PART III THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
CHAPTER 6
COLLEGE EXPERIENCES: BLACKS CHALLENGE DISCRIMINATION
Young impatient, restless, energetic and eager troops assemble, old troops sit, weary but still misinformed, they carry messages of mercenary charm to young and old.
By the time Ralph and Catherine had gotten settled at Lane College the south was a land of protest.They had graduated in the Howard High School class of 1956. They met soon after they both arrived on campus. There was a transition from the 1950’s to the 1960’s. This transition reflected the mounting growth of the civil rights movement. Lane College is located in Jackson, Tennessee. Jackson Tennessee is about 250 miles west of Chattanooga and Jackson is about 50 miles east of Memphis, Tennessee. Lane College is a Christiam Methodist Episcopal college. In the Methodist Church the Christian Methodist Episcopal denomination is known as C.M.E. This was a fun year for Ralph and Catherine. Catherine recalls that this was one of the happiest periods in her life. She got involved in various campus organizations and enjoyed college and the challenge of academics to the utmost. The social atmosphere at Lane was cordial. For example in Chattanooga at Howard School Catherine recalled that there were many cliques. Therefore if your parents were not of a certain social status or if they did not have a so-called professional job you were not allowed or welcomed in certain social circles. Ralph did not love Lane College like Catherine. He was busy playing basketball, but he loved his travel experiences with the team. As an athlete Ralph had a super appettite, but like so many other young men in college the cafeteria food was not up too par. This was a constant source of displeasure for Ralph and Catherine remembers this very clearly. Ruby Iverson was a close friend whose father was a C.M.E. minister in New York. Catherine had been raised up in a C.M.E. Chruch. Phillips Temple C.M.E. Church was located on Grove Street when Catherine lived in College Hill Courts. This remained her home church for many years until she changed her membership to her husband’s church Orchard Knob Baptist. At Lane Catherine achieved academically and spiritually. Her strong religious belilefs became a strong element that kept her family intact and gave her the strenght to support her husband at all times. She enjoyed the fact that while at Lane she could walk to church every sunday. She enjoyed teaching sunday school and relished that she did not have to ride the bus to church like she had to do in Chattanooga. Ralph and Catherine were dating so they readily had mutual friends. Dorthy Anderson was Catherine’s room mate. Dorthy married a young man from Chattanooga named Melvin Brooks. They remained close friends over the years and visited Ralph and Catherine when they lived in Little Rock. The years 1954 and 1955 caused a significant impact on civil rights. The year 1954 the world witnessed the U.S. Supreme Court outlawing segregated schools. The following year (December 1, 1955) the Montgomery bus boycott also launched what some social thinkers called the beginning of the civil rights movement. Five years later the battle for desegregated schools was still raging because white America attempted to defy the law of the land. Also, by 1960 the challenge to segregation extended to all fronts. The battle over desegregating the schools was waged by the NAACP. This struggle took place in the courts. Chattanooga was typical of most southern cities as the city fathers attempted to defy the constitution, and the Supreme Court by manipulaing the law. Four years after the Supreme Court ruling Chattanooga segregationist were saying, along with the Board of Education, that the community is not ready for integration. Mixing of Blacks and whites in the same school was thought to be a clear road to violence. It is for sure that the term mixing was a clear way that white people sought to keep the race question in perspective. Most white people expressed a displeasure with the mixing of the races. This displeasure resulted from their fear that they would lose their racial purity. Therefore, the ultimate mixing of Blacks and whites meant the mating of males and females. On the other hand the Black integrationist was favorable toward the mixing of the races. Thus, the integrationist felt that his children would learn more seated next to white children in the classroom. For the most part the Black integrationist was favorable toward interracial copulation because, too many Blacks, mulatto children were more attractive. So in 1958 the Board’s program was: “1. To elucidate, or to make clear, to the citizens all aspects of the problem. 2. To assess, or evaluate, public opinon in an effort to determine when an integration program would be acceptable. 3. To develop a plan for integration.” 1 By 1960 Black parents, led by NAACP president James Mapp, were threatening to file suit in federal court over the Board’s failure to desegregate the schools in Chattanooga. Meanwhile Black parents and Black children were threatened with lynchings, bombings and being run out of town. Because of over crowded school conditions, Black parents attempted to enroll four Black pupils at Glenwood School. “The school population in 1960 was 15,740 white pupils and 10,369 Negroes, Negroes made up 39.7%. ” 2 By April three Black parents sued to order the city of Chattanooga to desegregate the school system. The suit was filed on behalf of all children and parents in Chattanooga affected by segregated schools. R. H. Craig, a local attorney, filed the suit. The NAACP’s legal team of Thurgood Marshall and Constance Baker Motley of New York were also involved along with Avon Williams and Z. Alexander Looby of Nashville. “The suit sought the following relief: 1. A decree enjoining the city “from operating a compulsory biracial school system in Chattanooga.” 2. A decree enjoining the city from “continuing to maintain a dual scheme or pattern of school zone lines based upon race and color.” 3. A decree enjoining the city from “Assigning pupils to the schools . . . on the basis of the race and color of the pupils.” 4. A decree enjoining the city “from assigning teachers, principals and other school personnel to the schools based on race and color. 5. A decree enjoining the city from “approving budgets, making available funds approving employment and construction contracts and approving policies, curricula and programs that are designed to perpetuate or maintain or support a school system operating on a racially segregated basis. ” 3 Also, involved in the language of the lawsuit was an alternate plank. This plan sought to re-organize the entire school system. The measures of this plan noted the following: “1. The city operates a primary system of schools for whites. 2. The city operates a secondary school system for colored or Negro children. 3. There are also two distinct school zone lines based on race and color. These lines overlap where Negro and white children reside in the same residential area. 4. It was also charged that the system is predicated on the theory that Negroes are inherently inferior to white persons and consequently, may not attend the same public schools attended by white children who are superior. 5. There was also the theory that Black teachers and administrators were also inferior to whites and may not teach white children.” 4 No doubt that ever since Blacks were first brought to America as slaves the European has had a superior attitude. So, for white parents to take this position as late as 1960 is not surprising. But ironically Black integrationist also would soon take this position to justify desegregation. Thus, inferior Black schools produced inferior Black students. Therefore Black children suffered discrimination when not allowed to remove their inferiority by attending white schools. So as the Black integrationist philosophy took root the battle over school desegregation continued. The Board of Education had been preparing for a lawsuit since the court decree handed down in 1954. By now most of the school zones in Chattanooga had Black and white children. Thus the argument of strictly segregated housing patterns as a cause for all white schools was not a valid argument. The following is a history of the actions of the school Board on the Supreme Court ruling: “1. 22 July 1955 Board issues statement declaring that in time it would comply with the decision. 2. The Board proposed an advisory committee. 3. 9 September 1955 the original School Board statement was opposed. 4. 12 October 1955 Board stated that court had placed situation in our hands as long as we act in good faith. 5. 9 November 1955 the Advisory Committee was appointed, 23 white persons and 12 Negroes. The first meeting attended by 150 person’s mostly segregationists, was broken up before any business could be conducted. The segregationist totally disrupted the meeting by releasing tear gas and shouting down the speakers. 6. 31 March 1956 Board issued statement saying integration could not be accomplished for at least five more years.” 5
DO POOR BLACK INDEPENDENT CHRISTIAN WRITER’S HAVE A RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH AND EQUAL ACESS TO THE PUBLISHING MARKETING PLACE?
ARE WE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST BASED ON RELIGION ARE RACE?
Let it be written that many Black writers have come speaking of many things that are seen in radicalism and controversy. However many in the world support their right to the market place and constitutional guarantees regarding the 1st Amendment. Meanwhile those that come as REAL CHRISTIANS like the writer’s of Psyche Z Publishing/FreedomJournal are Censored by a vast assortment of people some as unbelievers and many as so-called Christians. These people also come from the left and the right. However we stand neither left nor right as Jesus Christ encompasses all.
Peace be unto you, Our prayers are for the few righteous and will forever be for the enemies of God Carl A. Patton a willing servant of God March 19, 2007 in the days and times of our Lord Jesus Christ.
PLEASE SEE OUR NEW WEB PAGES AT: www.psychezpublishing.com (Look for on-going improvements and additions to our Pages. Especially look for a Page that will note our on-going and recent Censorship incidents).
My dearly beloved Brethren,
Peace be unto you. Noah came crying and pleading that the world and its people were consumed with sin. However none sought repentance and looked upon Noah a man of righteousness as crazy.
We bear witness just as Noah came the FreedomJournal also comes crying, writing and teaching that the world is on a constant downward spiral as the multitudes embrace sin and death. Meanwhile Christ Jesus and the Father are forsaken and denied. Repentance is something the ungodly believe can be bought with a money price. Sadly the water will not be able to extinguish the coming Fire. www.psychezpublishing.com
About the Author
WHEN YOU KNOW GOD POVERTY (RICH) IS WEALTH
We are thankful today as we bear witness that the Truth of God is greater than all the money in the world. Let it be written that we do not come to glorify poverty and the lack of resources. However we come with a message of Truth that is a cooling drink to the thirsty who have the right to the Spring of life.
