Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-11-09
Maryland Urged
ToAsk Gradual
Indignation
Study Recommends
Pluns Developed
On LocuI Level

PIc4lS OOuTG IOr graQual 1nCe.
grafton Of public schools under
plans developed by boards oil
education Of Baltimore City anc
the % counties.
Recommendations and sug.
gested procedural principles filed
with the States attorney general
and Board of Education by q
special committee of school SUI
perintendents advised against
"coercive measures, particularly
drastic ones" and declared:
"The manner in which deseg-
regation is put into effect in our
State and in our Nation will
determine for many years to
come the attitude of the races
toward each other.
Mere edict from above will
not change thinking nor the
attitudes which influence human
behavior" the report said, add
Ing that Indignation procedures
will need the sympathetic UNI
derstanding of all citizens If the
decision and resultant course of
action are to be freed of emo
tional outbursts."
Three-Mo Study.
William S. Schmidt of Prince
Georges County headed the
group, which submitted its find
ings after a three-month study.
Other members of the committee
appointed by Thomas G. Pullen.
jr., State superintendent of
schools. are James M. Bennett,
Wicomico County; William M.
British, Washington County;
Reade w. Corr, Kent County,
and John H. Fischer, Baltimore
City.
Maryland's legal and school
authorities have accepted the
Supreme Courts ruling that seq
regation is unconstitutional and
will implement it's final decision,
the committee said, but it's re-
port indicates that segments of
the State are unhappy about the
matter.
1.-THE Supreme Court, in abol-
ishing segregation in the public
schools of this country" the re-
port declares, created a new
right for a minority group. BY
the same action it abrogated a
right Of the majority group. It
Is specious to argue that this
right did not exist legally: it
has been countenanced as right
for nearly a century, and the
Supreme Court on one memo
rable occasion placed its official
sanction upon it.
'Pragmatically. then, the right
OF white people in any given
State, under approval of it's State
laws, to send their children to
segregated schools has existed.
More important than any other
consideration is the fact that
citizens Of the several States
practicing segregation in their
schools have thought they had
this right, and their thinking
and their attitudes have been
conditioned by this fact"
Emotional Burden Shifted.
Citing the Supreme Courts
reference to Psychological dis
turbances in Negro children
caused by segregation, the report
said the court should bear in
mind the emotional disturbance
1t Is creating in white children
by revoking the existing
right"
1T Is reasonable. to expect
that Indignation will cause emo
tional disturbances in those
white children who have lived
in a segregated world with as
clear a conscience as that of the
English, Dutch and New England
slave traders who brought
Negroes to America for financial
gain"
The Attorney General of Mary
land, the report continued, has
held that the Supreme Court
gave a segregation opinion"
and not a final decree. Accord
ingly, State and local school
authorities have been notified
that present law requires con-
tinuance of segregation until a
final decree is issued or until
segregation Is abolished by the
Legislature.
Citizen Advice Urged.
Appointment by local school
boards Of bi-racial citizen adj
visory committees to help solve
integration problems was rec
commended by the committee on
the premise that, following such
q democratic procedure, the
people will feel that they have
had a part in the program"
Questionnaires sent to school
superintendent of the county
and city indicated, the report
said. that the most acceptable
method for ending segregation
would be by a gradual transition
period. Supporting this opinion,
the committee said the present
system has, in many counties,
created a duplication of facil-
tiles, personnel and administra-
tive practices which, II abruptly
discontinued, would create much
unrest and confusion and ulti-
mately result in unnecessary
harm to children and youth"
Few, If any, county units are
prepared for q sudden change
over" the report said. Work
shops in human relations on q
bi-racial basis should be estab-
liShed at all levels"
The committee advocated that
augmentation Of the integra-
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