The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-09-26
THE SCHOOL STRIKE.

VI the rev really ridiculous happen-
ings which have occurred in Topeka in
recent years the one which is entitled
to first place. among them is the
strike" of the white children in the
upper grades in the grammar schools
because of their Discrimination to at
tend classes in which there are negro
children. This proceeding of the
youngsters ought not to be dignified
by being called a Strike 1t is moth
ing more or less than an exhibition of
sheer impudence on their part which
should not be tolerated for an instant.
That 1t is tolerated to a certain de-
gree and by the parents of these I'M
ruly children, for they surely would
not dare to absent themselves from
their classes, as they have done, unless
1t was with the tacit consent of their
elders, is exceedingly disgraceful. And
particularly disgraceful is it to these
self same parents. They should have
better sense than to permit their
young to so openly defy the authority
and discipline of their teachers.
The question as to whether or not
white and negro children should be
taught in the same classes in public
| schools is a debatable one, but more so
| in communities other than Topeka
where the proportion Of the popula-
ton is in favor of the negroes. There
are good and sufficient arguments both
for and against the mingling of the
races in schools as in other things. But
the consensus OF opinion is that no
particular harm is done the children
OF either race by their being sent to
the same schools. In the very nature
of things the school children of both
races hold aloof from each other in
| their games, pastimes and in other So
cfal ways outside of school hours and
during the hours Of school there is not
much chance for them to associate in
an intimacy that will prove detrimen-
tai in any way to either.
But the more potent point in the
case at hand is that there are hardly
a sufficient number of colored child
rem attending the upper grades in the
! Topeka schools to warrant their Sc
gregation. This same condition main
tains in all the cities throughout the
land, except in some in the far south
where the negro population is greatly
in excess of the white. And in other
/ pAdCCS III LlAo Wn0T0 the moral
tone of the people is quite on the level
with that of Topekans the white child
rem and the black ones are educated
in the same classes without a thought
of either affecting or harming the 9TH
er in any way.
And that is as it should be in this
city. Topeka could i'll afford now, or
at any time in view of the already un-
usual and burdensome sums of money
that it is spending annually for the
support of the schools, to provide sep
arate school accommodations for the
education of the small number of ne
gro children who continue in school up
into the higher grades. Such a thing
is almost out of the question. So while
1t may be distasteful for some white
children to associate in school with
| negroes, and also distasteful to their
parents to have them, situation con-
fronts them which cannot we'll be
avoided and they should make the best
of it.
But the chances are that this
| strike is not due so much to the fact
that the presence of negro children in
the class room is distasteful to the