Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2—FEBRUARY, 1965—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
MISSISSIPPI
Greenville, Tupelo
Boards Vote to Sign Pledges
JACKSON
wo local school boards in
Mississippi — Greenville and
Tupelo—have voted to sign a de
segregation compliance pledge as
a prerequisite to receiving further
federal aid-to-education funds.
The Greenville school board voted on
Jan. 14 to accept the terms prescribed
by the U.S. Department of Health,
Education and Welfare.
One week later, the Tupelo school
board agreed to accept the compliance
provision included in the 1964 Civil
Rights Act.
The state’s 150 school districts have
until March 4 either to sign the deseg
regation pledge or lose federal funds,
currently totaling about $16 million a
year.
The Greenville and Tupelo boards
voted unanimously to sign the pledges.
Automatically Complied
J. M. Tubb, state superintendent of
public education, announced on Jan. 5
that the Jackson, Biloxi, Clarksdale and
Leake County school districts have
automatically complied with the fed
eral law since they are operating under
court-ordered desegregation,
“When a school district is put under
a federal court (desegregation) order,”
Tubb said, “it is considered qualified.
Nothing else is required.”
All four systems put desegregation
into effect at the beginning of the
school year last fall, although no Ne
groes registered at Clarksdale.
Nevertheless, Jackson Mayor Allen
C. Thompson announced on Jan. 5 that
he opposed accepting federal aid to
city schools totaling about $810,000 a
year. He said he feared it would lead
to further desegregation and govern
ment control of the schools.
(The Department of Health, Educa
tion and Welfare reported from Wash
ington that desegregated systems could
continue to qualify for federal aid by
filing a copy of the federal court judg
ment and a letter signifying intent to
abide by any changes in the court
order.)
Sign Pledges
The U. S. Office of Education said in
Washington on Jan. 22 that the Univer
sity of Mississippi and two Negro
schools—Mary Holmes Seminary at
West Point and Prentiss Normal Indus
trial Institute—have submitted signed
pledges of nondiscrimination, comply
ing with the Civil Rights Act.
Dr. Verner Holmes of McComb,
president of the Board of Trustees of
State Institutions of Higher Learning,
announced on Jan. 21 that federal offi
cials will be informed that the board is
complying under class action of the
federal court ruling ordering Negro
James Meredith admitted to the Uni
versity of Mississippi in 1962.
The board met on Jan. 21 and agreed
it was not necessary for the schools
and colleges to sign compliance
pledges since they are under court
orders to desegregate. However, they
decided to permit the presidents of the
Mississippi Highlights
The Greenville and Tupelo school
boards voted to comply with federal
requirements for continued aid to
education.
The NAACP Legal Defense and Ed
ucational Fund filed a school deseg
regation suit against Moss Point.
The Clarksdale city schools entered
the second phase of court-ordered
desegregation, still with no biracial
classes.
Three Negroes were considering an
attempt to enroll at the University of
Mississippi in February.
James Meredith announced he will
discuss the Negro problem of the
United States during a planned
world tour.
A fire destroyed a Negro classroom
building in desegregated Leake
County.
Gov. Paul Johnson
‘Many, many facets.’
schools to decide whether they feel that
actual pledges should be signed.
Dr. E. R. Jobe, executive secretary
of the board, estimated that the uni
versities and colleges draw about $15
million a year in federal funds.
Storm of Protests
The federal fund controversy has
created a storm of protest throughout
the state, particularly on the public
school level. Early in the month, there
was considerable speculation that Gov.
Paul B. Johnson would call a special
session of the legislature to consider
the matter. But the seating challenge
against the Mississippi congressional
delegation apparently has prompted the
governor to delay calling a session until
late spring.
A Capitol source reported that John
son had told intimates that an immedi
ate session could involve anti-federal
government action which could damage
the delegation’s case to retain its seats.
The source acknowledged, however,
that the governor’s current thinking
could change.
The Mississippi Freedom Democratic
Party, a predominantly Negro faction,
is contesting the delegation seating be
cause of racial discrimination in the
area of voting and election rights.
State Education Supt. Tubb said on
Jan. 13 that the State Board of Educa
tion does not have the authority to sign
a statewide desegregation pledge. The
state’s school districts, he added, must
decide individually whether to comply
with the federal requirement.
Tubb said the local districts have
local autonomy to act. Tubb said the
state board would be required to carry
out the desegregation compliance re
quirement any local board might sign.
Voted To Comply
When the Greenville board voted to
comply, President Roy Campbell said
that “if we let this go by default, it
will be done for us.” Board attor
ney Edgar Bogen told the board it had
but two choices: Comply with the act,
or defy the law and wait for legal
desegregation to be instituted. Bogen
said the Greenville system would lose
$72,000 a year in federal assistance
funds for refusing to comply volun
tarily.
Mayor Pat Dunne said the board had
no alternative to make any other deci
sion but to comply.
“Repugnant as the law is to all of
us,” he said, “it is a federal law and it’s
either a case of comply or close the
schools.”
President Anse Dees of the Chamber
of Commerce also endorsed the action,
commenting:
“We’ve got one of the best school
boards in the country. I know that they
have studied it and I know that they
have come up with the right decision.
I believe that the people of Greenville
will back them up.”
Mrs. R. K. Haxton Jr., a spokesman
for the Greenville chapter of Mississip-
pians for Public Education, said that
“defiance of the law will only mean
that our school system will be desegre
gated anyway and we will lose the
federal funds so desperately needed by
our schools.”
The Delta-Democrat Times praised
the Greenville board and said its de
cision was an example of “rare courage
and intelligence.” The editorial pre
dicted other school systems would sign
the pledge “now that the ice has
broken.”
The Tupelo school board approved
a resolution calling for a desegregation
plan “to be put into effect Sept. 1, 1965,
designed to meet the law of the land.”
“In my years of service on this
school board,” President Perrin Purvis
said, “this is the most delicate and
grave decision that it has been called
upon to face. I feel that our people
will abide with dignity this decision.”
Some 5,100 pupils are in the Tupelo
system, which receives more than
$150,000 a year in federal funds.
Editor James Ward of the Jackson
Daily News criticized Mayor Thomp
son’s action opposing accepting the
federal funds, writing on Jan. 6:
“Mayor Allen C. Thompson says that
federal aid with strings attached should
not be accepted by Jackson’s public
schools. We heartily agree with the
mayor. However, there is no issue
pending concerning the local schools.
As far as the requirement for federal
aid, Jackson’s schools are fully inte
grated and the school system is fully
accredited to accept federal funds with
no further questioning asked.
“Mayor Thompson is fanning his jaws
where there is no issue. Maybe there’s
an election around the comer and the
mayor is now bidding for segregation
ists’ votes after trying to force restau
rants to comply with integration. Ask
any restaurant owner.”
Strong Exception
Mayor Thompson took strong excep
tion to Ward’s remarks. He had this to
say, in part, at a City Council meeting
on Jan 7:
“Do not ever make the mistake of
thinking that there is no issue about
this or that it is a moot question. This
is part of an overall program, and the
people of Jackson will have to deter
mine whether they want to educate
them, or whether we will be willing to
turn our educational system completely
over to the federal government in re
turn for federal financial contributions.
It is just as simple as that . . .
“Frankly, it is my belief that accept
ing federal financial aid will greatly
encourage the efforts of the NAACP
and others to desegregate the entire
system, and will make it very difficult
for us in our current present court pro
cedure.”
Thompson noted that the NAACP
has appealed the federal court ruling
ordering grade-a-year desegregation.
He charged that “all of this controversy
stirred up by Jimmy Ward will make
it that much more difficult for us to
maintain the grade-a-year desegrega
tion.”
Hinds County Republican Chairman
William Westbrook accused the mayor
YARBROUGH
Making No Headway
Howie, Jackson Daily News
of “locking the bam door after the
horse has been stolen.”
Thompson contended: “We are well
able to finance all of our school pro
grams. We can finance our operations,
construction, school lunch programs
and anything else connected with our
schools.”
The Board of Trustees of State Insti
tutions supervises the University of
Mississippi, Mississippi State Univer
sity, the University of Southern Mis
sissippi, Mississippi State College for
Women, all of them all-white except
Ole Miss.
It also supervises Jackson State Col
lege, Alcorn A & M College and Mis
sissippi Valley State College, each of
them all-Negro.
‘Edict So Sweeping’
Dr. Jobe, the board’s executive secre
tary, had this to say about the federal
provision:
“The edict is so sweeping that the
universities and colleges have little
choice except to take federal aid, since
the civil rights law will be forced upon
them, federal aid or no ... I hope that
our action of Thursday (Jan. 21) will
be agreeable with federal agencies in
volved, else we may have to call an
emergency meeting for further action.”
The board voted 10 to 1 in a closed
session Jan. 21 to send a copy of the
Meredith court order to the proper
officials in Washington advising them
that the board “is complying with the
orders of the court.”
President Holmes said the board in
terpreted the court order as a class
action and more sweeping than the
actual Civil Rights Act. The order per
mitted Meredith to include “all Ne
groes” under the class action ruling.
CAMPBELL CROOK
At least five members of the legisla
ture have spoken out on the federal
school monies issue. Sen. George Yar-
brough of Red Banks, president pro.
tempore of the Senate, expressed
views in an unsigned editorial in The
South Reporter on Jan. 28. He is editor
of the weekly newspaper.
“Every citizen has a right to express
his views on so important a subject
The school boards want to represent
the people. It is your duty to them to
make your wishes known.
“We gladly state ours—We prefer to
see the control of our schools in local
hands. Let us not sell our birthright
for a mess of pottage. Do not sign a
compliance assurance.”
Rep. Charles B. Henley of Jackson
suggested a court test of the new law.
“My opinion,” he wrote Gov. Paul B.
Johnson on Jan. 14, “is that we should
use every provision of the United
States Constitution and the federal
laws involved to their fullest extent
before even considering any type of
compliance.”
Sen. Hayden Campbell of Jackson
said on Jan. 13 the legislature should
prohibit local school boards from sign
ing the desegregation pledge. He urged
the governor to call a special session
on the issue.
“The overpowering question is
whether a sovereign state shall retain
control of the most precious facet of
its sovereignty, the most constitutional
form of its government, the education
of our children, or whether our state,
under the threat of the federal govern
ment, shall supinely sign away that
right which has made America great i
and the states of this union strong,”
Campbell said.
Proposed Referendum
On Jan. 10, Sen. Robert L. Crook of
Ruleville proposed a statewide referen
dum to decide whether the local school
districts should sign the compliance
pledges.
Sen. B. G. Perry of Horn Lake said
on Jan. 12 that the State Board of Edu
cation should decide whether to com
ply with the requirement.
State Treasurer William Winter
urged local school districts on Jan. 20
to make their individual decisions on
the matter. Winter, addressing a Jun
ior Chamber of Commerce banquet in
Vicksburg, said the problem “tran- |
scends partisanship and politics and
should not be made the basis for emo
tional debate at the state level that can
only divide and confuse our people.
He said a failure of local school dis
tricts to act could bring on a ‘ greater
degree of external control of our schoo
systems, while at the same time ten -
ing to reduce rather than improve the
caliber of the services that they P r0
vide.”
Asked to Refrain
On Jan. 16, two days after Greenville
voted to comply, Gov. Johnson ca
on local school districts to refrain j
making an immediate decision
way or the other” on the f ,
school-assistance funds issue. He u r " ,
the officials and “all of the P e °P e , e .
Mississippi” not to act before a s
wide policy is formulated.
“The question has many, many fa .
to it,” Johnson said in a e pit
“and the wrong decision could
(See MISSISSIPPI, Page 3)
What They Say
Economic Leaders Call for Adjustment
A policy statement issued Feb. 3 by
directors of the Mississippi Economic
Council called on Mississippians to
“adjust to the impact of the 1964 Civil
Rights Act regardless of personal feel
ings and convictions.”
The council is an organization of the
state’s business and civic leadership.
Its president, Balmer Hill Jr. of
Natchez, an official of Armstrong Tire
and Rubber Co., said the statement
was written “for the purpose of fur
thering justice, harmony and continued
development in Mississippi.”
Resistance to the new law, the
statement said, should be limited to
“established procedures in the Ameri
can tradition of resort to enlightened
public opinion, the ballot boxes and
the courts.”
The group, calling for energizing
communications between the races,
noted that “the Civil Rights Act has
been enacted by the Congress as law”
and that “it cannot be ignored and
should not be unlawfully defied.” It
said “order and respect for the law
must be maintained” and “lawless
activities in the state by individuals
and organizations cannot be tolerated.”
After calling for equitable applica
tion of penalties to all law violators,
the council's board of directors de
clared that “support of public education
must be maintained and strengthened.”
The statement said:
“As concerned Mississippians aware
of the monumental problems facing
our state, we advance with pride the
fact that Mississippi is not an island
unto itself but is an integral and re
sponsible part of the United States.”
The directors said “Mississippians
have the capacity and courage to face
the problems of this state and to create
conditions favorable to the solution.”
The statement called upon Mississip
pians to take positive action toward
these ends.”
Release of the statement followed a
special meeting of the Economic Coun
cil directors to consider equal-
employment provisions of the Civil
Rights Act. It preceded an industry
hunting trip to St. Louis by Gov. Paul
B. Johnson and members of the state
Agricultural and Industrial Board.
have
been
Some St. Louis leaders --- j^is-
quoted as urging a boycott o
sippi products.
* * * oe€ch Ja*
Gov. Paul Johnson, in a speev
29 at an economic symposium* ^
sored by Deposit Guaranty ^con-
Trust Co. at Jackson, scored
duct and law violations y
extremists and said: “We re n , eine nt
to be the pushing boy for tna ^ eV e
ever again.” He said “if this
they can disregard the ) aWS se coP^
state, they had better think
time.” . lead***
Johnson told the business
that “we are a part of this n go‘^
the island of Cuba—and we prom'
to act as part of the nation-l eg \
ised to continue efforts t g th at
channels for segregation, ® re tati o11
“rather than accept the in ^. e pn?'
of laws by some bureaucra . ’ ter pre ta '
fer to go to the courts for m
tion.” „ were
The governor said we bu Jd
only the architects but ^oprse^
the doghouse we now nn
TUBB
THOMPSON
JOBE