Newspaper Page Text
page 14—SEPTEMBER, 1964—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
MISSISSIPPI
Biloxi Schools Become First In
(Continued From Page 1)
plans for opening day. No Negro par
ents were involved in the meetings.
Neither school officials nor Dr. Gil
bert Mason, chairman of the local chap
ter of National Association for the Ad
vancement, would release the names of
the Negro first-grade pupils admitted
in Biloxi.
The mother of one of the small Ne
groes entering Dukate School told a
reporter after her child entered the
building:
“Everything is O. K., but it ain’t over
yet.”
‘Without Incident’
J. T. Logan Jr., superintendent of
the Leake County schools, said Debra
Lewis attended first-grade class at Car
thage on Sept. 2 “without incident just
as we expected.”
She was accepted as a transfer stu
dent from the Jordan (Negro) elemen
tary school near Carthage under a
ruling by the Leake County Board the
previous day, several hours after she
applied for enrollment into the Carth
age Elementary School.
The Leake County School Board an
nounced after a meeting it had ac
cepted the Lewis child into the white
school on a temporary basis “pending
the correction of birth certificate irreg
ularities.” Final action on her appli
cation will come before the board
later.
The board said no further transfers
would be permitted this year except
in “extreme hardship cases.” Before
that announcement, it had granted
transfers to eight white pupils.
Charges ‘Pressures’
Derrick Bell of New York, Negro
lawyer for the NAACP, said other
Negroes had planned to apply for ad
mission at Carthage but were dis
couraged because of “threats and
harrassments.” He said the NAACP
would go to court and ask the Justice
Department to act to prohibit pres
sures on Negro families and protect
them. Pressures, he said, had frus
trated the desegregation ordered by
the federal court.
A. J. Lewis, Debra’s father, said the
FBI had been watching his home but
said he had not received any threats
as some other Negro parents claimed
prior to the start of the new school
term.
The attendance of the 89 white chil
dren in the Carthage school was de
scribed as normal.
While all of Leake County was
under a federal court order to deseg
regate the first grade, no Negroes
applied for admission to the rural
schools in Edinburg, Madden, Walnut
Grove and Lena. Registration was
held in those towns on Aug. 28.
Lena is the boyhood home of former
Gov. Ross R. Barnett, who defied fed
eral court orders as the University of
Mississippi was desegregated by James
Meredith two years ago.
Supt. Logan said that all four
schools were “quiet and no Negroes
appeared.”
★ ★ ★
Jackson Allows Choice
If Space Available
In Jackson, first-grade Negroes will
be assigned to the schools of their
choice if classroom space is available.
If too many apply for the same school,
they will be assigned on the basis of
how close they live to the school.
No incidents were reported when
the 43 Negroes registered at eight
white Jackson elementary schools.
“I am pleased to report that the
school registration today has been con
ducted in a becoming manner,” Dr.
Kirby P. Walker, superintendent of the
Jackson Municipal Separate School
District, said in a prepared statement,
adding:
“On behalf of the Board of Trustees,
I want to thank the public, the news
media representatives, and the police
department for your co-operation.
“Reports from the 38 public schools
as of 12 noon reveal that a total of 43
Negro first graders had completed ap
plication for admission to eight schools
formerly attended by white only.
These schools are Barr, David, Gallo
way, George, Poindexter, Power,
Spann, and Watkins.”
Detective Sgt. John A. Chamblee of
the Jackson Police Department said
in a prepared statement:
“Conditions at and around the pub
lic schools today have been virtually
the same as they were during school
registration last year. Everything has
gone smoothly, as we expected it
would. No pedestrians congregated,
and the usual traffic flow moved along
Without curiosity . . . All public
schools in the district will be kept
under surveillance by the police de
partment for an indefinite period.”
School officials could not explain
why some 1,200 Negro first-grade pu
pils did not register in any of the
Jackson schools on Aug. 20 as expected.
Only 567 Negro pupils registered for
the first grade at 12 Negro schools.
School officials had expected 1,800.
White registration was 85 per cent
of expectation, with 1,705 counted—
about 300 shy of the prediction.
In all, school officials had expected
about 3,800 first-grade pupils to reg
ister. The actual first-day total of only
2,315 meant only about 60 per cent
did.
Charles Evers, state field secretary
for the NAACP, complimented Jack-
son school officials for “the splendid
manner in which they have received
desegregation of our public schools.”
After the assignments are an
nounced, transfers will be permitted
only in hardship cases or for “valid
reasons other than race.”
60 Per Cent Register
About 60 per cent of the anticipated
350 Negro first-graders registered for
school in Clarksdale when it began
on Aug. 25. None, however, applied for
admission to a white school.
Negro leaders blamed a zoning plan,
drawn by the school board, for block
ing desegregation in public classrooms.
Objections to the plan are scheduled
before a federal judge later.
School Supt. Gycelle Tynes said the
light registration was “due to several
things.”
“But probably the main reason,” he
said, “was that many parents had a
wait-and-see attitude, fearing possi
ble incidents.”
The zoning plan is based on “natural
boundaries” formed by the Sunflower
River and a railroad which bisects
Clarksdale. Three of the four white
elementary schools are north of the
railroad in predominantly white neigh
borhoods. The fourth is south of the
tracks along with the three Negro
schools.
Mostly Negroes live south of the
railroad. There are, however, a few
pockets of whites living in the area.
U. S. District Judge Sidney Mize
ruled on July 7 that the Jackson,
i > " y yp "w
Mississippi Highlights
Mississippi’s public school system
is desegregated. This was the last
state to lower racial barriers below
the college level.
Catholic elementary schools
throughout Mississippi were ordered
by the diocesan bishop to begin de
segregating first-grade classes in
September.
New private schools, presumably
eligible to operate under the state’s
recently-enacted tuition grant pro
gram, were scheduled to open in
September in two of the four public
school districts ordered to desegre
gate.
U.S. District Judge Claude Clay
ton ordered Clarksdale to desegre
gate the first grades of its public
schools in September and the second
grades in January.
The Picayune Municipal School
District Board voted to reject funds
rather than desegregate its school
system.
Political Action
U.S District Judge Claude Clayton
ruled on Aug. 19 that Clarksdale must
desegregate the first grades of its public
schools in September and the second
grades in January.
Judge Clayton, sitting in Oxford, re
jected a plea from Superintendent of
Schools Gycelle Tynes to delay class
room desegregation until January.
Tynes argued that the orders came
too suddenly to prepare for the open
ing of schools in September.
Judge Clayton combined two of four
plans submitted by the Clarksdale
Municipal Separate School District
Board on July 28, two days before a
deadline he had set. Under his order,
all 12 grades must be biracial by 1970.
The judge referred to the desegre
gation plans as “a temporary and in
terim measure.” He said a full hearing
will be held later. The order called for
an additional grade to be desegregated
Kirby P. Walker
Jackson school superintendent briefs
news media.
Biloxi and Leake County school sys
tems must desegregate. His decision
made permanent a temporary injunc
tion he issued in March. He tentatively
approved their grade-a-year desegre
gation plans on July 29.
Mize has agreed to an NAACP re
quest to re-examine the plans in Jan
uary. The NAACP, which filed the
original desegregation suits last year,
has objected to the grade-a-year plans
and has asked that they be accelerated.
U.S. District Judge Claude Clayton
ruled on Aug. 19 that Clarksdale must
desegregate the first grades beginning
with the 1964-65 school year. His order,
sought by Negroes called for the sec
ond grade to become biracial in Jan
uary. All 12 grades must be desegre
gated by 1970. The judge referred to
the desegregation plans as “a temporary
and interim measure.” A full hearing
will be held later.
A ★ ★
Catholic elementary schools through
out Mississippi were ordered on Aug.
9 to begin desegregating first-grade
classes in September. The order, an
nounced in a letter read in all of the
state’s Catholic churches, came from
Bishop R. O. Gerow.
The church operates 51 white and
Negro elementary schools, with enroll
ment of 13,408 students last year. It also
operates 25 high schools with 3,200
students.
How many Negroes will enroll in
the parochial schools has not been in
dicated.
Bishop Gerow’s letter said:
“I write you regarding a matter to
which I have given much thought and
prayer and on which I have made a
decision.
“Accordingly, it is to be the policy
of the Catholic schools in the diocese
to admit Catholic children to the first
grade without re
spect to race. This
is effective Sep
tember, 1964. Im
plementation o f
this decision will
be handled by
each pastor in
consultation with
me.
“I call upon the
Catholic people of
Mississippi to give
witness to the
true Christian spirit by their accept
ance and cooperation in the implemen
tation of this policy.
each year until 1968, with grades seven
through nine desegregated in 1969 and
grades 10 through 12 in 1970.
The plan is more extensive than those
approved earlier by U.S. District Judge
Sidney Mize for Jackson, Biloxi and
Leake County. They are under orders
to desegregate the first grade at the
opening of the 1964-65 term, and at
least one grade a year the following
years.
Tynes said he preferred a plan that
would have desegregated grades one
and two on Jan. 1, 1965, with total
desegregation by 1970.
Judge Clayton accepted a school dis
trict system based on “natural bound
aries” formed by the Sunflower River
and a railroad that bisects the city.
Three of the city’s four white ele
mentary schools are north of the rail
road in predominantly white neighbor
hoods. The fourth is south of the
Judge Rejects Delay In
GEROW
State To Desegregate
“I rely upon your devotion and ask
for your prayers that whatever ad
justments ensue, they may redound to
the greater honor of charity which
unites us all in Christ.”
Public schools in Jackson, Biloxi,
Clarksdale and Leake County have
opened their doors—through federal
court orders—to desegregate first
grades at the beginning of the 1964-65
school year.
‘First Step’
A spokesman in the Catholic Chan
cery office in Jackson said he had “no
idea of the next step toward integra
tion.” “We have taken the first step,”
he said, “and will now wait to see
how to go forward from here.”
The Chancery office received scat
tered protests over the bishop’s first
grade desegregation order. The spokes
man said the protestors contended the
order was “untimely.” “But,” he added,
“many parishioners have reacted favor
ably.”
Desegregation, he pointed out, will
not “be left up to the individual schools
and the desegregation order will be
voided only “if particular circumstances
exist in a parish or extraordinary diff-
culty.” He said that Catholic schools
encountering desegregation difficulties
will “consult with the Bishop to de
termine integration.”
Regardless of the order, the spokes
man said, classes with 40 pupils al
ready enrolled will not be allowed to
enroll additional pupils “for the sake
of integration.” The parochial school
accreditation system permits a maxi
mum of 40 pupils for each class.
Two Will Not Act
At least two Catholic elementary
schools will not desegregate this year.
The Rev. Jeremiah Harnett, pastor of
the Church of the Annuniciation in
Columbus, said Aug. 10 that the first
grade at St. Mary’s School has been
filled for more than six months. Also,
he added, there were no Negro children
of first-grade age in the parish.
“The (desegregation) problem simply
does not present itself here,” he ex
plained.
In McComb, the Rev. John R. Mc
Namara, pastor of St. Alphonus Parish,
announced that no Negro Catholic
first-graders lived in the area.
“If any colored Catholic first-graders
lived here,” he said, “we would cer
tainly enroll them in compliance with
the Bishop’s order.”
St. Joaquin’s CathoP • Mission School
in Leake County, with an enrollment of
about 65 students, has been desegre
gated for several years.
In a move to counter desegregation
of public schools, the Mississippi legis
lature passed a law July 15 providing
for students preferring to attend private
schools.
The law, however, contained a sec
tion that said that “no financial assist
ance, state or local, shall be made
available to any educable child who is
a pupil or shall become a pupil in a
parochial or sectarian school.”
AAA
Three Private Schools
Scheduled To Open
At least three new private schools
are scheduled to open in September in
Jackson and Clarksdale, two of the
four public school districts in the state
ordered to desegregate. Each, presum
ably, will be eligible to operate under
the state’s new tuition grant program.
The Bancroft Country Day School,
Clarksdale
tracks along with the three Negro
schools.
Mostly Negroes live south of the
railroad, but there are a few pockets of
whites residing in the area.
Derrick Bell of New York, a Negro
attorney, argued that the school zones
would effectively divide the white and
Negro sections of Clarksdale. After the
decision was announced, he said out
of court: “You know, we always want
more than we get, but it is a just de
cision.”
The parents of 17 Negro children
filed the desegregation suit on April 23.
The parents include Aaron Henry, a
Clarksdale druggist who is president of
the Mississippi Chapter of the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People. The defendants are
the school district board and the
Clarksdale-Coahoma County school
board.
which will be unincorporated, and the
Southside Academy, Inc., have
established in Jackson. The Coahoma
Education Foundation, Inc., is due to
operate in Clarksdale.
Bancroft will encompass pre-school
and the first four grades, with a
planned initial enrollment of about 100
at a location on West Capitol Street
Tentative Southside plans call for ad
mitting up to 100 students in grades
one through four in a new building
near Raymond Road.
Only the first grade will be taught
at the Clarksdale private school, which
expects an enrollment of about 20. The
school has leased space in the educa
tion building of the Clarksdale First
Presbyterian Church, but the church
and school will not be connected.
Citizens’ Council School
Additionally, the Jackson Citizens’
Council announced on Aug. 13 it would
“operate one or more segregated schools
in Jackson.”
“In order to ascertain the total prob
able demand for private schools in
this coming school year,” the council
said in a mailing to members, “we ask
your cooperation in filling out and re
turning to us the coupon (question
naire) on the back.”
The council has not announced a
date—or further plans—• for opening
the one or more schools.
The secretary of state has issued
corporation charters to at least seven
other groups for private schools.
Spokesmen for the groups—one in
Tunica, another in Indianola and five
in Jackson, said, however, they do not
plan to operate this fall unless unfor-
seen troubles erupt.
The Jackson, Biloxi, Clarksdale and
Leake County school districtcs are un
der federal court orders to desegregate
their first grades, beginning with the
1964-65 school year.
$185 A Year
A law providing $185-a-year state
grants for children to attend private,
nonsectarian schools as an alternative
to attending public schools was passed
by the legislature July 15.
Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Loposer will
operate the Bancroft Country Day
School in Jackson. He said he expected
many of the students enrolling at Ban
croft “would be receiving” the scholar
ship money. However, he added, the
opening date of his school and the
court-ordered desegregation of the
Mississippi school systems was “a co
incidence.”
E. J. McGehee, a member of the
Southside board of trustees, said the
establishment of Southside was not
simply a reaction to the desegrega
tion of Jackson’s public schools.
“I don’t believe a private school based
simply on segregation would last, he
said. “It has to provide a solid educa
tion as well.” ,
He said the school had been plann
“for some time” and “would have been
started without regard to the segrega
tion or integration of the P u
schools.” “Our aim is for a 9U" 1 '
education, as we know it, for our chu
ren,” McGehee added. .
Mrs. Robert E. Church, a teacup
private Jackson Academy for the P**
three years, will be Southside’s adnun
istrator.
Leon Bramlett Jr., president of .
Clarksdale school’s 23-member
of directors, said students attending
private school in Clarksdale will P“
about $18 a month. The board, he
has not set a budget. i, t the
“All we know for sure is tha
students will qualify for the ^
money and that the school is be®® oin a
derwritten by a group of C
County parents.”
No Future Plans ^
Bramlett said there are no plans
i school beyond this year. ^jj]
We don’t know how l° n ^ ' v
mate until we see how t e ^
ration develops in Clarksdale
i county,” he said. j_,;niS'
Tie tuition grants will be f ^d
ed by the State
lance Commission, a star _
eady in existence when j^as
im was enacted. The commiss
; announced whether the new uj]
ools—or, in fact, existing on gtn .
eligible to enroll tuition g , e thef
its. Neither has it disclose j^ve
r potential private studen
died for the state money. ^tant
lain, a special commission co ser id
say that the agency plans gtu .
first of four yearly gn&*s the
its in private schools w
t nine weeks after enrol < . tu d e n ts
ichools eligible for enrolling m0S t
eiving the grants, Cain
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