Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—JANUARY, 1965—PAGE 7
FLORIDA
Negroes Stage
School ‘Sit-Out'
In Jacksonville
(Continued from Page 1)
nolicy-making and administrative as
pects of our local government,” “polit-
jcal corruption” and “a not-too-well
disguised dual system of education.”
Pearson also protested against over
crowded classrooms, outmoded cur
ricula and inadequate equipment in
Uggro schools. The boycott affected
every Negro school in the county and
absentees soared past 17,000 on the first
day.
Dr. Irving E. Scott, assistant director
of education for the school system, said
40 per cent of the Negro high-school
students remained away from classes,
55 per cent in the junior high schools
and 39 in the elementary grades.
Call For Continuance
The boycotters dwindled to 10,000 on
the second day but leaders called for
a continuance. At a news conference
arranged by a group of Negro citizens,
Wendell R. Holmes, a spokesman for
several organizations backing the pro
test, said:
“We feel that this sit-out protest
focused the attention of the entire com
munity upon problems that, in part,
uniquely affect the Negro community
' and we feel now that the responsibility
for dealing fairly and justly (with these
problems) lies with the Board of Pub
lic Instruction.”
The school board, said Holmes, had
“blatantly and arrogantly refused to
consult Negro leaders on school prob
lems.
“We therefore place upon them the
full responsibility for whatever losses
have occurred as a result of the sit-out
protests, both economically and in stu
dent instructional time,” he said.
Blames Politicians
Holmes blamed “self-seeking and
soul-bought politicians” for failure to
provide adequate schools for Negroes.
He added:
“We are no longer content with be
ing told what we need. We have the
right to say, we know how to say and
are concerned that we be given the
opportunity to determine and say what
our needs are.”
Holmes’ leadership, however, was
sharply challenged in the Negro com
munity. Frank Hampton, a filling sta
tion operator active in politics, said the
boycott, although “motivated by de
cent people,” was destructive of the
children’s best interests.
“These kids need to be in school,”
said Hampton at a meeting in the
Negro community called to discuss the
situation. “I have not been able to find
i a reason to keep them out of school.
“The gains made by Negroes have
been achieved in the courts and at the
conference table,” he said, “not from
'rids hanging around the streets.”
Instead of staying out of school,
Hampton declared, Negro boys and
Shis should “study 24 hours a day” to
rtla 'ce up for past deficiencies.
Pressures against the boycott rose
sharply in the white community as
'J’dl. School Supt. Ish Brant pointed out
mat the loss of state funds, under
Florida’s Minimum Education Founda-
t *°n, totaled almost $75,000. State aid
13 based on average daily attendance.
Rutledge Pearson
‘Sit-out’ leader.
Criticism also came from outside the
city and county.
Dr. Herman Frick of Florida State
University, chairman of a committee
that recommended that SACS disac-
credit Duval’s high schools, said the
conditions on which this decision was
based applied equally to white and
Negro schools. The school system’s
troubles, said Frick, “are color blind.”
The exploitation of Negro children,
the FSU professor went on, represents
“total irresponsibility” on the part of
the boycott leaders. Not only was the
school system deprived of badly needed
funds, he said, but the pupils were de
prived of badly needed schooling.
A more effective way to serve the
cause of quality education for all, he
said, would be to build up attendance
to bring in more state aid. Supt. Brant
agreed that “the only place for children
is in the schoolroom.” Brant character
ized as “bare-faced lies” some charges
of discrimination against Negro schools
which were circulated by boycott
leaders.
Aftermath of Bitterness
As the sit-out came to an end on the
third day, an aftermath of bitterness
remained. Complaints of being active
in the boycott were considered against
two Negro teachers by the board of
school trustees, an elected group that
supervises school budgets and teacher
appointments while the school board is
concerned with administration.
One of those under fire was NAACP
Chairman Pearson. On the basis of the
trustees’ investigation, Supt. Brant said
the school board’s attorney had been
instructed “to investigate fully all the
facts concerning the case.”
Summoned before the board of trus
tees to discuss the complaints, Pearson
appeared with his attorney, Frank
Reeves of Washington, D.C., and de
clined to answer any questions.
Dr. Hugh B. Wilcox, trustee chair
man, said the board would need further
time to decide what action, if any, to
take against Pearson.
“This is a far-reaching decision and
we need to make every consideration in
behalf of the whole school system,”
Dr. Wilcox said. “I deplore the fact
that this man has to be given special
consideration. But in view of the cir
cumstances, in trying to do the best for
all children involved in the school sys
tem, it will be necessary to take this
matter under further advisement.
“We will consider all angles to come
up with a solution equitable to the wel
fare of the school system and, secondly,
to protect the rights of all groups,
whether they be the majority or the
minority groups.”
Dismissal Charges
Florida Highlights
A “sit-out” staged by more than
',000 Negro pupils in Jacksonville
Protested alleged inadequacies of the
* h ool system. The three-day boycott
resulted in an investigation of a
Jacksonville Negro teacher who is
ch ainnan of the Florida NAACP.
A new post of advisor to county
Pool boards on civil rights legisla-
°p was created by the Florida De
partment of Education.
A public hearing on a proposed
^segregation plan was cancelled in
er o Beach when the school board
as served with notice of a federal
c°urt suit.
T
o meet federal court objections
grade-a-year desegregation
gram, the Lee County school
ard drew a new one cutting the
“rie in half.
cont ' nue d on students at
Con vi 10 "^ ^ emor ' a ' College as it
St i ere< ^ moving its campus from
ngustine to Miami.
to
While the Pearson case remained un
decided, the board of trustees voted to
bring dismissal charges against William
H. Muldrow, a seventh-grade science
teacher at the Richard L. Brown Junior
High School.
According to testimony given the
trustees, Muldrow told his pupils that
those who went home to support the
boycott would receive “A’s” for the
day’s school work but those who re
mained to study would receive a non
passing “E.”
Muldrow also was represented by
legal counsel and will resist the
charges at a hearing to be set at a later
date.
Duval County and Jacksonville have
had continuing school troubles and de
segregation problems but this is the
first time the two have become inter
locked. Court-ordered desegregation
was begun two years ago. A petition
now pending in federal court complains
that the pace is too slow.
Complaints of inadequate support for
the school system have been made for
years. The State Department of Educa
tion reported more than a year ago
that per-capita support of schools in
(See FLORIDA Page 9)
MISSISSIPPI
Government Asks for New Orleans
Trial of Barnett, Gov. Johnson
JACKSON
HE DEPARTMENT of Justice has
asked the U. S. Fifth Circuit
Court of Appeals to place Gov.
Paul B. Johnson and former Gov.
Ross R. Barnett on trial in New
Orleans—not in their home state
—on criminal contempt charges
stemming from the 1962 Univer
sity of Mississippi desegregation
crisis.
The federal government contended
that the trial should be held in New
Orleans because the orders Johnson
and Barnett are accused of defying
were issued in New Orleans, not in
Mississippi.
Leon Jaworski of Houston, Texas,
special assistant U. S. attorney general,
filed the request with the Fifth Circuit
Court of Appeals on Nov. 30.
That is the same court which issued
the restraining order on Sept. 25, 1962,
forbidding Johnson, then lieutenant
governor, and Barnett, then governor,
from interferring with the enrollment
of Negro James Meredith.
On Dec. 31, the government filed a
motion to dismiss two of the four
criminal contempt charges against the
two men. Acting Attorney General
Nicholas Katzenbach said in Washing
ton that to present evidence on those
two counts would greatly extend the
“length and complexity of trial of the
case without furthering the interest of
justice.”
Civil Contempt
Both Johnson and Barnett have been
found guilty of civil contempt of court,
a less serious charge. They have not,
however, been sentenced for the civil
contempt convictions.
Meredith was admitted to Ole Miss
in the fall of 1962, following a night of
rioting during which two persons were
killed and scores injured. He was the
first Negro knowingly admitted to the
university.
Johnson and Barnett temporarily
barred Meredith’s enrollment before he
was subsequently admitted.
If found guilty of criminal contempt,
Johnson and Barnett would be subject
to a prison sentence or fines, the extent
to be determined by the court. The law
does not specify a maximum or mini
mum punishment on criminal contempt
convictions.
The two men asked for a jury trial.
The Appeals Court deadlocked 4-4 on
the question, and the request was sent
to the U. S. Supreme Court. The high
court rejected their request.
★ ★ ★
Mississippi was one of two states in
volved in the U.S. Supreme Court’s re
fusal Dec. 7 to rule on Department of
Justice efforts to compel desegregation
of public schools near military installa
tions. (See Washington report.)
Affected in Mississippi were children
of government personnel at Keesler Air
Force Base and the Veterans Adminis
tration Hospital, both in Harrison
County on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Schoolmen
407 Are Enrolled
In Private Schools
Under Grants Law
The Mississippi Education and Fi
nance Commission says 407 students are
attending segregated, nonsectarian pri
vate schools under the 1964 tuition
grant program.
The MEFC said it has mailed tuition
payments for the first academic quarter.
Each student received $46.25 towards
his tuition. The second payment will
be disbursed in January.
The initial payment reduced the $1
million appropriated by the legislature
by about $27,000.
The MEFC said about 200 more stu
dents are expected to be placed on
recipient rolls and added that an addi
tional “several hundred” could be
added with little difficulty.
Most of the students receiving the
state money attend private, nonsectar
ian schools in Jackson.
A special session of the legislature
approved the tuition grant law on July
15 in the face of court-ordered public
school desegregation in Biloxi, Jackson,
Leake County and Clarksdale. It pro
vides for up to $185 a year for children
to attend private, nonsectarian schools
The Hour of Decision
Kennedy, Arkansas Democrat
as an alternative to attending public
schools.
The grants will be paid to the private
school pupils in four installments—
one each nine weeks during the school
term.
Checks are mailed directly to the
students. Only pupils attending nonsec
tarian schools may qualify for the tui
tion grants.
Schools accepting tuition-grant stu
dents must offer a standardized educa
tion on par with that offered by the
state’s public schools.
★ ★ ★
A group of Rankin County residents
has agreed to organize a private school
corporation, to be known as the Rankin
County Corporation No. 1. It will be
a nonprofit organization and, presum
ably, will be eligible to participate in
the state’s new tuition grant program.
★ * ★
The First Presbyterian Church voted
on Dec. 6 to operate a private elemen
tary school in Jackson for some 70
students beginning in the fall of 1965.
Initially, classes from the kindergarten
through the fourth grades would be
operated.
The school, however, could not par
ticipate in the state’s new tuition grant
program, since the law limits the pro
gram to nonsectarian schools.
★ ★ ★
Race Question Is Factor
In School Bond Campaign
Campaigning in connection with a
school bond issue, approved by a two-
to-one vote in Rankin County Dec. 15
after being defeated in November, in
cluded racial overtones.
A newspaper advertisement in oppo
sition to the bonds, “paid for by citizens
and taxpayers of Rankin County, J. W.
McRae, committee chairman,” contend
ed there were sufficient funds to meet
needs without the bonds. It expressed
opposition also “because there is inte
gration staring us in the face and in
case it is forced upon us, and we go
into private schools, there will be many
empty classrooms. So why this bond
issue?”
Opponents also noted that the state
has a tuition grants program for pupils
to attend segregated, private nonsec
tarian schools and said “private schools
are betten than integrated schools. This
is your choice.”
An advertisement supporting the
bond issue, signed by parent-teacher
associations of Pearl-McLaurin, Flor
ence and Richland, noted large in-
The U.S. Department of Justice
asked the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court
of Appeals to try Gov. Paul B. John
son and former Gov. Ross R. Barnett
in New Orleans on criminal con
tempt charges stemming from the
1962 desegregation of the University
of Mississippi.
The U.S. Supreme Court refused
to rule on federal efforts to compel
desegregation of public schools near
military installations on the Missis
sippi Gulf Coast.
Oklona College, a coeducational
Negro college may close next year.
Enrollment in segregated, non
sectarian private schools under the
creases in enrollments and said more
school facilities were “desperately
needed.”
The vote last month was unofficially
2,652 for the issue to 1,311 against—
about 66 per cent favorable. A school
bond issue must have 60 per cent sup
port to pass. In November, the issue
fell 1,120 votes short of the necessary
support.
★ ★ ★
State Bonds Sold
As Rights Leaders
Call for Boycott
A syndicate of 18 firms headed by
Blythe and Co. of New York has bought
$6 million in school “equalization”
construction bonds despite a call by
civil rights leaders for an economic
boycott of Mississippi.
The issue brought to $73.6 million
the amount of school bonds sold by the
state under its program to equalize
white and Negro schools and bring all
up to minimum standards.
The law permits up to $80 million
to be outstanding at any time. The
bonds are retired by $555,000 earmarked
monthly from sales tax collections.
The $6 million issue was sold for an
average interest rate of 3.238 per cent
and was accepted by the State Bond
Commission comprised of Gov. Paul B.
Johnson, Attorney General Joe Patter
son and State Treasurer William Win
ter.
Officials Comment
Johnson said the sale indicated
“people showed their increased faith
and confidence in the state government
and they know the desire of all Missis-
sippians to do the right thing and to
move the state forward.”
“Business and financial leaders re
fused to be stampeded by pressure
groups,” Patterson said.
Winter called the interest rate most
attractive and said the $6 million issue
sold for a better rate than the last
school bonds, which sold for an average
rate of 3.24 per cent.
Johnson said the better rate came
although the bond market was not now
as good for sales.
Johnson said the boycott call “rather
than affecting the sale adversely
brought a large turnout.” Some $2,775
million in revenue bonds for college
construction were sold to another syn
dicate when the school bonds were
bought on Dec. 16.
Both the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People and
the Congress of Racial Equality have
called for an economic boycott of Mis
sissippi.
In the Colleges
Trustees Consider
Closing Okolona
Okolona College, a coeducational
junior college for Negroes at Okolona,
may be closed next year.
The announcement was made by its
board of trustees, which cited the in
stitution’s current financial status and
the ever-increasing cost of education.
A reappraisal of the situation and a
studied evaluation of the present facili
ties is planned, however. The school
state’s tuition grant program totals
407.
A school bond issue with racial
overtones was approved in Rankin
County.
A $6 million school “equalization”
construction bond issue was bought
by a New York-based syndicate de
spite a call by civil rights groups
for economic boycott of Mississippi.
Dr. James W. Silver of the Uni
versity of Mississippi, now on leave,
said in an address that state progress
could only be “compelled by law.”
Mrs. Gordon G. Henderson, presi
dent of Mississippians for Public
Education, was runnerup in a wire
service’s woman newsmaker of the
year contest.
!!»!!!
(See MISSISSIPPI, Page 8)
Mississippi Highlights