Evening star., 1954-05-23

in schools.
in major complication of las
Mondays Supreme Court bar
against our separated schools
two statements typify the point
One was that of fiery Editor
Frederick Sullens, who this weel
predicted on page ! of his Jack
son Daily News that blood ma!
flow from what he called "thi
specious reasoning. shallow sub
terfuge, silly sophistry and sor'
did politics" of the court de.
ciSion.
Worst Since Carpetbaggers.
Said Sullens in part:
THE United States Supreme
Court decision abolishing segre.
cation in the public schools o1
the Nation. even when equal but
separate facilities are provided
is the worst thing that ever hap
pened to the South since carpet.
baggers and Scalawags tool
charge of our civil government
in reconstruction days.
mississippi will never consent
to placing white and Negro chill.
dren in the same schools. Tht
white people and the thinking
Negro people do not want that
to happen. Both look on the
decision as a calamity.
Human blood may stair
Southern soil in many place.
because of the decision, but the
red stains of that blood will be
on the marble steps of the
United States Supreme Court
Building"
Contrasting Advice.
In juXtapOSition was the
speech this reporter heard wher
he went to Utica, Miss. to watch
what is called School Closing
Day." the ceremony at which
eighth-grade graduates of 81
Hind County rural Negro schools
got their diplomas.
j. D. Boyd, superintendent o1
the Negro agricultural high
school in Utica, was talking anc
something electric went through
an audience of more than 1000
pupils, teachers and parent.
when he touched on the South;
current Subject A"
THE highest court of oul
land" he said. has said that the
segregation you children have
known is unconstitutional. Yol
can therefore remember YOU
graduation week as an important
one in history. Whether it will
prove to be a good one or not
only time will tell.
But permit me a word OF eau
ton: It's not enough for US Il
have something to look forwart
to and to say that we also have
responsibilities. The thing fol
Negroes to do now is to keep oul
feet on the ground, our head,
level and our big mouths shut
Then we may get somewhere
Remember we can talk tot
much"
Most Guard Remarks.
Southern Negroes and, with
the exception of some politicians
and editors, whites. too. are gen.
orally following the big mouth
shut" philosophy. 1t takes time
and prying, for touring reporter
to get them talking and jther
they usually start out with: "Now
don't quote me but ="
Here in Mississippi those OF
both races who (having thought
start talking confidentially, come
up with surprisingly identical
conclusion: That school segre-
CATION will eventually end in the
South, that it will happen faster
in some places than in others
and that there will be no trouble
If "the hotheads on both sides
remain under control.
Just as later-day historians
say economics had doomed slav-
cry before the first Civil Wal
shot. so here do both whites and
Negroes concede that this very
poor among the Nations States
could not continue segregation
under the separate but equal
rule.
Spends Less Per Pupil.
Mississippi, dollar wise. spends
less per pupil on education (white
and Negro combined) than any
other Southern State. The last
available comparison (for 1882
showed cost here of $119.85 pei
year per city pupil as compared
with S129.35 in the second lowest
State (Arkansas) and $265.75 ir
the highest Southern State, Ken
lucky. Mississippi's rural ex-
penditure of $56.45 compared
with a second low (again Ar.
kansaS of $91.80 and a South.
ern high in Texas of $211.73.
But on the other side of tht
coin. recent studies financed b!
the Ford Foundation show tha
Mississippi's devotion of 2.7 pei
cent of the total income of al
her people to education wa
higher than that of 18 otheI
States. including such educa
tionally advanced" ones q
Connecticut, Illinois, Massachu
sets. New Jersey. Ohio. Pennsyl
vania, Wisconsin and New York
To give true equal but sep
arate" schooling Mississippi
would have to increase her 1885
appropriations for Negro cit,
schools by 40 per cent and 70
rural schools by 66 per cent.
I'VE just haven't got that kim
of money" said one white schoc
official. We've been trying bu
we cannot afford separate bu
equal facilities. That means W
have either got to have one sys
TEN, or continue as in the pas
with smaller appropriations 70
Negroes"
Most nifFicuIk Counties.