Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 10—DECEMBER, 1964—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
ALABAMA
Civil Rights
Called Cause
Of GOP Victory
MONTGOMERY
C chool desegregation and the
^ Civil Rights Law were cited
by most observers in explaining
the overwhelming Republican vic
tory in Alabama Nov. 3.
Sen. Barry Goldwater received about
70 per cent of the vote, carrying 62 of
the state’s 67 counties. His sweep car
ried five Republicans into Congres
sional seats—the first time Alabama
had sent a Republican to Congress
since the post-Civil War election of
1872—and also took many others into
local offices.
The only Democratic congressional
candidate with Republican opposition to
survive was Rep. Armistead Selden and
his victory was narrow.
The Republican presidential electors
were opposed by a slate of unpledged
Democratic electors picked by Gov.
Wallace, and they did not campaign for
themselves. The governor, while ask
ing the voters to support Alabama
Democrats, did not call for support of
the unpledged electors, who had been
nominated by a margin of 5 to 1 in the
May primary over a slate of candidates
pledged to support the nominee of the
National Democratic Party.
Similar Positions
Wallace did not endorse Goldwater,
but Republicans freely acknowledged
he had helped their cause at all levels,
since his states’ rights position, im
mensely popular with the voters, was
considered close to that of Goldwater
and of the Alabama Republican candi
dates.
The Republican landslide left the
state’s congressional alignment with
only three Democratic representatives
to five Republicans. Scores of other lo
cal Democratic office holders were
turned out in the straight-ticket vot
ing.
State Democratic Chairman Roy
Mayhall and other Democratic leaders
said the vote was an “emotional” one
and would not prove durable. Mayhall
ascribed the crushing defeat of his
party to Supreme Court decisions “and
the popularity of Goldwater due to the
fact that he voted against the Civil
Rights Act.”
Most of the Democratic candidates
were unwilling to be associated with
the Johnson-Humphrey ticket or the
national party. Many unsuccessfully
urged voters to split their ballots, vot
ing Republican only for President.
Blames Wallace
J. E. Brantley, member of the state
Democratic Executive Committee, com
mented: “The catastrophe which befell
the Democrats must be placed on the
shoulders of the governor.”
Wallace’s attacks on the Kennedy and
Johnson administrations were mainly
concentrated on the race issue and
states’ rights.
Ed Reid, executive director of the
Alabama League of Municipalities, ex
pressed regret over the loss of veteran
congressmen. He said the Democratic
congressmen were handicapped because
they “had nothing to anchor on” as the
Republicans had in Goldwater.
Retiring Congressmen Albert Rains of
Gadsden said in a post-election inter
view: “The truth of the business is
(Alabama voters) would have voted for
Martin Luther King if he had been on
the Republican ticket. It wouldn’t have
made a bit of difference. It was just a
matter of, ‘I’m going to vote against
the Kennedys, the Johnsons,’ and all
the Negroes they (the voters) associate
Alabama Highlights
School desegregation and the
Civil Rights Law were agreed to have
accounted for Alabama’s unprece
dented Republican landslide last
month.
The retiring State Chamber of
Commerce president praised the
peaceful conduct of Alabamians
during school desegregation this
year.
Reorganization meetings were be
gun by the NAACP after eight years
of banishment in Alabama.
There Wasn’t Enough
Backlash
Stockett, Baltimore Afro-American
with Democrats . . . The stage was set,
we might as well face it, when civil
rights became the issue.”
The Southern Regional Council said
Nov. 14 that Gov. Wallace was the best
ally his enemies had in the election.
“Gov. Wallace,” the council said, “was
left with the Alabama Democrats in the
shambles of a Republican sweep which,
in the election of five freshman Repub
lican congressmen, destroyed nearly a
century of seniority for three conserva
tive Democratic congressmen and put
the GOP in charge of 10 county court
houses.”
The report continued:
“Probably only in his battles against
school desegregation has Gov. Wallace
served better the cause he was against.”
★ ★ ★
Gov. Wallace publicly praised the
Louisiana legislature Nov. 26 for pass
ing a resolution designed to force an
amendment to the U. S. Constitution
giving the states exclusive control and
legal jurisdiction over public schools.
He said: “That makes the second state
that has acted on the amendment in
the short time we passed it. And several
states are to pass on it in January.”
Wallace has said that while it will be
a hard fight he has hopes of getting the
legislatures of 37 states, minimum re
quired, to pass endorsing resolutions.
If two-thirds approve, Congress would
be forced to call a constitutional con
vention which would draft an amend
ment for ratification. Three-fourths of
the states must then approve the pro
posed amendment.
What They Say
Executive Praises
Conduct of Public
Winton M. Blount, stepping down
after three years as president of the
Alabama State Chamber of Commerce,
observed in his final report to the group
Nov. 19 that school desegregation this
year was in sharp contrast to the “tense
and unnatural climate” which gripped
the state when the first schools were
desegregated in 1963.
“Our citizens, both black and white,
have conducted themselves in a man
ner which can only reflect credit on
Alabama,” Blount said. “Our actions
have repudiated the misrepresentation
of our state as a body of unlawful peo
ple. I believe that people in other sec
tions of the country are beginning to
understand our position—that we be
lieve in law and order, and that when
legislation is enacted through the nor
mal constitutional process we will abide
by this legislation even though we be
lieve the law to be unwise and even
though it is abhorrent to us in every
way.”
Blount has long been outspoken, and
frequently at odds with Gov. George
Wallace, on the subject of peaceful
compliance with laws and court orders.
Community Action
NAACP Reorganizes
Chapters in State
The National Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People, banned
from Alabama for eight years, began
holding reorganizational meetings in
the state Oct. 31.
The first, held in Birmingham, was
attended by some 90 persons, many of
them former NAACP officers. Roy Wil
kins, NAACP executive director, urged
Negroes to conduct themselves prop
erly, so that “no deep scars are left
when the civil rights battle is over and
won.”
Wilkins added: “Don’t leave scars so
deep that you can’t live together with
whites in this city, state and country.”
TEXAS
Over Half of State’s Negroes
In 291 Desegregated Districts
AUSTIN
ore than half of Texas’
345,000 Negro enrollment in
the public schools is in districts
which have desegregated, and
1964 saw perhaps the largest ac
tual increase in Negroes attending
class with white pupils that has
occurred since the historic U.S.
Supreme Court decision of 1954.
An unofficial tally reveals 291 districts
with actual mixing of white and Negro
pupils in the classroom. The number
doubtless is greater, but much of the
desegregation has occurred without any
publicity. One hundred other school
boards in Texas report they are willing
to accept children without regard to
race, but do not have any Negroes.
Texas has an estimated 2,086,000
white children enrolled in its public
schools this fall. About 1,500,000 whites
and 225,000 Negroes reside in districts
which have desegregated. An estimated
25,000 Negroes are in formerly all-
white classes, including those in which
non-Negroes have desegregated one
time Negro schools.
Much of the current segregation is
by choice of Negro patrons. The South’s
largest school system at Houston, for
example, includes about 60,000 Negroes
in its enrollment. An estimated 39,000
of these are eligible to attend desegre
gated classes, now extending into the
first five elementary grades and kin
dergarten under a court-ordered stair
step schedule. (Ross v. Butler, deseg
regated September, 1960.)
This year 1,233 Negroes are attending
18 formerly all-white Houston schools.
While this represents about three per
cent of the Negroes eligible for deseg
regation, it also is a sharp rise from the
one per cent of the eligible Negroes who
chose desegregation there in 1963-1964.
Somewhat Typical
This situation may be described as
somewhat typical—both a spread in the
number of desegregated schools and a
faster pace of desegregation in those
which started earlier. However, there is
no wholesale transfer of Negroes to
former white schools. A few small
Negro schools have been abolished by
desegregation, but in general the move
ment has been toward growth of pre
dominantly Negro or all-Negro schools
in urban areas, as it is for formerly all-
white schools.
Some Negro teachers have lost jobs
through desegregation. Most of these
have found teaching positions else
where, sometimes after returning to
college for refresher work. A few
Negroes have been employed to teach
in formerly all-white schools, but most
of these were transferred from former
all-Negro schools in the same system.
This year, the Texas State Teachers
Association voted to drop its restriction
to white persons only, and will accept
Negro members, although a separate
association is operated for members of
that race.
In the Colleges
Desegregation Puts
Texas Highlights
This fall saw the greatest increase
in racial desegregation for any year
since segregation was declared un
constitutional, both in the number
of schools and the pace of enroll
ment.
Two new members of the Houston
school board, one a Negro, indicated
a belief that city’s grade-a-year de
segregation should be accelerated.
They received heavy votes in Negro
precincts on Nov. 3.
Mary Hardin Baylor College for
Women, one of Texas’ oldest, an
nounced adoption of a nonracial pol
icy for September, 1965.
Three Negro colleges were put on
notice they will lose their accredita
tion as teacher-training institutions
unless they meet prescribed stand
ards within two years. Three other
Negro institutions were approved,
and commended for programs.
A member of the U.S. Civil Rights
Commission predicted the South may
solve its racial problems before the
North does.
A U.S. district judge took under
advisement a plea for faster desegre
gation of Waco public schools.
Texas Education Agency, described
“the cultural lag” as “a challenge to
every Negro college in the state.”
Texas Southern, Prairie View and
Wiley were commended for making
good progress in overcoming the aca
demic deficiencies of their students.
★ ★ ★
University of Texas students disputed
the use of blackface performers in the
annual Cowboy Minstrels, put on by a
student organization for the benefit of
the Austin Council for Retarded Chil
dren.
The Students of Democratic Society
picketed ticket booths, carrying signs
with such wording as: “Black Face
Promotes Racial Stereotype” and
“Black Face Humor? Bad Taste.”
The demonstration set off an im
promptu stump-speaking at which some
students criticized the pickets.
Student sponsors said the show con
tained no reflection on the Negro char
acter, that it is traditional, and that the
humor touched many others—profes
sors, politicians, and student clubs.
★ ★ ★
Tax-supported junior colleges in
Texas gained 16.7 per cent enrollment
this fall, compared to 1963-1964.
Including Pan American College and
San Angelo College, which the state
will take over in September, 1965, for
operation as tax-supported four-year
institutions, the 32 junior colleges en
rolled 46,363 pupils this fall. Some col
leges started in the past two or three
years gained more than 50 per cent in
enrollment.
San Antonio College is the state’s
largest two-year unit. Its enrollment
totals 9,292, up 17.2 per cent, but most
of these are part-time students as at
tested by the fact that the college's
“full-time equivalent” is 4,887 students
still the biggest total in Texas. A form
er all-Negro branch, St. Philip’s en
rolled 706 students this fall, 8.7 per cent
more than for 1963, but the “full-tim e
equivalent” dropped 13.5 per cent to 425
students. About 20 per cent of St
Philip’s students are non-Negro, and
about 200 Negroes attend San Antonio
College.
Tyler College enrollment increased
13.2 per cent this fall to 2,178 students,
including four Negroes; while its affili
ate for Negroes, Tyler District College,
showed 15.5 per cent gain with 245 stu
dents.
★ ★ ★
Mary Hardin Baylor College for
women, one of Texas’ oldest, an
nounced it will accept Negroes in Sep
tember, 1965. The Baptist-sponsored
institution at Belton was founded in
1845.
Most of the state’s church-supported
and private colleges and universities
now are desegregated, as are all tax-
supported senior colleges in Texas and
almost all public junior colleges.
Legal Action
Decision on Waco
Speedup Indicated
U.S. District Judge Homer Thorn-
berry indicated he will give his decision
in December on a plea for faster deseg
regation of the Waco Public Schools
(McGrue v. Williams, desegregation
started September, 1963.)
The system is applying a six-year
program of desegregation—one grade a
year for three years, then three grades
annually. Thirty-three Negroes now are
attending former all-white first- and
second-grade classes in Waco.
Robert L. Penrice Jr., attorney for
the Negro plaintiffs, argued that the
new federal civil rights act requires
complete desegregation in stipulating
that no segregated agency can receive
federal funds. Waco ISD receives $1®*’
000 annually from the federal govern
ment as an “impacted area” where en
rollment increased abnormally fr° m
military population. However, the re
cent cutback announced by Defense
Secretary Robert McNamara calls f°
eliminating Connally Air Force Base a
Waco.
Avery Downing, superintendent
Waco schools, said desegregation was
proceeding with “remarkable smoo
(See TEXAS, Page 12)
Continued Pressure
Schoolmen
On Negro Colleges
Desegregation continued to put pres
sure on the standards of former all-
Negro institutions.
The State Board of Examiners for
Teacher Education recommended that
three Negro colleges lose their ap
proved status as teacher-training insti
tutions unless they meet required
standards by 1967. These are Texas
College at Tyler, Jarvis Christian at
Hawkins and Paul Quinn at Waco, all
private colleges.
Teacher-training programs were ap
proved for three other predominantly
Negro schools—Texas Southern Uni
versity, Prairie View, and Wiley Col
lege.
John D. Moseley, president of Aus
tin College and member of a commit
tee that investigated the Negro schools,
said the action to remove accreditation
for certifying graduates in education of
the three Negro schools “ought to be on
the consciences of a lot of people.”
“Hopefully, not only will the action
wake up some of the educators in the
Negro colleges, but also the community
leadership and educators in white col
leges to do something about it,” said
Moseley.
Dr. Milo E. Kearney, director of
teacher education and certification for
Houston Elects Two Negroes
To Seven-Member School Board
Houston voters at the Nov. 3 election
chose a second Negro for their school
board—attorney Asberry B. Butler Jr.
They also elected Mrs. Howard Barn-
stone as a new member. Both were
chosen over incumbent white incum
bents.
Reporter Howard Spergel of the
Houston Post said, however, that a con
servative majority was likely to con
tinue in control of the seven-member
board.
Both new members said they would
like to speed desegregation of the Hous
ton schools. Butler said he would like
to see segregation removed at a two-
grades-per-year pace, twice as fast as
the court ordered.
“The people of Houston have matured
and I think they are ready for it,” he
said. He iilso called for improved voca
tional training in the city’s Negro high
schools, or desegregation of white voca
tional schools.
Mrs. Bamstone was quoted as saying
that she wants to end “gerrymandering
of the Negro school districts to provide
more equal educational oppor
She also plans to look into s ’ aI os
eral, and private foundation P r jj, e
to see which might be a ““ e , _.j s ,
present support for Houston sc
Heavy Negro Backing
rhe two successful candidates
idslide victories in the ci y p oS i
jcincts on Nov. 3. The Hous ^
>orted that Butler receiv jw 0
it of the total Negro votes, 18
lite opponents getting the . , a boU*
r cent. Mrs. Bamstone recei »j e gro
per cent of the total v ° ® c an<fi"
2cincts, with two other w
tes on the ballot. , v ot erS
\bout one-fourth of Hous e sti"
3 Negroes, and the neW , s ?, ^
ited this race turned ou gre ate f
all eligible Negro voters, t ion 0
m the proportionate pa 1
utes. . njpgro, b 35
Mrs. Charles E. White, a , Qar j for
sn on the Houston s f a0 ° servi***"
?eral years, part of the
a one-member minority-
