New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1874-09-17

WASHINGTON, Sept. lG, 1874.
10 TIE Editor Of the He,o National Era:
The consolidation Of the several School
Boards Of the District of Columbia by the
Commissioners means either mixed schools
or injustice to the colored schools. SO long
as we have separate school system in the
District based on color, say by all means
give us colored trustees and colored teachers
over our children. AS it is, the Commits
sioners have taken particular pains to APP
point four white trustees in the county, three
Of whom are known to be opposed to mixed
schools, or anything like justice to. thetcol-
ored schools. While they guard the interest
Of white schools, which number about fifteen
hundred pupils, the Commissioners have very
prudently (?) appointed ONE colorcd trustee
to guard the interest of about seventeen hum
dred cOlored pupils. The white trustees
favor mixed teachers over colored schools,
and white teachers over white schools these
trustees are bitterly opposed to a colored
teacher being employed to. teach in white
school, and would look upon an attempt to
place colored teachers over white children as
outrageous, and not to be tolerated. Three
of these newly appointed county trustees
forced their way into the new Trustee Board
by bitterly denouncing the Commissioners
for making the consolidation, and, in order
to quiet these inconsistent ucmagosues, the
Commissioners listened TO their sycophantic
prayers, and appointed them. Trustee J. S.
Brown and Trustee Packard have no real
sympathy for colored school, more than to
put their iavoriies in to draw teachers sala-
ries. Ii is the common talk that Packard
has sold piece of property 20 certain lady
in the county who has no real means of pay
ing for it; What does he do about it 4? lie
appoints her to colored school in place of a
veteran teacher, whom he saw fit to find
pretext for removing on account of her reli-
gious views. | ask what more can be eX-
pected of men who beg for an appointment
t. a trusteeship: 1t has a very suspicious
look to see man begging for place and po-
sition of honor and trust without compcnsa-
ton and the Commissioners haye committed
great blunder in appointing such men.
Their former appointments in the county
were good. The gentlemen knew nothing
of tireir appointment until it was announced
in the papers. Prior to the admission of the
above-named trustees, there were no indeli-
cate remarks made in trustee meeting in
reference to female teachers which every
newspaper reporter in the city RETAINED from
making mention Of except the Star reporter,
and he would not have mentioned it had she
been white lady. | ask every minded
man if il is not mean and cowardiy for white
men to insist upon separate school system
for colored teachers and colored children and
mixed school system for white teachers:
favor mixed schools and mixed teachers.
If we can't have it, let Us have separate
schools and separate teachers. The action
OF the Commissioners in appointing j. S.
Brown and Mr.. Packard to trustee positions
for the county after they exhibited so much
eagerness for the positions, is simply ridicu-
lous; for it is well known that J. 5. Brown
and Mr.. Packarl's chief aim in getting APP
pointed was to fight a certain trustee in the
two or three appointments he made.
JUSTICE.