Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-08-10
ID. c. School Probers

In his letter August s. Ger
hard P. Van Arkel seems so
anxious to deprive "the peo-
pie of the District" whom he
highly extols. of voice in
expressing a view on the sue
cess or failure Of school in
tegration here. that he has
seen fit to PREJUDICE the work
of Representative Davis and
Willie Gerber even before the
investigation has begun.
Mr.. Van Arkel is free to ex-
press the views of a confirmed
'theorist." AS the parent of
four grade-school children,
the undersigned, too, is free to
say that. in his opinion,
school indignation in the Dis
trict has not been an I'M
qualified success.
Paul Chiera.
\ + y X
"Dying Gasp of a Home
Ruler" would have been good
caption for the letter of Ger
hard P. Van Arkel. The motive
in his attack on Judge Davis,
one of the finest men in Con-
gress, is so transparent that
no answer is necessary. Like
wise, no defense is necessary
against. the attack on Mr..
Gerber. The only question here
is whether or not Mr.. Gerber
is a competent investigator,
and my bunch is that even Mr..
Van Arkel will soon be con-
WINGED that he is.
But one must challenge Mr..
Van Arkel's claim that the
schools here were promptly
and successfully integrated.
Promptly, yes, but successfully,
not yet! The slam-bang type
of indignation supposedly put
into effect on orders from the
White House, has been sue
cesSful only in driving white
people out of the District at a
most alarming rate.
The writer has been told of
many shocking incidents since
the Washington type of inte-
grafton went into effect which,
If true, would tend to provoke
enmity between the races in
stead of greater friendliness
and respect. Mr.. Gerber will
be performing a real public
service if he brings these things
out in the open.
Any way, let's give Mr.. Ger
Der a chance. He might have
something.
G. NJ. KOOckOgey.
X \ X
While Mr.. Gerber is in
vestigating the public schools
to determine the effect of inte-
grafton. I suggest he find out
the social and economic back
ground of the pupils whose
academic achievements are to
be considered. I am sure he will
find, with some exceptions,
that both Negro and white
children who come from poorer
backgrounds suffer by COM
parison with those who come
from homes of educated and
middle-class parentage. I pre-
dict that as factors initiate
against substandard living
achievement norms will rise.
E. B. Henderson,
Former Director, Department
Health and Physical Edu-
cation. Colored Schools.
4 y Il 4
A vicious attack was made
on Mr.. Gerber, chief counsel
for the Committee Investigat-
ing D. c. Schools. by Gerhard
Van Arkel in a letter to The
Star. 1t gives cause to wonder
if the members of the ADA
and other extremist groups
who brought about the pre-
cipitous indignation Of the Dis
trict schools are afraid of what
will be disclosed by this in
vestigation.
Mr.. Van Arkel challenges the
motives of the District commit
tee members in launching this
investigation. although this
committee is the only body
with authority and response
bility for relieving the present
school fiasco. Representative
Davis. chairman Of the in
vestigating committee, has
been especially singled out for
Mr.. Van Arkel's smear cam
paign. Whatever Representa-
tive Davis political views may
be. he has never been known
to deal with anything but facts.
He has publicly stated that
facts are what he is after in
this investigation. Could 1t be
that this frantic effort to dis
credit the findings OF this COM
mittee before they are even
published indicates that Mr..
Van Arkel already knows what
some Of these facts are7
The President Of the United
States. the Attorney General
and the Supreme Court adj