. Glenn Beall, a Republican,
is up for filling this year, and pos
sibility has arisen that school-race
issues will figure in the campaign.
During January, an announced candi
date, State Comptroller Louis J. Gold
stein of Calvert County in Southern
Maryland, was asked publicly by the
state branch of the NAACP why his
county was without even token deseg
regation or a human-relations commis
sion. Goldstein replied that Calvert
County had both. He is backed by
Democratic Gov. Millard Tawes.
In Florida, where political cam
paigns have been conducted without
debate as to race-relations since an
outspoken segregationist lost to LeRoy
Collins in 1956, a primary is set for
May to nominate candidates for gover
nor and for the Senate seat held by
Spessard L. Holland, a Democrat. In
cumbent Gov. Farris Bryant has con
tinued Collins’ policy of maintaining
a “moderate” administration as to
race-relations.
Campaigns for both governors and
U.S. senators are pending in Delaware
and Missouri, where Govs. Elbert N.
Carvel and John M. Dalton, Democrats,
have supported school programs and
other measures supported by Negroes.
In Delaware, Carvel is considered
among the likely candidates for the
Senate seat now held by Republican
John J. Williams. In Missouri, Sen.
Stuart Symington’s term expires at
the end of this year.
Two Tennessee Senators
Tennessee must elect two U.S. sena
tors this year instead of one because
of the death in 1963 of Sen. Estes Ke-
fauver, a backer of civil-rights laws
who is succeeded pending the election
by Herbert S. Walters of Morristown
on appointment of Gov. Frank G.
Clement. Sen. Albert Gore, who with
Kefauver failed to join other Southern
senators and representatives in sign
ing the Southern Manifesto in 1956, is
expected to seek a third term.
Announced candidates for the Ke
fauver seat include U.S. Rep. Ross Bass
of Pulaski, an announced supporter of
the national administration’s civil-
rights legislation, and M. M. Bullard
of Newport, a longtime Kefauver
backer. Gov. Clement, who recently
appointed a State Commission on Hu
man Relations to seek alleviation of
race problems, himself is considered
a possible Senate aspirant. Former
Gov. Buford Ellington also is consid
ered a possibility either against Gore
or for the Kefauver vacancy. All the
prospective Tennessee candidates are
considered either liberals or “moder
ates” on issues of race.
John Kasper of Nashville, a native
of New Jersey, who served federal
prison sentences as a leader of dis
orderly opposition to school-desegre
gation at Clinton and Nashville in 1956
and 1957, was named March 1 as presi
dential candidate of the National States
Rights Party. In a meeting at Louis
ville, the segregationist organization
chose J. B. Stoner of Atlanta as Kas
per’s running-mate. Kasper, now oper
ator of an automobile service shop in
Nashville, was not present at the con
vention.
Oklahoma must elect a senator to
complete the un expired term of the
late Robert S. Kerr, a longtime Demo
cratic leader, but questions of racial
school attendance are scarcely expected
to occur.
Kentucky, where public education
now is largely desegregated, has no
major statewide election scheduled this
year. The subject of race came to the
front in last year’s race for governor
between Democrat Edward T. (Ned)
Breathitt, supported by then-Gov. Bert
T. Combs, and Republican Louie N.
Nunn. Nunn charged that an executive
order issued by Combs, forbidding ra
cial discrimination by state - licensed
firms and professions, was politically
motivated to win Negro votes for
Breathitt. Nunn also idenified Breathitt
LOUISIANA
Federal Judge Chides Both Sides
In College Desegregation Case
NEW ORLEANS
A FEDERAL DISTRICT COUTt judge
criticized both the “sinis
ter” action of a plaintiff and the
“frivolous defense” of a respond
ent in a hearing at Baton Rouge
in the case of McCoy v. State
Board of Education which seeks
desegregation of Northeast
Louisiana State College at Mon
roe.
Judge E. Gordon West took under
advisement on Feb. 14 the suit seeking
enrollment of Sarah Louise McCoy for
the current semester.
During the hearing, Judge West ex
pressed surprise when Miss McCoy ad
mitted she had used an assumed name
to get an official application form from
the state-supported college. Questioned
by the judge, the plaintiff testified she
had used an alias to request the ap
plication because she had been refused
an application form on two previous
occasions when she had applied under
her own name.
“Is the court suggesting any im
propriety?” asked Norman Amaker,
counsel for the plaintiff.
‘Sinister Reason’
"Yes, I’m saying there’s an impro
priety in using a false name,” Judge
West replied. “I think there’s usually
a sinister reason in using an alias.”
If there is anything sinister behind
the plaintiff’s ruse to acquire an appli
cation, Amaker responded, the methods
of the college to bar Negroes are “dia
bolical.”
Subsequently, the president and the
registrar of the college testified that
they had not even considered Miss
McCoy’s efforts to enroll because under
state law, Northeast is described as a
school for white students.
Defense attorneys argued that the
State Board of Education, respondent
in the case, is an entity of state gov
ernment and cannot be sued without its
permission. They contended the plain
tiff erred in not naming the individual
members of the board as defendants.
“Frivolous’ Position
Attorneys for the plaintiff countered
that this position was “clearly frivo
lous,” and that the case of Baker v.
Nicholls State College had voided the
defendants’ claim.
Registrar L. C. Oxford testified that
Miss McCoy’s application was incom
plete. He said two separate transcripts
of her credits for two summer terms at
Grumbling College, a state Negro insti
tution, were submitted and that no
record was filed to indicate whether she
had taken other courses at other insti
tutions between the two summer ses
sions. Miss McCoy also has attended
Southern University.
Dr. George T. Walker, president of
Northeast, said under questioning by
the judge that a white student applying
for admittance under similar circum
stances may have been granted a pro
visional admission and required sub
sequently to file a proper application.
Judge West said the explanation of
the alleged application disorder was
“nothing short of ridiculous.” He said
he was in sympathy with the school’?
administrative problems when there
was reason behind them.
in campaign statements as a supporter
of the Kennedy administration’s poli
cies on racial desegregation. Breathitt
retorted that Nunn’s charges endan
gered racial peace. Breathitt won the
election by a narrow margin.
Neither Georgia nor adjacent South
Carolina has an election for governor
nor U.S. senator this year. Georgia has
given little indication of current polit
ical activity bearing directly on school-
race issues although the state’s one
Negro legislator, State Sen. Leroy
Johnson of Atlanta, has the support
of Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. for
a public-accommodations bill.
Although the subject of race in edu
cation is not prominent in political or
legislative activities in South Carolina,
the legislature’s school (segregation)
committee continues to function. A
move was reported under way to seek
re-enactment of the state’s compulsory
school-attendance law, which was re
pealed in 1955 during a legislative ses
sion which sought means to prevent
future enforcement of biracial school
attendance.
Louisiana Highlights
A federal district court judge
chided both sides in a college deseg
regation case, then took the case un
der advisement.
Change of an all-white elementary
school to Negro use was under con
sideration in East Baton Rouge
Parish, where desegregation began
last fall at the 12th grade level.
Democratic nominee John J. Mc-
Keithen was elected governor over
Republican Charlton Lyons, but
Lyons got 38 per cent of the vote
cast.
Congress of Racial Equality strat
egy planners meeting in New Orleans
said their attentions would be directed
toward de facto school segregation in
the North and voter registration in
the South.
“But I have no patience with frivo
lous defenses,” he asserted.
★ ★ ★
In other legal action affecting Louisi
ana schools:
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Ap
peals at Houston on Feb. 11 heard
arguments in the appeal of a case
styled XJ.S. v. Bossier Parish School
Board. In this suit, the U.S. Govern
ment is seeking to gain admission to
white schools for the children of Ne
gro servicemen and federal employes
stationed in Bossier Parish of north
west Louisiana.
The government contends that the
school board, by maintaining segrega
tion, has violated a contract under
which it has received several millions
of dollars in federal aid to help build
and maintain public schools burdened
with an influx of federal personnel.
U.S. District Judge Ben Dawkins at
Shreveport dismissed the government’s
case on Aug. 20, 1963, and the govern
ment appealed to the higher court.
A hearing in the case of Williams v.
Tberville Parish School Board was
scheduled for Feb. 21, but was post
poned for 30 days on the plea of de
fense attorneys. U.S. District Judge E.
Gordon West granted the postponement
on Feb. 11 after attorneys Sam D’Amico
and John W. Parker asked for more
time to meet with school board mem
bers and prepares the defense.
The case was filed by NAACP coun.
sel A. P. Tureaud Sr. on Jan. 23 ^
behalf of 11 Negro parents and their 20
children. The Feb. 21 hearings had been
scheduled to determine if a preliminary
injunction was warranted to prohibit
parish school authorities from continu
ing a policy of segregation.
★ ★ ★
Yet another suit was filed on Feb. 6
against the financially-beleaguered Jun
ior University of New Orleans, one of
the private schools heavily dependent
for support upon the state grant-in-aid
program. The latest action was filed by
a construction company claiming $20..
094 for renovation of the school’s
building.
The school faces other suits, one
filed by 23 of its teachers asking $9,200
in back pay and another by St. Charles
Associates, Inc., on a $395,838 mortgage
note on the school building.
★ ★ ★
The Louisiana Second Circuit Court
of Appeals ruled Feb. 14 that the $3-
million libel suit filed by Maj. Gen.
Edwin A. Walker against a New Or
leans newspaper and the Associated
Press will be tried in Shreveport. Gen.
Walker brought the suit against The
Times-Picayune Publishing Corp. and
the Associated Press in connection with
reports on his activities on the Univer
sity of Mississippi campus during the
enrollment of James Meredith.
Schoolmen
East Baton Rouge
May Convert
All-White School
The East Baton Rouge School Board,
which inaugurated a court-ordered de
segregation plan last fall in the 12th
grade, is considering conversion of a
presently all-white elementary school
to Negro use.
School Supt. Lloyd Lindsey recom
mended the change for the Dufrocq
Elementary School. White parents in
the attendance zone object to the
change.
Explaining the reasons for his reco
mmendation, Supt. Lindsey noted that
the school now is attended by 297 white
(See LOUISIANA, Page 15)
Virginia
(Continued From Page 13)
first desegregation at the Baptist-re
lated institution.
The statement also said that Negroes
would be admitted to certain evening
graduate courses.
Last May, a petition urging desegre
gation of university classes was sub
mitted to President George M. Modlin
by the school’s Baptist Student Union.
In June the Board of Trustees ap
pointed a committee to study policies
concerning integration, and it was on
recommendation of this committee, in
early February, that desegregation of
some evening classes was authorized.
★ ★ ★
Early in February, four Negro stu
dents from Hampton Institute, Hamp
ton, Va., spent a day attending classes
at Washington and Lee University, a
private white institution in Lexington.
Several W&L students are scheduled
to return the visit this spring, in an
exchange sponsored by the Episcopal
Church.
The exchange does not represent a
move toward desegregation at W&L,
President Fred C. Cole said on Feb.
13.
★ ★ ★
The Richmond New Leader on Feb.
5 editorially criticized Gov. Albertis S.
Harrison Jr. for not appointing a Negro
to fill a vacancy on the State Board
of Education.
The News Leader, generally consid
ered a pro-segregation paper, said that
the governor’s newest appointee, Mrs.
Catherine Howell Hook, assistant pro
fessor of education at Mary Washing
ton College, was well quaified and
could make a great contribution to the
board.
But, the editorial went on, the gov
ernor should have taken advantage of
the opportunity to appoint a qualified
Negro to the board. About one-fifd]
of Virginia’s population is Negro, said
the paper, adding that “Negro interests,
desires, ambitions, grievances all de
serve representation by able Negro
leaders” on official state boards, none
of which now has Negro members.
★ ★ ★
Merger of the defunct Storer Colleg e
of Harper’s Ferry, W. Va., and Virginia
Union University of Richmond,
nearing completion, Dr. Thomas
Henderson, president of Virginia
ion, said in an address here Feb-
Storer, a college for Negroes, c os
in 1954 after West Virginia disco ^
tinued segregation of its institutions
higher learning. The college s ^
have been merged with those of
ginia Union.
Dr. Henderson, speaking at the
nual Founders’ Day program a ^
ginia Union, a Negro college, sai
merger will be complete when ce
legal papers are filed in Virginia
West Virginia.
★ ★ ★
18-
Grace Elizabeth Poindexter, ®
ar-old senior at the Prince g( j,
ee Schools, applied Feb. 1° 0
ssion to Longwood College-
Dfficials of the state-supporte
's college, located in Prince . g y
d it was the first applies i°
ve received from a Negro. r -.
G. Lankford Jr., president, s
lege had received had
-groes in the past, but that
tde formal application. j to
Vliss Poindexter said she ^
\