Newspaper Page Text
p
k'
Factual
VOL. II, NO. 5
SPECIAL REPORT
Johnson To Push Welfare;
No Rights Action Likely
B> ERWIN KNOLL
WASHINGTON
raced by a sweeping national
victory and supported by an
1 overwhelmingly Democratic Con
gress, President Johnson will
propose new social welfare legis
lation, including increased federal
aid to education, as components
of the “Great Society” he prom
ised during his campaign.
But no new legislation directly af
fecting school desegregation—or any
other civil rights activity—is contem
plated by the administration for the
new session of Congress,
j Administration leaders are satisfied
with progress under the Civil Rights
Act of 1964, and expect that much will
be accomplished under the new law in
the coming year.
Federal agencies—including the U.S.
Office of Education—which waited un-
I til after election day to begin imple-
I menting Title VI of the act will shortly
issue regulations governing the with
holding of government aid. Title VI
authorizes the agencies to cut off aid
funds from segregated programs or
activities.
Recommendations Expected
A presidential task force now work
ing on proposals in the education field
is expected to recommend programs
stressing increased opportunities for
minority groups and children living in
urban and rural slums. The President
i himself made it clear in the campaign
that he will ask Congress to establish
a national scholarship program de-
1 signed to provide greater access to
higher education.
In a number of his campaign
speeches, including major addresses in
New York City and Cleveland, Sen.
Barry Goldwater stressed his opposi
tion to “busing” as a device for ending
racial imbalance in the schools. The
Republican candidate also affirmed his
support of “the right not to associate”
as a corollary of “the right to associ
ate.”
But the widely predicted “white
backlash” failed to materialize on a
large scale in any but the five Deep
I South states carried by Goldwater—
Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, South
Carolina and Georgia. Republican in
roads in these states were expected to
weaken, if not destroy, the traditional
“coalition” of Southern Democrats and
conservative Republicans that has suc
cessfully blocked many administration
programs.
Creation of vigorous Republican
competition in the Deep South, con
gressional observers theorized, is likely
to force many Southern Democrats to
identify themselves more closely with
their national party and its programs.
Activity by Negroes
Civil rights leaders, who successfully
maintained an embargo on demonstra
tions during the campaign period, took
some credit for the President’s land
slide victory and predicted increasing
political activity by Negroes.
James Farmer, national director of
the Congress of Racial Equality
(CORE), said his organization would
set up a political action department in
Washington next year to lobby for
federal programs “that are relevant to
the Negro community.”
Negro efforts to step up the pace of
desegregation in the South and to end
de facto segregation in the North were
expected to continue. The Rev. Martin
Luther King, head of the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference and
winner of the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize,
predicted “a resumption of demonstra
tions to dramatize the indignities and
injustices that we still face, particu
larly in the states of Alabama and
Mississippi.”
Po’ Eliza
Zschiesche, Greensboro Daily News
SOUTH CAROLINA
Supreme Court Rejects
Ethnic Difference Plea
I COLUMBIA
T^he United States Supreme
Court rejected without com-
1 ^ nt on ®ct. 12 an argument in a
South Carolina case that ethnic
differences between the races
should be a factor in school place-
1 Rient.
The issue arose out of a Charleston
pV® (Brown v. School District 20 of
County), which brought
I scb Ut i ®° ut L Carolina’s first public
i desegregation in September of
1 court 6 i, aPPea ^ Was ta ^ en to the higher
bad 3 ® rou P w hite parents who
tip j en flowed to intervene as par-
defendant in the action.
Whotu ® u P rem e Court was asked
estakvL * ts desegregation decision
do n e< ^ ^ a ru le of law “that there
sieu R an< ^ ca nnot exist educationally
a Btit e thnic differences in learning
• rea„i es anc * correlative educational
. rements between the children of
Cerent races.”
Refused to Rule
■Vk 1< T i £ g the lead of U.S. Distric
the 6 ,k. ert Martin when he heart
or *§hially, the Supreme Cour
.j® to rule on the question.
•Vine - 5 rgumen t s advanced befor
eas<, „ martin during the trial of th
those n 1963, were similar t
Judder presented to U. S. Distric
rank M. Scarlett of Georgia L
the case of Stell et al v. Savanndh-
Chatham Board of Education.
In essence, the Charleston school
board attempted to prove by testimony
of experts that wide intellectual differ
ences between the races would cause a
lowering of educational standards if de
segregation were allowed. (SSN, Sep
tember, 1963.)
The defense introduced testimony to
the effect:
A That standardized tests showed
intellectual differences between the
races widened progressively to the
point where a gap of three to four years
was noted in the higher grades.
A That there are differences in brain
weight and brain characteristics be
tween whites and Negroes and that
some scientists believe the Negro race
is 200,000 years behind the white in
brain development.
A That enforced contact of the races
in a hostile environment would tend to
increase hostility.
Questions Issue
Mrs. Constance Baker Motley of the
NAACP Legal Defense Fund argued in
rebuttal and further insisted that in
tellectual capacity was not the issue in
the case. She said the issue was purely
whether students were being forced to
attend segregated schools because of
their race.
Judge Martin agreed but permitted
the defense to introduce testimony re
lated to alleged differences in order to
(See ETHNIC, Page 2)
After the Victory
Johnson at Austin
NORTH CAROLINA
NAACP Branch
Plans to Stress
School Actions
WINSTON-SALEM
T he North Carolina Confer
ence of Branches of the Na
tional Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People
voted that desegegation of public
schools would be a major project
for the coming year. The NAACP
acted at its annual meeting in
Greensboro Oct. 15-17.
Noting that “10 years after the
Supreme Court decision there is still
token desegregation of schools,” the
NAACP resolved, “there is no excuse
for this.” It called on all branches,
youth councils and college chapters to
“pressure school boards to begin de
segregation of schools in North Caro
lina.” It denounced the state’s pupil
assignment law as “contrived as an
instrument of evasion” requiring the
Negro parents to bear the “burden of
desegregation.” The NAACP demanded
that pressure be brought on state
legislators to “have this diabolical law
repealed.”
Kelly Alexander of Charlotte, state
president of the NAACP, set the stage
for the passage of the resolution in his
annual address. He said in part:
“In the area of education, 10 years
after the U.S. Supreme Court decision
in the field of public education more
than 90 percent of the Negro school
population in the South still attend
segregated schools. There are too many
counties in North Carolina where
Negro children are still attending seg
regated schools.
‘Major Program’
Wallace Says 7 Executives
Agree on School Control
SAN ANTONIO, Texas
t least seven Southern gov
ernors reportedly gave sup
port at the Southern Governors’
Conference Oct. 14 to a proposed
constitutional amendment which
would require the federal gov
ernment to keep hands off the
management of public schools.
A resolution by Gov. George Wallace
of Alabama failed to be adopted by
the conference despite evident support
by a majority of governors present
when it was presented. Unanimous
consent is required for approval of
anything by the 17-member organiza
tion.
Although the exact vote was not
announced, Wallace said seven gover
nors were known to favor his proposal,
which was approved by the Alabama
legislature in a special one-day session
Sept. 21 (SSN, October).
“No” votes were reported cast by
Govs. Edward T. Breathitt of Ken
tucky and Elbert N. Carvel of Dela
ware. Gov. John B. Connally of Texas,
who was elected conference chairman,
said he did not vote either way.
Sanders Comments
Gov. Carl Sanders of Georgia, who
as chairman of the resolutions commit
tee was ineligible to vote on the issue,
said: “I want to be put on record as
in favor of the rights of the states in
the matter of schools.”
Among those named as voting for
the Wallace resolution were Gov. John
J. McKeithen of Louisiana, who moved
its adoption; Gov. Farris Bryant of
Florida, Gov. Donald Russell of South
Carolina and Gov. Albertis S. Harrison
of Virginia.
In This Issue
Monthly Reports
Alabama 10
Arkansas 5
Florida 4
Georgia 3
Louisiana 6
Mississippi 7
North Carolina 1
South Carolina 1
Tennessee 3
Texas 2
Virginia 8
Washington 1
Special Articles
Governors’ Conference 1
Post-Election Prospects 1
St. Louis Suits Dropped 4
Achievement Program 6
Books and the Issue 10
. In Mississippi
We Call It a Crawfish!’
Baldy, Atlanta Constitution
Opponents mainly cited fear of losing
federal funds.
Wallace said he had expected to fall
short of the necessary unanimous vote.
But he said, “It is highly significant that
a majority (of the 11 governors present)
vote for this resolution. It’s time the
states got over their inferioriy com
plex.”
Wallace said that if Washington is
to direct the public schools, “they
might as well abolish the states.”
The Alabama governor said he plans
to make a national crusade for his pro
posal to write into the U.S. Constitu
tion a provision that management and
control over public schools shall be
a state and local responsibility, for
bidden to the federal government.”
Letter from Legislature
He said later he had received letters
from legislators in 35 states asking for
copies of the “hands-off” resolution.
Affirmative action is required in the
legislatures of two-thirds of the states
for a constitutional amendment to be
come effective.
Wallace conceded this would be diffi
cult but declared: “Ten years ago, we
wouldn’t have received any support
outside the Deep South. That is why I
insist this is not a futile effort. It may
take us a long time but it can be
done.”
The governors conference adopted a
resolution asking that the Constitution
be revised to permit state legislatures
to apportion one branch on some basis
other than population. The U.S.
Supreme Court has held that only
population may be considered in al
locating seats in state senates as well
as houses of representatives.
Discussions of education featured the
meeting. Financing of educational im
provement was noted as a general
problem. At a meeting of the Southern
Regional Education Board, governors
and educators agreed that steps must
be taken to overcome the region’s lag
in education.
“I urge you to make desegregation
of the public schools a major program
for 1965. I urge you to challenge all
stair-step plans, geographic zoning of
public schools based on racially segre
gated housing, and condemn policies of
selecting sites for new schools and other
school expansion programs which result
in the entrenchment of segregated
schools. I urge all our branches to be
gin a vigorous effort toward accelerat
ing the pace of school desegregation
everywhere in the state.
“Secure parent-community support
and encouragement of Negro parents
and students to exercise their consti
tutional rights by petitioning school
boards to desegregate the entire school
system and take appropriate legal ac
tion when necessary.
“The principal task before any com
munity is the abolition of the segre
gated school ... I urge our branches
to make a consistent fight for increased
Negro employment in federal, state
and local government, in industry and
especially industry holding government
contracts.
“We cannot make it today if we
continue to be hobbled by outmoded
segregated school systems ... We must
urge our young people to stay in school
(See NAACP, Page 9)
WASHINGTON REPORT
Tribunal Refuses Review
Of Race-Balance Zoning
WASHINGTON
lower court ruling that a
school board “may” zone a
school district so as to minimize
racial imbalance was left stand
ing by the Supreme Court Oct.
19.
The Supreme Court made no comment
in denying a petition for review of the
case involving a new junior high school
in Brooklyn, N.Y. (No. 350, Balaban v.
Rubin).
Parents of two white children had
challenged a decision by the New York
City Board of Education to draw a
school boundary that would carefully
balance the new school’s enrollment at
one-third Negro, one-third Puerto
Rican and one-third white pupils.
Justice Edward G. Baker of the New
York State Supreme Court ruled in
favor of the parents in September, 1963.
He said the balanced zoning violated a
New York law against school segrega
tion.
In May, the New York Court of Ap
peals reversed this decision. Chief
Judge Charles S. Desmond, who wrote
the opinion, said the issue was: “May
(not must) the schools correct racial
imbalance?”
Judge Desmond held that New York
school authorities could, in zoning a
new school, take into account “in addi
tion to other relevant factors . . . the
factor of racial balance in the new
school.” This view was left in force by
the Supreme Court’s refusal to review
the decision.
It was the second time this year that
the Supreme Court has declined to re
view a major decision in the area of
de facto school segregation stemming
(See TRIBUNAL, Page 5)
