Desegregating The U.S. Schools

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32301, 20 May 1970, Page 16

Desegregating The U.S. Schools

Claude Kirk of Florida must rate as one of the most extraordinary governors in the United States. In ability to capture newspaper headlines he surpasses all the others; his flamboyance and his skill m diverting attention from the inadequacies of his administration have been outstanding. His election as a Republican governor in a Democratic stronghold in 1966, virtually without a shred of policy, is a warning against dismissing as fanciful his declared ambition to become President, or at least VicePresident, of the United States. One of Governor Kirk’s vaguely expressed election planks was to “ make Florida first in education The only notable achievement in education during the early part of his governorship was the country’s first state-wide teachers’ strike, during which half the teachers in Florida’s public schools walked out of their classrooms in protest at the state’s handling of education. Governor Kirk’s latest headline-making exercise has been over the Federal court order on the desegregation of schools in Manatee County.

Like other Southern governors before him, Mr Kirk has attempted to stop desegregation in the schools. Unlike the other governors, Mr Kirk has insisted that he is not opposed to racial integration but only to moving children by bus to secure a better racial balance in the schools. Under threat of a huge fine for flouting the Federal District Court, Mr Kirk has allowed the county education officials to carry out the court’s order. But the practical consequences of the order are to be examined by the Federal Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, which is something of a victory for Governor Kirk.

The trouble in Manatee County is the first notable event of its kind since President Nixon, at the end of March, issued an 8000-word statement designed to clarify his Administration’s views on school desegregation. The “ clarification ” seems to have left most people more confused than ever. The general conclusion is that the President’s statement of policy eases official pressure against segregated education. In effect, President Nixon has said that school segregation is undesirable, but not illegal unless it is officially fostered, and that the Administration will compel integration only when courts have ruled that it must do so. The Federal Government will supply money and advice to communities that choose integration. The President apparently holds that once the requirements of the courts have been met no further effort should be made by local or Federal authorities to disturb communities. All this confirms Mr Nixon’s campaign promises that he would not use Federal power to hasten integration except within the requirements of the law.

This is a serious disappointment to advocates of integration, who had hoped for more positive action by the Federal Administration. They must now lookto the courts, which have given them cause for encouragement lately in some unexpectedly “ tough ” rulings against segregation. The Manatee County decision appears to be one of these. Governor Kirk might still hope to have it reversed, perhaps with the assistance of evidence assembled by the Department of Education. The worst fears of those who are dismayed by President Nixon’s cautious approach to integration would then be confirmed.