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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
Object Description
Title | 'Separate and Equal Public Education is in the Interest...' |
Date | 1951-06-17 |
Creator | Graham, Edward Kidder, Jr. |
Biographical/historical note | Benjamin Lee Smith was born February 6, 1893 in, Caldwell County, N.C. He received his A.B. from Duke University in 1916, and his M.A. from Duke in 1937. He served as superintendent of schools in the western North Carolina cities of Forest City, Rutherford-Spindale, and Shelby before assuming the same position in Greensboro, N.C., in 1935. His twenty-three year tenure in Greensboro included the years immediately following the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision ordering desegregation of public schools. In 1959, he participated in the National Civil Rights hearing on school integration. Smith died in 1961. Ben L. Smith High School in Greensboro is named for him. |
Subject headings | Segregation in education--United States;Race relations |
Topics | School desegregation, 1954-1958 |
Place | Greensboro (N.C.) |
Description |
This clipping from the June 17, 1951 issue of the Greensboro Daily News is a transcript of a speech given by Edward Kidder Graham Jr. on the issue of segregation in schools. Graham was Chancellor of the University of North Carolina Woman's College at the time he gave the speech to the North Carolina Congress of Parents and Teachers in Winston-Salem Graham begins his speech by discussing North Carolina's traditions, including courage, independence, idealism, progressiveness, practicality, and religious faith. He goes on to state that North Carolina is in a period of controversy over school segregation, and that citizens must accept both sides of the argument. He cites instances where the North Carolina Public School System has provided separate but equal educational facilities for blacks, and argues that the issue of segregation is focused on the separate status, not equality. His proposals for action in segregation include: meeting the issue head on; avoid emotional involvement in arguing the issue; concede dignity to those with differing opinions; improve schools for both blacks and whites; establish effective communication between all parties; and measure successes and failures through religious faith. |
Type | text |
Original format | clippings |
Original dimensions | 16" x 22" |
Original publisher | Greensboro, N.C. : Greensboro Daily News |
Language | en |
Contributing institution | Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University |
Source collection | RL.01210 Benjamin Lee Smith Papers |
Finding aid link | http://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/findingaids/smithbenjaminlee/ |
Rights statement | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/ |
Additional rights information | COPYRIGHT NOT EVALUATED. The copyright status of this item has not been fully evaluated and may vary for different parts of the item. The user is responsible for determining actual copyright status for any reuse of the material. |
Object ID | Duke_RL.01210.0971 |
Digital publisher | The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5305 -- http://library.uncg.edu/ |
Sponsor | LSTA grant administered by the North Carolina State Library -- http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/ld/grants/lsta.html |
OCLC number | 884367494 |
Page/Item Description
Title | 4.1.971-01 |
Full text | 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 |