Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-09-08
BIRMINGHAM
Moderotes Hit Return
To Bombs, Violence

Bomb
Continued From Page Al
that Gov. Wallace has beer
trying to provoke the Kennedy
administration into sending
Federal troops into Alabama tt
enforce indignation at the pub
lic-school level, just as he die
last June at the University Of
Alabama, where he stood at the
doorway to bar Negroes until
Federalized National Guards
men were sent in by President
Kennedy.
q. S. Hasn't Hurried
But the administration
hasn't shown any inclination to
hurry in with troops. Rather, it
apparently is waiting to see If
public opinion in Alabama will
force the politically-ambitious
Governor to give in.
Gov. Wallace appears to have
three major courses open to
him 9 he prepares for a
Statewide television appear
ance Sunday.
He can continue to try to
keep schools closed where inte-
grafton is scheduled despite To-
cal opposition.
He could open the schools,
but bar Negroes. In both cases
he would face intervention
from the Federal courts or the
Kennedy administration. He
already has been ordered to ex-
plain his actions in Birmingham
to the Federal court here next
Thursday.
Or he could withdraw from
the battle and explain as
gracefully and convincingly as
possible that there was nothing
further he could do and that it
all was the Federal Govern
ment's fault.
Delayed Opening
The Governor began his lat
est anti-integration maneu-
vering a week ago by persuad-
ing the school board in Hunts
vile, the Redstone rocket city
on the n orthern border, to
postpone opening of schools
from Monday to Friday.
He tried the same thin g
Tuesday at Tuskegee in Ala
bamas Black Belt, but surpris-
ingly, was rebuffe d by local
white officials. So he sent State
police to encircle the school
scheduled to be integrated and
closed it by executive order.
Leaving a small force behind
at TuSkegee, the troopers were
dispatched to Birmingham for
the scheduled opening Wednes-
day of integrated classes. The
troopers stayed in their hotels,
however, as two of five Negroes
sci e dule d to enroll at three
white schools were registered
while white segregationists
pickete6 and clashed with city
police.
That night the bombing of a
Negro attorneys home and the
ensuing rioting by Negroes,
during which a Negro was shot
to death, gave Gov. Wallace an
excuse to persuade the Birm-
ingham school board to order
the three schools closed tempo
rarily to avoid further violence.
Troopers Move On
State troopers moved onto
the school grounds Thursday In
Birmingham. But by that night
most of them were off again, q
force on its way north to Hunts
vile and another group south
to the Gulf city of Mobile,
where integrated clssses were
scheduled yesterday.
In Huntsville, where Federal
employees make up a large pro-
portion Of the citizenry. local
authorities defied the Cover
nor, whereupon Mr.. wallace
closed the schools by an execu-
tive order enforced by troopers.
There were bitter protests from
officials and parents.
In Mobile, two Negroes who
had registered earlier in the
week at a white school didn't
appear for classes and the
troopers weren't used.
For Birmingham, the events
Of the past week were a new
blow to the city's attempts to
create a new image anG raise
itself out of the racial moraSs
in which 1t has been stuck so
long.
Hangs Head in Shame
" was so proud of us" said a
promin en- t real estate man,
Marvin Engel, who was among
the moderates behind the sue
cessful campaign to GUST Birm-
ingham's old die-hard segrega-
tonist government at the polls
recently. Now I have to hang
my head in shame to think
that once again we are having
bombs and violence"
Violence isn't new in Birm-
ingham. The city which has
produced Bull Conner. where
fire hoses and dogs have been
used on Negro marchers, anG
where there have been score OF