'Separate and Equal Public Education is in the Interest...'

              FEATURE SECTION—12 PAGES
SUNDAY, JUNE 17, 1951
GREENSBORO DAILY NEWS
EDITORIAL, CHURCH NEWS,
BOOKS AND AMUSEMENTS
'Separate And Equal Public Education Is In The Interest...'
■'   ■:.   ..... .     .    v.
GRAHAM
" . . .We cannot afford bitterness
and recrimination"
Chancellor Graham's Talk
On Segregation Program
(Editor's Note: Because of the widespread interest in the question
of segregation in North Carolina schools, the Daily News today is
printing the text of an address by Chancellor E. K. Graham of
Woman's College. The address was delivered at a North Carolina
Congress of Parents and Teachers in Winston-Salem in April. Since
it was such a scholarly discussion of the problem, the Daily News
felt the general public should have a chance to read the address at
this time.) 	
BY E. K.  GRAHAM
If, in the course of niy remarks this evening, I touch;
on any point which is not controversial, it wil-1 happen by
sheer accident.
North Carolina' and the Southern
Tradition in, 1951, however controversial, has something to commend
it as a topic. At least it deals with
the here-and-now. We have a
Southern Tradition: We must have
one because we talk so much about
it. North Carolina is a part of the
South, and our traditions are a part
of the Southern Tradition, the part
that most concerns us. And it is
1951, although as we look around
us we may be tempted to wish that
it were not—that.it were 1851, say,
before our present troubles were
upon us, or 2051, when we should
no longer be around to worry about
There are many things about the
South that we might wish were different, but wishing that the South
were different does us no more
good than wishing .that the times
were different. What we must decide is not what we are going to do
with the South that we wish we
had. What we must decide is what
we are going to do with the South
I am going to talk tonight as a
Southerner and as a North Carolinian, who has come back within
the past few months  to the  State
tat he loves above any other in
the world.   I am going to talk
of North Carolina as inseparable. I
.. - going to talk also as a teacher.,
who, like you, is privileged to share
in the exciting responsibility that
upon our schools and our colleges in these good old days of 1951.
going to direct my remarks
primarily to the way in which the
Southern Tradition bears upon our
public schools and colleges in North
Carolina.
Defines Word "Tradition'
Since tradition means £0 many
different things to so many different people, I ought in all fairness
offer a definition of the term
as I propose to use it. Burke has
definition of the state which might
well  be  paraphrased for the pur-
"The State," he said, "is a partnership not only between those living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those
who are td be born." A tradition
is fundamentally much the same—a
partnership of ideas, customs,
values which we share not only
with our contemporaries, but also
with those who have gone  before
and with our children and
childrens' children.
Tradition is important, especially
where it is the tradition of a region.
For the regions make up the
tion. The national tradition ii
more than the sum of the tradition
the regions. The strength of the
regions is the strength of the nationv
And the national interest "
than the sum of the interests of the
regions, and the interests of all
the people who inhabit them.
Tradition is a dynamic thing,
timeless quality of our character,
living from generation to generation, and carrying with it the element of regional strength. It is not
static.    Once  it becomes   static,
) longer
becomes dead, and ii
tradition.
Dynamic Elements Of Tradition I
Perhaps there are many elements
i the Southern Tradition in NortJ
Carolina. Here are those whicl
tne the most dynamic, an<
hence the most important for our
time and for times yet to con
FirsJ; of all is the element of
;e. We have a heritage of
;e as a people. The Regulators,
the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, the proud record of the
North Carolina regiments in the
War Between the States, the patience and the bravery of our people during the black days of Military District No. 10, the way that
traveled the long road
back from Reconstruction and the
carpetbaggers—all of these
many more attest our tradition of
courage. It goes back to the time
that the first white settlement
made on Roanoke Island in
State, and, the first North Carolinians from England faced with
courage the most terrifying experi-
of all—the terror of uncertainty as to the outcome of the venture on which their lives depended.
State Is Independent
Second is the element of independence. North Carolina has its
share of what Carl Becker ha
called "the American be-damned-tc
you spirit." Years ago it found ii
way into our folk speech—"root hog
die poor," "rich
poor man's fight," "first at Bethel,
furthest at Gettysburg, last at Appomattox," and many another. First
in the entire country to establish
State University, first of the "Southern states to abolish the poll tax
a qualification for voting, we hav«
been   independent   of   other  states
south or north in working out our
destiny.    The following habit
of the sheep has not been a part
more than one occasion i
have played the role of the ram th
leads the flock—and it seems quite
order to point out here the happy
accident that the mascot of the capstone of our public school system,
State University, is a handsome,
self-sufficient, and highly indepi
Another   element   strong
tradition is idealism.   We pay a lot
of attention to the dreams of th<
fathers.    The  dream  of  Governor
Morehead for the care of the
tally  afflicted  may  not  have  yet
reached its full flower, but it
spirit of the dream that has brought
into being our  accomplishments
medical   care   and   social   service.
There  are  the  dreams  of Aycock,
Mclver, Alderman, J. Y.- Joyner, Jo-
sephus Daniels, Walter Hines Page,
Brooks, and many others
education; the dreams of men 1:
Bassett, Judge Walter Clark, Kilgo,
and more recently, O. Max Gardner,
for the freedom of thought and the
right to express freely those effervescent  opinions .that crop up
signs   of   a   healthy   state   of   soul
among independent people.
North Carolina Progressive
Then there is the element of progress. From the time that Governor
Morehead and Calvin Graves
the fight for the North Carolina
Railroad, down to the present time,
we have committed ourselves to
progress in communications and
transportation. Our high dams at
Aquone, Fontana, Glenville, Hi-
wassee in the west; Badin, High
Rock, Hydro, Blewett Falls, and
Mountain Island in the Piedmont;
and Bridgewater, Rhodiss,
tawba attest the fact that our potential of electric power is being developed and that we are using
We are pressing forward our farm
and home programs and our extension services reaching into every
corner of the State, our schools and
our colleges, our manufactures and
our marketing, our building and
urban development programs. Good
roads bring to our magnificent
recreation areas and parks both our
own people and visitors from all
parts of the country. We accept as
a natural responsibility the cultivation of the mighty resources of our
State in order that all who live
here may share in the good life.
State Is Practical
We also have a tradition of being
practical—practical in the sense that
avoid sentimentality and emotionalism as guides for action, and
that logic and our sense
of values are brought to bear in our
ultimate decisions. In the days preceding "the irrepressible conflict,"
recognizing that the future of North
Carolina was bound up with the future of the Union, we refused to let
ourselves be stampeded by the
tional outbursts of the Fire-Eaters,
and resisted secession until we were
confronted with the practical necessity of making common cause with
the other Southern states. Throughout our history, we have been a
practical people.
Finally, there is the tradition of
i::B&&0M&:
GARDNER
. . . Even alarmists could understand
faith: Faith in our God, in our
sense of values, in our future, and
in ourselves. This element in our
tradition permeates the lives of the
great men of our past. It circumscribes and gives substance and
focus to all of the other elements in
our tradition.
In Robust Good Health
Coming back home again to North
Carolina after 16 years in the comparative outer darkness, I get the
impression that our tradition is in
robust good health.   At first glance,
of course, there  is  an impression
that   we   are   unusually  disturbed
social issues and more contentious than is our custom.   None of
this is' surprising.    Our  history
full of fractiousness.   My own people in the Cape Fear Valley were
involved during the Revolution
sharp differences involving loyalty
the King and loyalty to the cause
independence. The history of Reconstruction in this State is the history   of  contentions   among North
Carolinians  of   different  points   of
view, as well as the history of
tentions  among   North   Carolinians
of different races.   Most of
member  the fight  over  the  Poole
Bill, which followed in the wake of
the Scopes trial in Tennessee. Then
from   time to   time,   som<
discovered   that   our   colleges   had
Karl  Marx  in their libraries,  and
in the resultant uproar students discovered for the first time that Karl
Marx was in the libraries, and also,
to their great disappointment, that
he was one of the dullest authors of
all time.   An occasional speaker
labor leader would upset some
us momentarily, but our general:
action has usually been that there
is plenty of room in this state for
divergency of ideas.   While he
Governor, O. Max Gardner pointed
this out to alarmists so bluntly that
even alarmists could understand.
In Period Of Controversy
We are going through one of o>
periods of controversy right noi
The political tempo of the times
generally, and particularly
own State, is on the wild and stormy
side. Controversy is simply a part
of the history of any people who,
by their tradition, are courageous
and independent. That the controversy in our time centers in the
question of North Carolinians of all
races living amicably together hardly justifies the extreme anxieties
that it seems to have produced in
some quarters. At least, it should
not produce these anxieties if
approach the problem realistically
and with a firm determination not
to waste an undue amount oi
adrenalin in working toward its
solution.
.To approach the problem realistically, we have to take a look at
certain obstinate facts. First of all,
we may accept, without becoming
excited about it, that differences in
point of view are always, sharp in
times of crisis, and nowhere sharper
than in the area of social and eco-
nic thinking. On the whole, the
troversies resolve themselves
into a line-up on the one hand of
those who think that their interests
lie in resisting change, and those
who think that their interests lie
seeing that change comes about,
respect to education, those who
think that their interests would best
be served by effecting a change
the established pattern of education
in the South have carried their desire for a change into the courts in
a series of suits involving both our
public schools and our institutions
of higher learning.
While a variety of motives have
been ascribed to the plaintiffs, and
to the people allegedly behind the
plaintiffs, and to the people who
are responding to the suits, I do
not believe that this business of
ascribing ulterior motive gets
anywhere. I should assume that the
Negro as parent, or as student,
looking at the situation as he finds
it, simply thinks that his interests
would best be served by effecting
change. The respondents, charged
with administering our institutions
within the established policies and
procedures of the State on behalf of
their school boards, or their trustees, and on behalf of the people of
North Carolina, simply believe that
they are carrying forward their
duties in resisting the change de-
s important to understand what
our policies and procedures are in
respect to the education of Negroes
within the North Carolina tradition.
Here is Governor Aycock's interpretation written in 1901, which we
have attempted to follow to the utmost of our
e are in this State In the
midst of an educational revival. We
favor universal education and
tend to accomplish it. If our friends
in the North, earnest men and women, choose to aid us in  our work
shall receive their aid with gratitude.    If they withhold  assistance
shall nevertheless do the work
which lies before us. We need help,
an do the work unaided,
and will rather than humiliate
selves. ... As to the Negro, we shall
full duty to him. We ar<
willing to receive aid for his education, but without aid we shall in the
long run teach him. He is with
to stay.    His destiny and ours i
interwoven that we cannot lift
ourselves up without at the
time lifting him. What we want of
the Northern people of right thought
and upright intention, more than all
their money, is a frank recognition
of this undeniable fact, and
do the rest."
And listen to J. Y. Joyner In his
first biennial report as superintendent of/ public instruction under
Governor Aycock: "The obligation
of the State for the education of
the child is the same, whether the
child be wrapped in a white skin
Achieving Aim Of Equality
The State has moved in good cc
science toward achieving this  aim
of equality.   This has been done in
equalizing the length of the school
term, the teacher-pupil allotment
elementary   and  high   schools,   t
course of study  from  grades  1-12,
the   regulations   for   accreditation,
the program of training and certification of teachers,  the  salaries  of
teachers   and   principals,   and   the
evaluation   of   high   schools.     The
number of one-teacher schools for
Negroes was reduced between 1914
and 1948 from 1,934 to 511, the
ber of schools employing more than
four  teachers  in  the  same  period
has become 446.   One thousand and
fifty-two  busses  transported  60,00(
Negro children in 1948-49.   Accredited   high   schools   have   increased
within the past 30 years from
to  185.    In the past 25  years,
value  of public schools for  N( _
children has increased from $7,000,-
000 to $21,000,000.
In 1942-43 the biennial appropri;
tion for state Negro colleges, for
maintenance, was $621,000. In 1947-
49 it was $1,795,610. Even
portant, there has been a constant
upgrading in standards of professional excellence, in plant and facilities, in libraries and laboratories,
and in expanded courses of study
and staff.
These figures from the Office
Public Instruction, which could be
extended at length, arid which
would undoubtedly be i
pressive for the present biennium,
are offered simply for what
ing they may have on the way that
the State has, attempted to fulfill
the dream of Aycock and Joyner.
We have carried forward our program of public education with a
commitment to the principle that
facilities for the education of whites
and Negroes shall be separate and
equal. That we have not yet
achieved equality in all respects
understandably fails to satisfy some
of our people. The controversy
between those who would place the
emphasis on separation, and those
who hold that there can be no
equality as long as separation exists,
frequently generates more heat than
light, and we may reasonably have
some concern about the possibility
that emotion may take over the
function of intelligence.   This could
JOYNER
. . . Whether white or
black.
. generalities and relied too heav-
AYCOCK
.. . We will do our full duty to the Negro
e  a  real danger,  and  one  which
should cause everybody a lot more
anxiety  than   the  threat  of  either
change or lack of change.
Never in history has there been
a time when it was more important
for   all   Americans   to   achieve   a
firm basis for working together than
right   now.     This   obligation  rests
with    particular'   emphasis    upon
Americans   of  different  ra
cause  it is here  that  elements  of
disunion   are   beginning   to   assert
themselves.   Take, for example, the
recent exchange between Governor
James   F.   Byrnes   and   Dr.   Ralph
Bunche.    This exchange  has  been
hotly argued on the merit of what
Mr. Byrnes said on the one hand,
the merit of what Dr. Bunche
said on the other.    The tragedy
that these things were said at i
I  take   it   that   when   Mr.   Byrnes
stated that the termination of segregation in our public schools
South would close the schools, he
tating  what was, in his personal opinion, a fact.    Dr. Bunche,
characterizing Mr.  Byrnes
"bitter-ender,"   was   stating   what
his personal opinion, a fact.
Without  going  into  the   discretion
of either of these great and devoted
Americans in respect to these particular   utterances,  I  am   sure  we
should all agree that the contribution of Mr. Byrnes and Dr. Bunche
s negative in so far as it brought
any closer to the solution of our
problem.
Oppose Arbitrary Methods
We are committed against arbitrary methods as a device for
changing public opinion, for -\
know that the way people think is
matter for legislation. And
given wide divergence of thought,
cannot reasonably expect acceptance of radical change in social
custom by legislative device. Public education in North Carolina, for
all our people, has prospered with
the consent of the governed, a consent joyfully given within our tradition. But the consent of the governed has preceded the support.
My present judgment happens to
be that the policy of separate and
equal public education is in the
interest of our State and in the
interest of the South, in the interest of our schools and colleges, in
the interest of all our people of all
bur races. I do not propose, however, to let myself get upset because someone else thinks differently. I take it all of us here tonight are agreed on the point that
the more serious the issue, the
greater the necessity for keeping
our emotional balance, our sense of
humor, and our perspective, in good
working order.
As Southerners, as North Carolinians, as parents, and as teachers,
we have a very clear duty imposed
upon us by the partnership of ou
tradition to do all that is withii
our power to make this land of our
a better place to live in for all who
live here. I should like to suggest
an approach which conceivably may
be translated into terms of understanding and agreement, based on
commitment    to     our    traditional
1. Consistent with our tradition
of courage, that we meet head on
problems of living together,
learning together, and working together.
The trustees of the highest level
of our public school system, the
University of North Carolina, have
recently given us a striking example of this realistic approach. If
intend to hold to the Aycock
premise that we shall do our full
duty to the Negro, that we recog-
that his destiny and ours are so
interwoven that we cannot lift ourselves up without at the same time
lifting him, then let us undertake a
scrupulous evaluation of all of our
educational resources for all of our
people. Let us then look toward
translating the spirit of our tradition into practice, and, above all,
let us make sure that we do what
we say that we are doing. This is
clearly our obligation, as pointed
out to us in the position of President Gray and the trustees in the
recently announced policy of providing equality of opportunity on a
competitive basis in respect to graduate and professional education.
Good Will Is Stressed
2. Consistent with our tradition ol
independence, that we rigorously
cultivate equanimity and maturity
in the discussion of racial issues,
that we avoid emotional involvement by the extremists, the Fire-
Eaters of 1951.
Here above all, good will, interest, and understanding on the part
of all North Carolinians is of the
essence. It is doubtful if any people in history—at least any people
short of the Salem witch-hunters—
ever took themselves with such grim
seriousness as do many of those on
both sides of the present controversy. This grim seriousness will
get us nowhere, except to a fine
state of mass anxiety. And anxiety
leads to loss of balance, loss of perspective, loss of a sense of values,
and eventually but surely to loss of
BYRNES AND BUNC
. . . Their contribution was negative