Newspaper Page Text
Factual
Uzxn>&
' yOL. II. NO- 3
127 More S
New c
Objective
VO ‘SN3HJ.V
SNO I S I A I 0 SNO 1 1 I S I (103V
S31 nv«8 n
VI0W030 JO A I NO
2 G003-H-S9 NfiT
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SEPTEMBER. 1964
Desegregated
MISSISSIPPI
Public Schools
Desegregated
For First Time
JACKSON
T he Mississippi public school
system was desegregated for
the first time on Aug. 31, when
16 Negro children—12 girls and
four boys—attended four first-
grade classes with white pupils in
Biloxi under federal court orders.
Two days later, six-year-old Debra
Lewis went to class with 89 first-grade
classmates in Carthage. She, too, was
I admitted under a federal court order.
All were enrolled without incident.
Mississippi was the last state to de
segregate public schools, more than 10
I years after the U.S. Supreme Court
decision of May 17, 1954, declaring
compulsory segregation in the public
schools unconstitutional.
Registration in Jackson
In Jackson, 43 first-grade Negroes
registered on Aug. 20 for entrance into
eight all-white elementary schools
when schools opens on Sept. 14. They
were told, in writing, that “priority of
admissions will be based on proximity
ot the resident to the schools . . . and
I “ot related to race.”
No first-grade Negro pupils applied
j hr admission in the white elementary
schools in Clarksdale, the fourth city in
the state ordered to desegregate. Classes
' began on Sept. 3.
A white boy did appear to enroll at
> Negro school in Clarksdale. But offi
cials rejected his application because
his parents could not produce a birth
certificate. The six-year-old’s applica
tion was later withdrawn.
J All of the federal court orders called
or desegregation to begin on the first-
IP^de level.
17 at Biloxi
. Seventeen Negroes had registered
,* r'st-grade classes in Biloxi on Aug.
■ One was rejected, however, after it
*as learned the child’s parents live
! ou tade the state.
Biloxi, a few white mothers sat
„ cars long after their children
buiU- msic ^ e elementary school
o‘ mgs ' ^ w ^**-e man waited at one
G schools until the Negro children
^ walked inside. When
yii n 1 ’ “ e turned and walked away,
: 3 reporter: “Yeah, I saw them
i; Snp,t U * 3 ^ ozen policemen were
Bi] oxi w eac ^ the four schools
coft. No crowds were permitted
^pher* 6 anc * re P°rters and photi
were told to “keep movi
when tl were toW to “
Su Pt h R ‘ n ed 1° stop -
I *hooL j . Br °wn of the Bi:
donn a i ® scnb ed the opening day
abl e s ' He ^td there was no noti
eCrease in white attendance.
’■o troi.Kl lt ^ Pate ^ no trouble, we
.’, an d we expect no troub
said.
Teachers’ Attitudes
g® P re Parations for the desegrf
Pade /°r sa td, none of the firsi
■'■Svijjg ac ners expressed opposition 1
6 f r0 cb ddren. He said sever;
Woes orwa rd to offer to teac
ffSgestil teachers made numeroi
le Sro an- 08 ., ° n the distribution of tl
1 “W i* up ns.
i Wol W ®°°d co-operation from oi
said" 0nn£ ^ an d from the city
her* ^ool official was critical, how
•-ring eaer al government activil
'Wters- desc g r egation. He calle
assic* at t en h 0 n to the presence i
W ana in tbe Justice Depar
JJre au ofT ° f a . num her of Feder;
. ® r 0v,- n investigation agents.
at t8 P resen ce of the FI
wpfele” v® schools “could have cause
? '"^Phs. ca use of their taking photc
.V agants were not here to he
“^Ur es • » but were here to tal
; ^t.” Case there had been any ir
'°' J Ps in „ Sa jd that parent-teachi
h'o in . ~ tin-tct
th e j eacb the schools met _
segr e g a( .j° n an{ j f ormu i a t
tsee biloxi, p age 14)
Negro Twins at Jackson School
First-graders approach door of Davis Elementary School to apply for admission.
WASHINGTON REPORT
U. S. School Aid Expected
To Be Withheld This Year
WASHINGTON
fficials of the U.S. Office of
Education expect to withhold
federal school aid funds from
some Southern districts during
the current school year because
of failure to desegregate classes.
The action will be taken under Title
VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
which bars racial discrimination “under
any program or activity receiving fed
eral financial assistance.”
Members of the Office of Education
staff and of the parent Department of
Health, Education and Welfare, who
have been meeting with Southern
school officials to explain Title VI and
other sections of the new law, reported
that they had encountered widespread
unfamiliarity with its provisions.
One question posed by educators in
these meetings is whether the existence
of “separate but equal” school facilities
constitutes “discrimination” under
Title VI. The federal officials stress
that it does—and has since the Su
preme Court’s ruling in Brown v.
Board of Education a decade ago.
Other Questions
However, other questions of inter
pretation raised by Title VI are pre
senting greater difficulty. Officials are
trying to establish, for example, what
degree of “deliberate speed” in deseg
regation must be displayed by a school
district in order for it to meet the cri
terion of nondiscrimination.
Though Title VI applies to all fed
eral aid programs, it is pointed out
that its application to schools is par
ticularly troublesome since education
is the only major area in which the
courts have sanctioned a gradual ap
proach to desegregation.
Because of these difficulties—and be
cause of political considerations as
well, officials privately concede—spe
cific regulations covering the distribu
tion of school aid in accord with Title
VI may not be promulgated until after
election day in November.
Allowing for this delay, however,
and for the review procedures provid
ed under Title VI, it is possible that
the first fund cut-off actions may be
taken early in 1965.
Substantial Amount
The amount of federal assistance
potentially in jeopardy is substantial.
The Office of Education estimates that
its obligations to the 11 Deep South
states under various aid programs will
total more than $285 million in fiscal
1965, broken down as follows:
Alabama
$21,095,800
Arkansas
10,280,156
Florida
29,410,957
Georgia
26,059,201
Louisiana
15,206,081
Mississippi
12,611,843
North Carolina . . .
28,496,053
South Carolina ..
18,321,739
Tennessee
18,606,872
Texas
59,196,187
Virginia
46,520,191
Total
....$285,805,080
These figures include assistance for
vocational education programs, higher
education facilities construction, land-
grant colleges, library services and
construction, operating and capital
outlay payments to “federally impact-
(See U.S., Page 3)
THE REGION
Negroes in Biracial Classes
Apparently Under 2 Per Cent
T he new school year opened quietly with 127 newly desegregated
school districts in the 11 Southern states.
New desegregation this fall gives the South a total of 570 districts
with policies admitting Negroes to schools with whites, at the kinder
garten through high-school level. With the beginning of desegregated
classrooms in Mississippi, every Southern state now has established
biracial classes in both public graded schools and public colleges and
universities.
The 570 desegregated districts represent one-fourth of the 2,255 public
school systems having both races enrolled. Another 738 districts have
either an all-white or all-Negro enrollment.
Less Than 2 Per Cent of Negroes
Although one-fourth of the districts are desegregated, the number of
Negroes in schools with whites apparently will remain below two per
cent of the 2.9 million Negro students in the public schools. This evalu
ation is based on estimates obtained by Southern School News corre
spondents in nine of the 11 states; estimates were unavailable in two
states. The last complete SSN survey in May determined that the 11
states had 1.18 per cent of their Negro students in schools with whites
during the 1963-64 school year.
The pace of new desegregation this fall continued about as strong as
last year, when school desegregation activity picked up considerably.
The 11-state area added 135 newly desegregated districts at school
opening in August and September of 1963.
In the border states, Kentucky added one new desegregated district
and Oklahoma, two. This gives the 17 Southern and border states, plus
the District of Columbia, a total of 1,289 desegregated districts, repre
senting 43 per cent of region’s 3,026 districts having students of both
races. The region has 3,093 districts that are either all white or all
Negro.
Every Southern state increased the number of desegregated districts
this fall, ranging from one more in Louisiana to 24 in Texas and 25 in
Virginia. The numher of districts desegregating in the Southern states
were: Alabama, four; Arkansas, eight; Florida, five; Georgia, six;
Mississippi, four; North Carolina, 21; South Carolina, 15; and Ten
nessee, 14. Georgia has one other district, Houston County, planning
to desegregate in January, 1965.
All the new desegregation occurring in Alabama, Louisiana and Mis
sissippi resulted from federal court
orders. Only 25 of the 127 newly de
segregated districts acted by court or
der. All eight Arkansas districts opening
their first biracial classes did so vol
untarily.
Texas Number Largest
Texas continues to have the largest
number of Negroes in schools with
whites, reporting an estimated 25,000
for the new school year. Next are Vir
ginia, with an estimated 6,000, and
Florida, with approximately 6,652 Ne
groes in biracial schools. Estimates on
desegregated Negro students in the
other states include: Arkansas, 898;
Georgia, 1,000; Louisiana, 678; Missis
sippi, 60; North Carolina, 3,250; and
South Carolina, 261. Estimates were un
obtainable in Alabama and Tennessee.
One of the districts initiating a deseg
regation policy for the first time is
Prince Edward County, Va., where the
court order to admit Negro students to
white schools dates back to the U.S.
Supreme Court’s original rulings on
segregated schools in 1954. The district,
which closed all its white and Negro
(See 127 MORE, Page 11)
In This Issue
Monthly Reports
Alabama 10
Arkansas 2
Florida 7
Georgia 15
Louisiana 9
Mississippi 1
North Carolina 5
South Carolina 12
Tennessee 6
Texas 4
Virginia 1
Washington 1
Special Articles
The Region 1
Kentucky School Bums 16
College Exchanges 16
Books and the Issue 16
VIRGINIA
Prince Edward County Opens Public Schools
FARMVILLE
FTER A FIVE-YEAR shutdown to
avoid court-ordered deseg
regation, Prince Edward County’s
public schools opened Sept. 8. The
schools were reopened by the
county board of supervisors pur
suant to a federal district court
order based on a ruling by the
United States Supreme Court.
(Griffin v. Prince Edward School
Board.)
The first day’s enrollment totaled
about 1,600, of whom all but seven were
Negroes. The seven whites last year at
tended the Prince Edward Free Schools,
which were operated primarily for Ne
groes under outside auspices. An eighth
white pupil who attended the Free
Schools graduated last spring. Nine of
the 68 teachers in the county’s one high
school and three elementary schools
are white. —
The private segregated school system
of the Prince Edward School Founda
tion opened Sept. 3 for the fall term
with only whites in attendance. Nearly
all of the county’s white childen have
been attending the foundation’s schools
since public schools closed in 1959.
★ ★ ★
Prince Edward County parents,
whose children are enrolled in private
segregated schools, received tuition
grant payments on Aug. 5, and eight
days later Negro attorneys asked a
federal court to find the county super
visors in contempt of court for author
izing the payments. (Griffin v. Prince
Edward County School Board.)
The grants were voted by the board
of supervisors at an unannounced meet
ing late Tuesday night, Aug. 4. Parents
were notified during the night, by tele
phone and messenger, that applications
could be made for the grants. Applica
tions were processed during the night
and checks issued. The parents cashed
their checks early Wednesdey morning
at a bank in Farmville, the county seat.
One worker who helped process the
applications was quoted as saying:
“That’s the first time I’ve seen 500
people on Farmville streets at 3 a.m.”
The motion to cite the supervisors
for contempt was filed in the U.S.
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in
Richmond on Aug. 13 by S. W. Tucker
and Henry L. Marsh HI, attorneys for
county Negroes. They asked also that
the court compel the supervisors to
bring suit against the Prince Edward
School Foundation to recover any
money the foundation received from
grants.
District Judge Oren R. Lewis of
Richmond earlier had ruled, concern
ing Prince Edward, that tuition grants
could not be paid
in the county
while public
schools were
closed. The super
visors presumably
took the position
that since they
had voted money
to reopen the
schools Sept. 8,
they could begin
paying tuition
grants.
The grants—given on behalf of an
estimated 1,200 children—were not is
sued as part of the state-local tuition
grants program. They are county
grants, authorized by state law (Chap
ter 461, Acts of the Assembly, 1960) but
made up entirely of county funds.
The supervisors authorized $310 for
(See PUBLIC SCHOOLS, Page 8)
LEWIS