Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

PAGE 14—APRIL, 1964—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS MISSISSIPPI School Trustees Defer Plan Until Hearing Held in May JACKSON rustees of the Jackson Mu nicipal Separate School Dis trict are awaiting outcome of a May 18 federal district court hearing on the merits of a deseg regation suit sponsored by the National Association for the Ad vancement of Colored People before drafting a grade-by-grade plan which District Judge S. C. Mize has ordered submitted by July 15. Judge Mize’s order on March 4 was a temporary injunction restraining and enjoining the trustees from requiring segregation of the races in the Jackson public schools and for assignment of students to classes on a nondiscrimina- tory basis “with all deliberate speed.” Judge Mize noted that the temporary injunction is not final and could be af fected by the May 18 hearing of the issues on their merits. The July 15 plan must call for de segregation in at least one grade during the school year beginning in the fall (August and September). In a formal statement the day of Judge Mize’s order in the case of Darrell Kenyatta Evers v. Jackson Municipal Separate School District, the trustees said: “This preliminary injunction was is sued without permitting counsel for any of the parties to offer evidence, however, the court assured all parties that full opportunity would be given to present all relevant and competent evidence at the trial on the merits. “With the continued support of the mayor and commissioners of the city of Jackson and the superintendent of schools of the district, the trustees of the district will continue to resist and oppose this litigation by every legal and constitutional means available.” In a statement March 10, the execu tive committee of the Jackson Citizens’ Council said: “We urge the Jackson school board not to give an inch toward comply ing with NAACP demands to inte grate the public schools of our city. We reassure members of the board, Mayor Thompson and other public of ficials, as stated in the past, that they have the full support of the 7,000 mem bers of the Jackson Citizens’ Council in refusing to permit the evils of race mixing to wreck our public schools. Tokenism Called ‘False Straw’ “Certainly no one can ignore the dis mal fate of so-called integrated schools in the north, where chaos and violence have invariably turned them into blackboard jungles; nor can any ‘mod erate’ cling to the false straw of token ism. For the NAACP and other Negro pressure groups have made it clear be yond all doubt that token integration today means massive integration to morrow, not only of students, but of faculties and administrators as well. “We as parents and patrons of the Jackson public schools do not propose under any circumstances to stand idly by and see our own children become victims of the Negro revolution now openly proclaimed by its leaders. “We admire, and offer full support to those parents who are intervening in court on behalf of their children and our children, and who propose to offer irrefutable proof of the adverse effects of integration on both races. “We call on the citizens of Jackson, and on all citizens throughout Missis sippi, to join as one united people in throwing back this imminent threat to our public schools of which we are all justly proud.” Says Delay Unneeded Relative to the school board’s state ment of inability to offer evidence at the May 4 hearing, Judge Mize said that under a U. S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals mandate reversing his dis missal of the case “I consider it my duty to grant the temporary injunction and there is no necessity for further delay.” The court of appeals order issued in New Orleans Feb. 13, reversed Judge Mize’s dismissal of the Jackson case, along with those from the city of Biloxi and Leake County (Carth age) on grounds the plaintiffs had not exhausted ad ministrative rem edies on the local level. The New Orleans court mandated Judge Mize’s district court to give the petition for temporary injunction “prompt consideration.” (SSN, March.) At the May 18 hearing, Judge Mize also will consider the petition filed by two white Jackson parents to enjoin the school board from desegregating the schools. Following hearings in the Jackson case, Judge Mize then will hear the Biloxi and Leake County suits on their merits. In ordering submission of desegre gation plans by July 15, Judge Mize told the trustees that “integration should be made fully without any vio lence and discord and as much tran quility should be sought as possible.” Counsel for the NAACP had in formed the court of appeals they had not attempted to utilize provisions of the state pupil-assignment statute for transfer of their clients to white schools because “the exhaustion of remedies provided in the statute would prove futile and inadequate in view of the state policy of segregation.” Community Action Legislators Score ‘Ole Miss’ Teachers For Their Speeches Two University of Mississippi pro fessors have been criticized in speeches on the House and Senate floors at the current biennial session of the Missis sippi legislature. Dr. James Silver, professor of his tory since 1936, was the target of Sen. Corbett Patridge of Schlater and Rep. Malcolm Mabry of Dublin, a former student of Dr. Silver. Their criticism— which included a demand for his dis missal from the faculty—stemmed from a speech by Dr. Silver in Memphis in which he referred to Mississippi as a “closed society.” Dr. Russell Barrett, professor of po litical science since 1954, was assailed by Sen. W. M. Jones of Brookhaven, for a speech in Jackson March 17 at the inaugural meeting of the Univer sity of Mississippi School of Medicine chapter of the American Association of University Professors. Dr. Barrett is a former president of the University of Mississippi chapter and was recently elected to the national council of the AAUP. He said the university’s na tional reputation in the James Mere dith desegregation crisis was salvaged by the AAUP in 1962. « Criticisms of Dr. Silver have been waged since his speech in Asheville, N. C., last November when he first referred to Mississippi as a “closed society.” That was his address as out going president of the Southern His torical Society. Speaks at Southwestern Dr. Silver repeated much of his original speech in an appearance at Southwestern at Memphis, a Presby terian liberal-arts college. He said as many as 2,000 youths would demon strate in Mississippi this summer against its segregated way of life. “They are idealistic—they are willing to take chances,” Dr. Silver was quoted as saying. “They are going to clash with the deputy sheriffs of the state who are unalterably opposed to them. I rather suspect there’s going to be somebody killed.” Dr. Silver said it would be the “strongest protest that has been seen In the Colleges John Frazier, recently named to the board of directors of the National As sociation for the Advancement of Col ored People and state president of its intercollegiate division, was refused for the fifth time when he applied for ad mission to the University of Southern Mississippi at Hattiesburg on March 9. He said he plans to apply for the slim mer quarter. Frazier, who is 22 and from Green ville, now is attending Tougaloo South ern Christian College near Jackson. Frazier told newsmen that USM offi cials said he was not eligible to regis ter because he had not submitted an application for the spring quarter with in the specified time. He was accom panied to the campus by another Ne gro, J. C. Fairley, a Hattiesburg busi nessman, and two white ministers iden tified as the Rev. Gath Barber and Rabbi J. B. Miller, both of Wichita, Kans. Mississippi Highlights Trustees of the Jackson Munici pal Separate School District said they would await action at a May 18 federal district court hearing on the merits of a pending desegrega tion suit before drafting a court- ordered grade-by-grade plan. A Negro, John Frazier, lost his fifth effort March 9 to enroll at the University of Southern Mississippi at Hattiesburg, but said he would apply again for the summer quarter. Two University of Mississippi pro fessors were criticized on the floor of the current biennial session of the legislature. They are Dr. James W. Silver, professor of history, who has criticized Mississippi as a “closed society,” and Dr. Russell Barrett, professor of political science. in Mississippi so far against the state’s segregation policies.” “Somebody’s got to counteract the idiocy put out by the speakers sent out by the state sovereignty commis sion,” he said. The university professor called Aaron Henry, druggist of Clarksdale and state president of the NAACP branches, “the greatest man in Mississippi today.” Urges Discharge Taking his cue from that address, Sen. Patridge on March 19 called for the immediate discharge of Dr. Silver. “He (Silver) is opposed to everything we stand for in this state,” Sen. Pat ridge, a delta planter, said, “I am out raged that the taxpayers have to pay the salary of a man like this. I can’t see why the legislature will tolerate such an idiot to teach in this state. “The responsibility of getting rid of this man rests on our shoulders. “When a professor says that anyone, white or colored, is going to get killed —and sanctions it—it is time to get rid of him.” In a second speech on the Senate floor March 27, Sen. Patridge again attacked Dr. Silver. ‘On the Threshold’ He said that “we stand on the threshold of social survival or destruc tion—no longer is this trouble just rumor but a grim reality.” “We sit complacently by and let a person tread the length and breadth of our great nation deceitfully and cowardly expanding the subject of ra cial hate, calling our people backward, ignorant and with a closed society. I speak of Dr. James Silver. “The time has come for action. We are past the talking stage. “I call on this body (the Senate) today to direct the chancellor at the University of Mississippi, along with the board of trustees, to drastically reduce the salary and duties of Dr. Silver and to stifle his degrading ac tivities. Our future—not in the years to come—but within the next months and days depend on this immediate action. “If the chancellor and the board do not act in relation to Dr. Silver, then I say let us, the members of the legis lature, assume the responsibility that we asked the people to place in our hands and do the job—and do it well. “I have been told that this is exactly what Dr. Silver wants us to do. If we When the three men drove on the campus at Hattiesburg in a station wagon, a campus police car escorted them to the rear of the student serv ices building. No Incidents There were no incidents and no crowds. Newsmen were barred from the registration area and the adminis trative offices. Frazier entered the office of acting director of admissions Sam Anzalone in the Student Service Building. He said school authorities were “very polite and cordial.” Frazier said he was told his petition for admission was being rejected be cause he had not complied with a regu lation of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning that new students must apply to reg ister at least 20 days before the start of a new term. fire him, he will get national fame. I say then, it is better that he get na tional fame than for us to receive racial death. “This is the last time I shall raise my voice in these chambers on this subject. I place this matter in the hands of this body, under the leader ship of the governor.” Speech in House Rep. Mabry, addressing the House of Representatives March 23, asserted that “the time has come for the people of this state to rise in righteous indigna tion and demand of the board of trustees and/or the University of Mississippi chancellor that this so- called professor be dismissed.” “I am sick and tired and fed up with Silver and a few others up there at Ole Miss,” he said. “I for one—as a legislator, as an alumnus of Ole Miss and as a Mississippian—am ready to join in any effort, short of violence of course, to help rid the university and the state of such a character as James Wesley Silver.” “This man Silver has taken it upon himself to go all across America—at the taxpayers’ expense—to spread un truths about the very state which has given him employment and security since 1936—when he first came to the university,” he said. Stating that the enrollment at the University of Mississippi had dropped by approximately 10 per cent the cur rent academic year, Representative Mabry told the house: “Dr. Silver’s damnable distortions of the truth and half-truths (as contained in his ‘closed society’ speech) are go ing to cause other parents all over this state to refuse to send their sons and daughters to this institution. Ole Miss —a great institution—can’t afford an other 10 per cent drop next year. Sil ver does us nothing but harm and we are paying for it.” Rep. Mabry said he had been in formed that “Silver is in the process of completing a book about the so- called James Meredith incident. You can imagine how much objectivity will be found within the pages of this book. Just imagine the picture he will paint of Mississippi.” Dr. Silver told the Associated Press he recalled teaching Mabry, whom he described as “the kind of person who writes letters to the editor and pro tests a number of things.” Faculty Police Group Sen. Jones’ criticism of Dr. Barrett centered around a statement relative to formation of a faculty policing group during the September-October, 1962, rioting when Meredith was enrolled under a federal court order and under protection of 30,000 United States sol diers and 500 federal marshals. Jones questioned the professors’ right to set up patrols on the campus and criticized their public statements about integration. Dr. Barrett said “the university would never have gotten through the year (1962-63) with the reputation it did without the AAUP (the American Association of University Professors).” He said that as a result of the Mere dith crisis the university’s reputation was “not very good at best.” The professor was quoted as saying before the Medical Center chapter’s inaugural meeting that “the university was really falling to pieces prior to the night of Sept. 30 (1962) and what hap pened (rioting in which two men were killed) was no compliment to any uni- The applicant said he had felt an application he had submitted for the 1963 winter quarter was still “active” and would be carried over to spring quarter. However, school authorities said a new application is required for each term. No statement was issued by univer sity authorities. Sought Reversal Frazier told newsmen he had ap peared before the college board in Jackson Feb. 20 seeking a reversal of the turndown for the winter quarter which he said was reportedly because he “allegedly” did not submit his records to the university in time. He said he received a letter from the board Feb. 29 advising that it had declined to review the case. Frazier said the board concluded “that there was no proper matter before it for re view and that no relief could be granted as to your request.” University Again Turns Down Negro MIZE versity that purports to be a univer. sity.” Dr. Barrett said the AAUP members “organized the first faculty policing 0 f a campus” and that about 40 profes sors “roamed the campus at night with flashlights looking for students who might have been causing trouble.” He said the AAUP-dominated faculty sen ate at the university played a “major role—private of course—in working out the problems arising from the integra tion crisis.” Dr. Barrett said the Ole Miss AAUP chapter sponsored the raising of legal defense funds for art professor G. Ray Kerciu, who was charged by a law student with desecrating the Confed erate flag and exhibiting assertedly obscene art work. The charges against Kerciu, a native of Michigan, were dropped before the case came up in court, and the professor left the uni versity. Writer Raises Question Relative to Rep. Mabry’s suggestion that Dr. Silver should resign or be gotten rid of, Charles Dunagin, mem ber of the editorial staff of the Mc- Comb Enterprise-Journal and former Ole Miss student, said in a column March 26 that a few things should be considered before either of the legis lator’s suggestions is put into action. Dunagin listed these points: • To fire Silver would be to lend credence to his charge that Mississippi is a ‘closed society.’ It also would help get him more speaking engagements than at present and would give him more fuel for speeches out of the state. The fact that Silver is now on the staff of the university serves as proof that there must be academic freedom there. • To fire Silver under pressure from the legislature would place the accredi tation of state schools in jeopardy since political interference would surely be charged. • Silver has been a professor at Ole Miss for more than 20 years and either he has been a good one or someone has been derelict in letting him remain at the university for that long. It cannot be charged that he successfully puts his ideas into the minds of his students because there are too many of his former students over the state who prove the contrary. “Mabry is one of them. And so are some of the others asking that Silver be fired,” Dunagin concluded. Political Action Three Negroes May Seek House Seats Three Negroes, one the mother of two children, have qualified tentative ly as candidates for the U.S. House 0 Representatives in the June 5 Missis sippi Democratic primary. They are. Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer, 46-year-o Council of Federated Organizations worker in a Negro voter registration campaign and resident of Ruleville. will oppose Rep. Jamie Whitten ( Miss.) in the Second Congressional Ihs ■ict. i J. M. Houston, 74-year-old retire" imiture dealer of Vicksburg, who ppose Rep. John Bell Williams ( liss.) in the Third Congressional •ict. The Rev. J. Earl Cameron, 31-ye^' Id pastor of Faith Tabernacle Bap hurch at Hattiesburg, against 1. M. Colmer (D. Miss.) in the fn ongressional District. ^ Reps. Whitten and Williams ^ fegro opponents in the 1962 ele Opposing Rep. Whitten was -.my ferrell Winston Lindsey of \ prings, while Rep. Williams’ °P p< ? a , n . •as R. L. T. Smith, grocer of The Rev. Mr. Lindsey polled Afle otes to Rep. Whitten’s 34,322, ep. Williams’ Negro opponent Legal Action Second Trial Set For de la Beckwith de la The second trial for Byron fjreeU' Beckwith, white salesman ° ..^CP wood, for the murder of Negro _ Juf> e leader Medgar Evers in Jack g ;jj 12, 1963, has been set for AP cQur t Hinds County (Jackson) cjr ?*~ 1 i 0 cke d A 12-man all-white jury dea" feb . six-to-six at Beckwith’s firs (Jr- 7, and a mistrial was ordered J cuit Judge Leon Hendrick. Evers was shot down m way of his home.