Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 14—JUNE, 1964—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
MISSISSIPPI
U.S. Judge Tells Three Districts
To Continue Desegregation Plan
JACKSON
U S. District Judge Sidney
Mize told officials of three
Mississippi school districts May
21 to continue planning for court-
ordered desegregation this fall
while he studied testimony from
a hearing to determine whether
the state’s racial barriers in edu
cation will be removed.
Judge Mize’s statement followed four
days of hearings on his temporary re
straining order, issued last March,
enjoining the school officials in Jack-
son, Biloxi and Leake County from
operating segregated systems.
He also ordered them to submit, by
July 15, plans for desegregating at
least one grade a year, beginning in
September.
The hearing May 18-21 was on mo
tions by the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People to
make the earlier orders permanent.
Judge Mize said he would rule on the
motions “just as soon as I reasonably
can.” Meanwhile, he added, plans for
desegregation “will go right forward.”
To Await Transcription
Mize said he was cancelling all other
pending cases in his court to allow the
court reporter time to prepare a record
on the three school cases. He said he
would not issue a decision until the
record was transcribed.
The Jackson case consumed the first
three days of the hearing. Attorneys for
Biloxi and Leake County agreed to
insert the Jackson testimony in their
cases.
All contended their schools should
remain segregated because, they said,
Negroes do not learn as easily as white
students.
Negro witnesses testified that mem
bers of their race seek total desegrega
tion so they can receive a “better edu
cation,” which, they said, is unavailable
in segregated schools.
The NAACP filed the three suits last
year of behalf of 64 Negro children.
Among the nine children named in
the Jackson case were the son and
daughter of slain NAACP leader Med-
gar Evers.
Dismissals Overruled
Mize dismissed all three cases in
1963, stating that the Negroes had not
exhausted all administrative remedies
provided by the state’s pupil placement
law. He was overruled earlier this year
by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Ap
peals in New Orleans.
The appellate court ruling left Mize
little choice but to grant the temporary
injunction in March. He withheld final
judgment pending the outcome of the
May hearing.
Judge Mize accepted an intervening
petition by two white Jackson parents,
who asked for an injunction halting the
Jackson municipal board from desegre
gating the city schools. He said “white
parents also are entitled to their day in
court.”
During the hearing, 15 other white
parents joined in the suit to block de
segregation.
Kirby Walker, superintendent of
Jackson schools, acknowledged that
Jackson’s schools are segregated ac
cording to race. The NAACP contends
that is contrary to the U.S. Supreme
Court’s 1954 decision that “separate
educational facilities are inherently
unequal.”
Says Negroes Lag
Walker testified that Negroes lag be
hind whites in learning ability and
that consequently segregation is neces
sary in Jackson.
He said the lag
starts at about
one-grade differ
ence at age six
and increases to
a three-grade de
ficiency by age 18.
James Gooden,
a Negro who re
tired in 1961 as
assistant superin
tendent in charge
of Jackson Negro
schools, said he believes segregated
classes are in the “best interest” of
both races.
U.S. Rep. John Bell Williams and
W. S. Milbum, retired principal of a
Louisville, Ky., high school, told the
court they saw outstanding segregated
schools dwindle to mediocrity after
they were desegregated.
Williams served on a House of Rep
resentatives subcommittee which in-
WALKER
Mississippi Highlights
U.S. District Judge Sidney Mize
said he would render a decision on
desegregation suits against the Jack-
son, Biloxi and Leake County school
districts “just as soon as I reason
ably can.” The statement followed a
hearing on his temporary restrain
ing order enjoining the school offi
cials from operating segregated
systems.
Legislation providing for a private
school system was introduced in the
Mississippi legislature. It will be
considered at a special session to
begin on June 17.
Gov. Paul B. Johnson disclosed
that a Negro, unnamed, had been
“temporarily admitted” to the Uni
versity of Mississippi’s summer term
beginning June 10.
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of
Appeals upheld the Greene County
school board’s dismissal of a Negro
teacher.
Dismissal of two school desegre
gation suits against the Biloxi and
Gulfport municipal school districts
was affirmed by the U.S. Fifth Cir
cuit Court of Appeals.
The State Senate passed a
measure which could result in Tou-
galoo College, a predominantly Ne
gro institution, losing its state aca
demic accreditation.
vestigated Washington, D. C., schools
two years after they became biraciah
After desegregation, Williams said
his group learned, “it was necessary
for teachers to reduce their school
standards,” and spend “more time try
ing to keep order than in teaching the
students.”
Milbum testified that the school
where he was principal—Male H>gh in
Louisville — had a high scholastic
average prior to desegregation in 1956.
He said the status “changed radically”
after Negroes were admitted. He said
that “relatively few of the graduates”
went to college by 1962, when he re
tired. (See Kentucky report.)
Three psychologists testified that tests
have proved to them that Negro stu
dents fall behind white students in
learning ability. They were Dr. R.
Travis Osborne, professor of psy
chology at the University of Georgia;
Dr. Henry E. Garrett, retired professor
of psychology at Columbia University
and currently a visiting professor at the
University of Virginia; and Dr. F. C. J.
McGurk, professor of psychology at
Alabama College.
Samuel Bailey, a former president of
the Jackson NAACP chapter, testified
he filed suit last year to bring about
a “better education for all the children
of Jackson, not only Negro but white,
too.”
“It would help everybody in the
state ... to desegregate the schools,”
he said. “They would grow up to know
each other . . . There wouldn’t be this
hatred.”
Bailey said he would be unsatisfied
“if they just let one of my kids in” the
white schools. He said his two children
attended a Negro public school.
‘Segregation Is Wrong’
Mrs. Myrlie Evers, widow of the slain
Medgar Evers, said she joined the law
suit because she believes “segregation
is wrong.”
“I entered this
suit to try to right
this wrong,” she
testified. She also
testified that Ne
gro children do
not receive the
education they
should, and are
“psychologica 11 y
damaged” in all-
Negro schools.
“I want a better
education for my children and all other
children,” Mrs. Evers said. “I feel they
cannot receive it in segregated schools.”
She said her children now attend an
all-Negro Catholic school.
Negro witnesses agreed they filed
the desegregation suits for “all Negro
children in Jackson.” They said they
would be satisfied with nothing less
than total desegregation.
Mrs. Edna Marie Singleton said her
two children, now in a Negro Catholic
school, would have to walk eight or
MRS. EVERS
nine blocks to a public Negro school
while a white school is less than three
blocks from her home.
No witnesses were called in the
Leake County suit. Instead, Assistant
Attorney General Will Wells read a
statement acknowledging the schools
are segregated and that all operations
are “based on race” except for teacher
salaries.
School Supt. Robert D. Brown, the
only witness to testify in the Biloxi
case, said his schools are segregated
and will not become biracial “if my
philosophy is followed.”
Brown said he feels that “students
are happiest when they are with their
own ethnic group.”
Brown noted that Negro teachers in
Biloxi earn higher average pay than
white teachers—$4,407 annually com
pared to $4,240. He said Negro and
white teachers are hired at the same
salary scale, but Negro teachers gen
erally have more education and experi
ence, resulting in higher pay.
Legislative Action
Measures to Set Up
Private Education
Filed, Deferred
A resolution creating a 15-man re
cess committee to study legislation to
establish a dual private-public school
system as an alternative to court-
ordered desegregation was adopted by
the Mississippi legislature June 4.
The legislature adjourned its regular
session on June 6, but Gov. Paul B.
Johnson announced he would call a
session to begin June 17 for considera
tion of the school measures.
Agreement to postpone action on the
legislation came when the House of
Representatives accepted a Senate pro
posal creating the study committee.
State Sen. Edwin Pittman of Hat
tiesburg, a chief author of the four
bills and two constitutional amend
ments to establish a private system
subsidized by state funds, said the
legislature would not have time to
consider the proposals properly before
its sine die adjournment which had
been set for June 11.
Committee members are Gov. John
son, Lt. Gov. Carroll Gartin, Attorney
General Joe Patterson, State Superin
tendent of Education Jack Tubb,
House Speaker Walter Sillers, and five
members from each chamber.
Four Bills Described
The four bills, in the words of Sen.
Pittman, would provide:
• “That a school teacher who be
comes employed by a private institu
tion may continue to contribute to the
Public Employees Retirement System
or that his or her employer may make
said contributions, so that a teacher
in a private school will enjoy the same
retirement benifits as would one in a
public school.
• “For individual freedom in choos
ing the mode of education — that is to
say that one would, under this bill,
have a choice between a public and
private school. This bill provides that
an educable child be between the ages
of 6 and 21 and might apply for a
financial assistance scholarship and
Legal Action
Dismissal of
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Ap
peals has upheld the Greene County
school board’s dismissal of a Negro
teacher, Mrs. Ernestine Denham Tal
bert.
The court agreed on May 15 that
the board acted within its competence
when it declined to renew Mrs. Tal
bert’s contract. She contended she was
dismissed because of her participation
in Negro voter registration activities.
U.S. District Court Judge Harold Cox
refused to order the school board on
Aug. 30, 1962, to rehire Mrs. Talbert.
The Department of Justice appealed
Cox’s decision, contending the board
refused to rehire her because she had
testified she had been rejected as a
voter.
The lawsuit noted that Evans J.
Martin, the Green County school sup-
Million-DoMar School for Negroes
New L. J. Rowan Junior High School was opened at Jackson May 17 with an
assembly of its all-Negro student body. Jackson Principal A. N. Jackson said the
structure “compares more than favorably with any school I have seen in the
slate—or, for that matter, any junior high facility in the nation."
that the state might grant such scholar
ship not to exceed 180 days.
• “The revenue to finance the scho
larship program. It provides that one-
tenth of the present minimum educa
tional program will be set aside to be
administered for the purpose of finan
cial assistance scholarships. The scho
larship program and the monies there
for will be administered by the present
State Educational Finance Commission.
The bill also provides that one-tenth of
the common school funds shall be dis
tributed to the State Educational Com
mission for scholarship purposes.
• “That the state might furnish free
text books to school children whether
they be enrolled in a public or private
institution.”
Choice Offered
Pittman said the bills “offer the citi
zens of this state a choice between
public or private educational institu
tions, all within the framework of the
present law concerning our school
system.”
“It is my belief,” he added, “that
this legislation presents to us a work
able solution to some problems which
we will most likely face during the
next few months.”
On May 25, the day the U.S. Supreme
Court rendered its decision ordering
Prince Edward County, Va., to reopen
its public school system, Pittman told
newsmen:
“We’re going to have a public and a
private system.”
He said the court’s ruling “doesn’t
do a thing to our plan.”
The two constitutional amendments
must be approved in a statewide vote
and implemented by the legislature.
★ ★ ★
Senate Passes Bill
Aimed at Tougaloo
The State Senate approved a bill
May 14 which supporters said could
cause predominantly-Negro Tougaloo
College near Jackson to lose its state
accreditation.
Under present law, a school accred
ited by the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools has simultaneous
state accreditation.
The legislation deletes the automatic
accreditation provision, and authorizes
the Commission on College Accredita
tions to determine which schools shall
receive it.
Sen. Brad Dye of Grenada, the au
thor, acknowledged the bill is aimed
at Tougaloo.
A measure to revoke the college’s
state charter, granted during Recon
struction days, was killed in the Senate
Universities and Colleges Committee.
Before it was, Lt. Gov. Carroll Gartin
told the Jackson Kiwanis Club the
Senate was not certain it had “sufficient
legal reasons to revoke this charter.”
But, speaking of the accreditation
bill, the presiding officer in the Senate
added:
“However, we have another bill
which we believe will give us a pow
erful weapon over the future activities
of Tougaloo College, as well as any
other private institution which under
takes any program similar to those we
have witnessed at Tougaloo ... We
believe we can get co-operation from
other Southern states in recognizing
the Mississippi Commission.”
Action on the measure is pending in
the House of Representatives.
★ ★ ★
Gov. Paul B. Johnson signed into
law May 22 a bill granting the Missis
sippi Highway Safety Patrol police
powers during racial emergencies.
The police authority could be in
voked in an emergency which might
arise during any school desegregation
attempts.
★ ★ ★
Bill Proposed to Curl)
Summer ‘Freedom Schools
A bill aimed at curbing the “freedom
schools” planned for Mississippi Ne
groes this summer was introduced m
the legislature.
The measure provides that county
officials must be advised before a per
son may call public meetings, conduc^
schools or clinics, or distribute life-’*
ture on general education, P u 1
health, or the general welfare.
Failure to comply could result
maximum 60-day jail terms and a
up to $200.
The planned Mississippi Sum®*.
Project is sponsored by the s
Council of Federated Organiza
Aaron E. Henry, Negro president,
the “goal is both simple and po sl ,
to deal with educational, political. ^
economic problems of a sigrufican
tion of the population of the s n , :
Henry said in a prepared sta f, ^
“Through summer schools stall
trained and experienced personne ^
cruited from all across the
(See MISSISSIPPI, P a ? e l5)
Negro Teacher Upheld
erintendent, recommended rehiring all
Negro teachers except Mrs. Talbert.
The department argued that the
school board was attempting to intimi
date, threaten and coerce Mrs. Talbert
and other Negroes by interfering with
their rights to become registered voters.
The suit was filed under the civil
rights act of 1957.
The Greene County school board
said it had the discretionary authority
to select its teaching personnel.
In his ruling, Judge Cox held that
Mrs. Talbert failed to prove the de
fendants violated the civil rights of
any Negro.
★ ★ ★
Dismissal of two school desegregation
suits against the Biloxi and Gulfport
affin»«
municipal school districts was
April 27 by the U.S. Fifth Circuit v
of Appeals.
The decision of the court carrm^ p ,
it rejected a request by the r®?T ca se5
of Justice for a rehearing 0 * ., y C
U.S. District Court Judge ., Lmim« r
Mize dismissed the suits in the
of 1963. on ffie
The desegregation was soug^ , fre
basis that separate schools y 10 grid
constitutional rights of service ^
federal employes. The dep ^ dc-
contended the schools sh° u
segregated because each o ^ urrlS o'
school districts received larg
federal aid. tfi*e*
The appellate court notedtrw ^gU'
decision was affirmed following
ments by opposing counse •