Evening star., 1959-11-19
Local Inteqrotion


wife, children and some
grand children attended D. c.
public schools, I would like to
answer Superintendent Carl
F. HanseniS frequent white
papers re: Successful, whole
sale, all-out integration of
the previously predominantly
white public schools of a
quasi-Southern community.
Whereas in Little Rock and
nearby Virginia the Supreme
Courts directive to integrate
was answered with rebellion,
massive resistance and nulli-
flcation, DR.. Hansen'S statiS-
tics purport to prove that If
you use the right know-how,
all-out, unqualified integra-
ton can be made to work
anywhere. I do not challenge
DR.. Hansep's statistics, be-
cause they certify an accom-
plished fact. But 1 do chal-
lenge his naive Interpretation
Of the social forces and polit-
ical realities generating them.
In several forums, the
highly respected master-ped-
agogue, DR.. Hansen, has con-
tended that this mass exodus
of young, voteless, taxpaying
parents, with their children
of school age. is just part of
a national pattern: The priv
ileged whites are abandoning
the obsolete urban areas to
the underprivileged Negro.
This is true. But, Stubbornly
DR.. Hansen insists that the
dictatorial imposition of all
out integration upon a vote
less community-by domi-
nant Federal power-had lit
tie part in the motivation of
this mass flight. Here we
have an educator of national
stature. guilty of the sophis-
try Of arguing from the par
ticular to the general. In log
ic, one may not argue that
the only community in our
Nation without franchise
acted from the same motives
as those with it. And, even If
that be conceded, it would
not be valid proof-discount-
ing the reasonable assump-
ton they fed as their only
means of resisting the unde-
sirable. DR.. Hansen should
know better than to defend
a questionable thesis with
arguments of expediency.
In his last report, DR.. Han
sen explains that this mass
exodus of white taxpaying
parents with their school,
age children is not as bad as
it seems: In a public school
system which was predomi-
nantly white before integra-
tion and now is 76.7 per cent
colored, there were only 5,753
more Negroes and 2,008 few
er whites this year. An ad-
mittedly undesirable trend of
white taxpayers fleeing the
Nations Capital has slowed
down. 1t is an undesirable
trend, because taxpayers and
not more social welfare bene-
f1ciaries are needed to finance
this bankrupt community's
needs. Our public school sys-
tenn is but one Of them. DR..
Hansen believes the hemor-
rhage is slowing. But as a
doctor in another learned
profession, I would like to re-
mind DR.. Hansen this could
mean: The long-bleeding pa
TENTS bleeding always slows
when there is little blood left.
I would ask DR.. Hansen: Is
it not time to apply the re-
constructive and rehabilitat-
ing detectives of urban re-
newal to a public school Sys-
TEN that repels taxpaying
white parents? This flight
could be stopped if DR.. Han
sen would make one conces-
sion: Agree that it is a hard
ship meriting a transfer. if a
white parent protests their
child is an overwhelmed mi
nority in a classroom. Our
Supreme Court In justice and
equity outlawed segregation
in public school education.
But it did not command the
all-out, uncompromising in
tegration which overwhelms
white minorities here in the
Nations only voteleSs COM
munity.