Jackson advocate. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1939-current, 1962-02-24
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NSOhtihdCu GAOhh o6S OASI
of adequate racial statistics
makes it easier to discrimi-
nate against Negro pupils MT
little risk of detection. Others
believe such records are "a
invitation to discrimination.
Records Not Disclosed
According TO the Southern
Education Reporting Service,
schools In II southern and
border states continue to keep
separate statistics for Negroes
and whites:
. Three border states have
stopped keeping records by
race since the desegregation
ruling by the Supreme Court
of the United States in 1854.
They are Missouri, Oklahoma,
and West Virginia.
o Delaware and Maryland
record separate figures for
white and Negro students.
They are not announced to the
public, however, and are avail
able only for special research.
. Arkansas and Florida still
keep school records by race,
with certain exceptions.
o The District of Columbia
and 10 southern and border
states keep complete school
statistics by race and make
them public.
Missouri and West Virginia
last recorded enrollments by
race in 1854. Since then, no
racial breakdown has been
available. School records by
race ceased in Oklahoma in
1855.
One supporter of keeping
statistics by race Is DR.. James
B. Conant. In his recent study,
"Slums and Suburbs" DR..
Conant asserts that at is diff
cult if not impossible to get
statistics about school enroll
ment and employment in terms
of the categories white and
Negro"
How can we improve a sit
uation, if we are deprived by
Technology from knowing
what the situation really isl"
he asks.
A Delaware educator, DIR.
John ParreS, also defends the
keeping of racial records in
school data. DR.. Parres is
director of research and pub
locations for the Delaware
Department of Public InStruc-
ton. He does not believe that
keeping such records is in itself
discriminatory. His division
does not make public the racial
information that il collects
He has provided data to the
federal courts and the United
States Commission on Civil
Rights.
II Is important" DIR. ParreS
says, ito chart the progress of
school desegregation for some
future historian" While l do
not see any end at this time,
the time may come when such
data no longer have any sig
nlficdnCe.'
In the District Of Columbia,
an annual racial count is made
of pupils and teachers and
published, despite pressure 10
halt the practice. Wesley s.
Williams, a Negro member of
the district school board, urged
early in 1860 that racial rec
ords be abandoned. He wrote
the District Superintendent of
Schools, DR.. Carl F. Hansen,
that representative groups in
the community have been
growing FESTIVE because of the
continued racial census" He
asked if such records served
any useful purpose.
DR.. Hansen replied that
without Official recording,
estimates and guesswork will
be substituted. The flood of
rumorS and counterrumorS,
mostly negative in nature, and
the persistent probing for facts
on this issue will, l believe, be
harmful to the stability of the
school organization"
Equal Protection
As a result of its investiga-
tions, the Civil Rights Com
mission has recommended that
the United States Office of
Education, in cooperation with
the Bureau of the Census, con-
duct an annual school census to
show "the number and race of
all students enrolled in all
public educational institutions
in the United States" II
The commission says that "a
comprehensive nationwide
study of equal protection of the
laws in public education re-
quires complete and accurate
factual information as to the
schools attended by all major
ethnic groups, including, for
example, Puerto Ricans and
Observation-Disclosures, as we'll as
racial groups, such as Negroes
and Orientals.
can annual head count in
school districts, colleges, and
universities that would not be
part of the permanent record
of individual students would
provide the data needed for
evaluation of equal protection
in educational institutions
,,,;4ho,,t axpoSinc students to