The Detroit tribune., 1962-06-09
The following editorial repsinted from she Nay 2e
1852 issue Of fhe Norfolk VA JOURNAL GUIDE
All n Debt To MAR

These columns IN the last Issue carried comment key
ed to the eighth snnyerssy Of the mornentous and un
animous decision of the L 5 Supreme Court Nay II
1854 ou,swing enforced segregation pubic schools
anywhere the country
is eminen,y in order to supplement that earlier
editorial Aith other observations notably the
sieriss an, role " the National Association for the Adv
sncenent Of colorec People and specifically lis board
of directors officers and executives and the unrng staff
oi axyers the office in New York and scattered
Throughout the nation
Il is easy to realize our Indebtedness 70 the NAACP
u imagining @hsi ,he situation would be there no
national organization Nov il is intended 10 say
nor you'd the NAAcP csim tha. the Advancement As
ISOLATION solely respon bic for the tremendous VIC
civil nights elimination Of restrictive hous-
Ing covenants of pubic facilities. in the military
services transportation. AMI IN other fields
All of the newspapers that genencally constitute the
Negro Press tor decades exposed discriminatory ua
ard fought for their elimination ard the creation
Of sufficient favorable pubIe opinion support that pro-
gress
Other organizations such Is the National Urban Lea
que shared de- ades OF struggle before the thresh
hold ~ss crossed State organizations local organza-
dedicated citzens-all helped and still help.
II has be acknowledged that to
notable exten, from the function of the NAACP as
clearing house the devotion the causes by its per
sonnel xii and stok,oitiyeness Of lis legal
staff and other attorneys affiliated aith state and local
branches
As far back IS the 1850 Clarendon County SC case
Of school desegregaton heard in 1850 By hree-judge
Federal District Court Charleston Thurgood Marshall
then NAACP chief counsel Judge on the Us Cir
cult Court of Appeals in Ne" York revealed to these
that appeal required preparation and printing
lby specialist firms Of the record peadings and other
things that 90 into papers filed with the Supreme Court
cost average minimum Of $1,000 Our recollection is
that the figure cited So 900 II might have been
higher figure. No matter just multiply by number Of
appeals in o. original Jurisdiction handled
by the NAACP by 50 900 and pprecation immedi-
ateIy Of the tremendous outlay Of money involved On
this point have queried Victor j. Ashe Norfolk at
torney associated with many NAACP-backed cases and
says that the for appeals records and
plesdings averages between s4 900 and $4,000
pending the volume Of material included in the print
ed record.
Other things equally important, count: long hours Of
legal research by attorneys equally long hours Of nve
CATION the sites OF and the interviewing of plain
tifs and witnesses conferences into the morning
hours and travel from city to city and court to
Being newspaper publisher in Virginia are espe-
cia proud OF the record Of the Virginia Conference Of
NAACP branches presently headed by Mr. Robert Robert
Of Norfolk At the Richmond headquarters activities
eoordinsted ably by Mr. W. Lester Banks. state
cutive secretary The first of the originating in
four states, and ruled May IT, 1854 by the Supreme
Court Virginia case--the noted Prince Edward
(FarmvilleJ County litigation
For three years now Prince EDWARD County has kept
all schools closed rather than negrate them under court
orders private" system Of schools maintained, with
the aid of tuition grants from the state for white children
Coored children simply missing education their most
formative years They have private school system
such
Before 1854 there II states plus the District of
Columbia which practiced school segregation Today the
District and all but three such states have least token
inegration in localities. Progress is being
made but much remains to be done The NAACP will
do its share you rest assured