Rights and the Negro Majority

What now remains2014the second purpose of this study2014is an analysisof the civil rights status of the Negro in these 21 counties, and acomparison of that status in the 17 nonvoting counties with that inthe 4 voting counties. The Commission's studies permit specificcomparisons to be made in the fields of education, public library facilities, housing, administration of justice, employment, public accommodations, and military establishments. Some of the material gatheredis of a general, descriptive sort not specifically dealing with civil rights;but in each of these areas discriminatory governmental action was theprincipal focus of concern. These comparisons, it is hoped, will shedsome light on the extent to which the free exercise of the right to vote,or its lack, is reflected in the enjoyment of other rights.

EDUCATION

In the School Segregation Cases, 1 the Supreme Court ruled that compulsorily segregated schools are inherently unequal. By this standardno Negro in the 21 black belt counties has equal educational opportunity, for all schools are still firmly segregated. But Negroes suffer"tangible" as well as "intangible" inequality. The Commission's studydid not cover two vital criteria for assessing the quality of schools2014curriculum and teacher competence2014but a comparison of pupil-teacherratios, condition of physical plant, and quality of library and laboratoryfacilities shows that most Negro schools in the black belt counties studied are markedly inferior to their white counterparts. The disparityin median levels of educational achievement for the two races in thesecounties in 1950, discussed in chapter 2, 2 was perhaps in some degree areflection of such inequalities in educational facilities.

Nonvoting counties

There are, from the latest available information, i- or 2-teacher schoolsin at least 8 of the 17 nonvoting counties2014the great bulk of them for

Negro children. In 4 of the Mississippi counties studied, for example,there were 68 Negro elementary schools, 41 of them i- or 2-teacherschools as of i958~59. 3 Only 2 of the 15 white elementary schoolsin these counties were of this kind. In Quitman County, Miss., 13of the 20 Negro elementary schools were i- or 2-teacher schools in1958-59; neither of the 2 white schools was in this category. A 1955study of Quitman schools noted: 4

Most of the schools for Negroes in Quitman County are located

in churches. In these churches one or more teachers conduct classesin all grades from i through 8, as needed. .. . In only Lambert . . . and in Marks . . . are there enough teachers so thata teacher may have only one grade to teach. Obviously, the Negroschools in the county school system need reorganizing so as to provide larger attendance centers. . . . These [private] buildings,usually churches, are poorly adapted to instructional purposes, donot lend themselves to the type of curriculum which is consideredsatisfactory in a modern educational program.

Later in the report, it was noted that "Quitman County's need for building is mainly for the Negro schools." G

Nor is the one- or two-teacher Negro school limited to Mississippi.

In Greene County, Ala., 9 of 12 Negro grade schools are of this variety;there is only i white elementary school and it is not a i- or 2-teacherinstitution. 6 In Fayette County, Tenn., there are twenty-one i-teacherschools for Negroes, and twenty 2-teacher Negro schools (out of 56);8 of the 14 white schools are in this category. 7 In McCormick, S.C.,however, none of the three Negro elementary schools is in the one- ortwo-teacher class, whereas one of three white schools is. In Williamsburg, two of four Negro, and two of three white, elementary schools haveonly one or two teachers. 8

Another gage for measuring the quality of educational institutions is

the ratio of teacher to students. For all schools in the 17 counties,elementary and secondary, for which figures could be obtained, theratio of teacher to pupils was less favorable for Negroes than for whites. 9

For example, in Quitman, Miss., the ratio is i teacher per 23 students

against i teacher per 30 Negro students (the Negro figure includedmany small i- or 2-teacher schools.) In Claiborne, La., it is i: 19 forwhites, i : 26 for Negroes; in Hertford, N.C., it is i : 29 for whites,and i: 35 for Negroes.

Both the States and regional bodies such as the Southern Associationof Secondary Schools and Colleges 10 and the North Central Associationof Colleges and Secondary Schools, have established criteria for measuring school quality. Approval by such bodies is predicated upon a school

having met certain minimum requirements. A comparison of the numbers of Negro and white schools receiving such approval should shed lighton their comparative quality. 11

There are 42 Negro secondary schools throughout the 17 counties;

of these, i has met regional association standards. On the other hand,22 of the 49 white high schools have been approved by one or anotherregional association. Thirteen of the Negro schools, in fact, do noteven meet the minimum requirements for State approval. In contrast,only two white high schools lack State accreditation.

There are 16 white and 16 Negro high schools in Mississippi countiesstudied. 12 All 16 white schools are State approved, and 7 of tnem haveattained regional association standards. Not one of the Negro schoolshas reached the latter level; six of them have not been approved by theState. 13 Similarly, Greene County, Ala., has one white high school,three for Negroes. The white school has been approved by both theState and a regional association. None of the Negro schools is regionally approved; two do not even meet State standards. 14 ClaiborneParish, La., is perhaps an extreme example. None of the five Negroschools meet regional standards; all of its six white schools do. 15

Advances have nonetheless been made in Negro education in many

of the 17 counties2014most strikingly in new school construction, whichhas mushroomed since the Supreme Court's decision in the School Segregation Cases, (Some white informants frankly admitted that thenew schools were designed to avoid school desegregation.) Some ofthe new Negro schools are said to have better physical plants than thewhite schools in the same area.

New Negro schools have appeared in all three South Carolinacounties 16 and five of the six Mississippi counties 17 (the other has noNegro secondary schools) , 18 One has also been built in Lee, Ga.; 19 another in Tensas, La.; and another in Monroe, Ala. Improvementshave been made in existing structures in Gadsden, Fla., Hertford, N.C.,and Claiborne, La. In 14 counties, in short, at least some of the Negroschools are new or have been recently improved.

In four counties, two of which have some new facilities, Negro schoolswere reported to be generally inferior. 20 One of these is Fayette County,Term., where Commission investigators found that Negro school buildings were generally older than those for whites, and that many aredilapidated, located on unpaved roads, and overcrowded. Recreationfacilities are scarce, sometimes nonexistent. Laboratories are inadequate.Libraries have few books and even these are often outdated. Heat isprovided unevenly by coal and wood-burning stoves, and in some schoolsthere are no sanitary facilities other than outdoor toilets.

Even where new schools have been built, they often lack adequatefacilities. In 6 of the 11 counties where there are new Negro schools,

'73

they lack adequate library, recreation, or laboratory facilities. 21 Booksavailable to Negro students compared favorably with those for whitesin only 4 of the 17 counties; 22 and only 3 have comparable laboratoryequipment. 28

Schoolbuses for white and Negro students in the 17 counties were by

and large on a par. The complaint was frequently made, however, thatNegro buses were more crowded. In Quitman, Miss., for example, 37buses transport 2,700 Negro pupils; 36 buses carry 1,400 whitestudents. 24

The Commission was unable to gather sufficient information for a

county-by-county comparison of the curriculum in Negro and whiteschools, 25 but the report for Quitman, Miss., mentioned above, notedthat "The types of curriculum which exist in the white schools of thecounty and of the separate district are much more intelligently plannedand more intelligently taught than those in the Negro schools." 26 And in

speaking of all schools, the report said: 27

It is especially noticed that there are some areas missing from all

of the high schools. One might call attention here to the fact thatno modern foreign language is offered in any high school; thatart does not exist in the curriculum of any school; that an industrial arts program is also lacking. Vocational instruction is limitedalmost entirely to commerce and agriculture.

As of 1960, Quitman schools still did not offer courses in modern foreignlanguage, art, or industrial arts. 28 Speaking of Negro schools: 29

It may be expected that when the program and the curriculum of

the schools are designed for meeting the needs of the boys and girls,the holding power of the schools will be strengthened, and the community will receive the advantages that come from an educatedpeople.

At least as important as curriculum is the teacher. The Commissioncould undertake no specific inquiry into the comparative qualifications ofwhite and...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT