As a result of desegregation, discipline cases increase, but nearly always these infringements are committed by the same students who were guilty of improper acts before desegregation. Often the troublemakers use desegregation as an excuse to continue malicious acts at which they have been caught before."

Dr. Omer Carmichael, the Louisville Superintendent, stated that in his desegregated schools there had been somewhat greater difficulty in matters of discipline, due more to the emotional reaction to desegregation than anything else, but that it had been substantially less than he had feared.98

In the Baltimore schools, Dr. John H. Fischer, the Superintendent, has found no problems attributable to race as such.99 In a statement submitted to the Commission, he said:

... no Negro child has ever brought into any of our schools a problem that had not already been presented somewhere by a white child. Nor has any white child been able to claim much originality for his race in inventing new forms of misbehavior. We find that these are a function of the child's total lifesituation and are always due to a number of factors. It is never possible to explain a child's behavior simply in terms of his race, or to classify children's problems on a racial basis.1

Dr. Hansen, Superintendent of the Washington Schools, reports very little increase in difficulties attributable to integration exclusively, and that, in fact, the incidence of severe problem cases appears to be subsiding.

A principal of a desegregated junior high school in Oklahoma City stated that the Negro children did present different problems of discipline but that they were not due to the fact that they were Negroes but to various factors of deprivation. He did not believe that the problems were greater than they had been before the schools were desegregated.

the

Concerning certain other aspects of the desegregation process, Superintendent of Schools in Logan County, Ky., Mr. R. B. Piper, stated:

We

Integration has many problems in day-to-day school life. Rest room problems, cafeteria problems, and playground problems of a minor nature occur. attempt to handle these problems as if only one race were involved, and to settle them firmly and promptly. Integrated transportation has its special problems; seating must be carefully arranged with consideration of age and sex. The overcrowded school bus will cause more trouble than an overcrowded classroom.

The status of desegregation in Kentucky and Maryland in regard to various facilities and functions outside the classroom is shown in the followingle, compiled from Commission questionnaires:

Mr. Piper indicated that in Logan County, Negro participation in school athletics had worked out well. Several schools had refused to play the integrated Logan County teams in 1956, but by 1958 there were no such refusals. The seating of spectators did not cause difficulty. No attempt was made to segregate the races. The experience of this Kentucky community in regard to integrated school athletics is typical of what has occurred in many other desegregated school systems. Actually, the acceptance of the Negro athlete has often been the real "ice-breaker" both for the school and for the community.

A serious administrative problem, about which there is much community concern, relates to school social activities. In Logan County it was felt necessary to curtail these. School trips have continued, but no Negro pupils have elected thus far to go on them.®

On the other hand, most of the big city systems did not curtail social activities. Dr. Ward I. Miller of Wilmington reports that in the junior and senior high schools the Negro students dance and play together on these occasions without mixing with the whites."

Desegregation has resulted in little social loss in the Washington schools. However, because of increased emphasis on the academic program, school authorities have stressed the desirability of curbing social activities that might encroach upon it. Dr. Hansen further stated that the mores of the community discourage dating between white and Negro youth, and that social functions have not led to romantic attachments between the races. There is only one known case in the city in which a biracial marriage occurred between pupils who had attended the same school."

The social situation in the schools of Pinal County, Ariz., were described by Miss Mary C. O'Brien, School Superintendent, at the Commission's Nashville Conference in March, 1959:

Id. at 183.

• Ibid.

"Nashville Conference, p. 75.

8 Statement submitted to Commission by the Superintendent, p. 12. Nashville Conference, p. 59.

517016-59-20

I contacted before I came here all of the principals of our high schools regarding any social problems that might exist in the high schools, and it was the consensus of opinion that they are working out for themselves. The Negroes invite Negro partners to the proms, banquets, and so on, and so far there have been no serious incidents in the county.10

The report of Dr. David M. Green, Superintendent of Schools in Dover, Del., was to the same effect.11

Desegregation has resulted in the curtailment of social and other activities in some desegregated school districts, but normal programs have been maintained in most, with the school personnel being especially vigilant to identify and take action on minor incidents before they can develop into major problems.

A few instances have been reported of Negro boys attempting to dance with white girls and of white girls seeking the attention of Negro boys, but prompt action on the part of school officials or by other students has usually resolved the problem without further difficulty.12 An apparently successful method of avoiding racial incidents in school activities which has often been used at the high school and junior high school level is frank discussion of the problems and implications by school authorities with the students.13

Higher drop-out rate

The rate at which desegregated Negro students discontinue school in junior high school and high school has caused concern. Opinions differ as to the extent to which desegregation may have influenced this. Wey and Corey conclude that the drop-out rate, though always high, tends to increase in a desegregated school, at least for the first two or three years. Inability to do the work and a feeling of inferiority are given as reasons for this increase. Factors that would not seem to be affected by desegregation include the need of being at home to care for younger brothers and sisters, and the need to contribute to the income.14

From San Marcos, Tex., it was reported that although the over-all high school enrollment was increasing, the Negro enrollment had dropped from 56 to 29 since the beginning of desegregation. Inferior academic background and lack of parental interest in keeping the children in school were offered in explanation of the decrease.15 Mr. Piper, the Superintenent in Logan County, Ky., reported that about half of the Negro pupils were dropping out of school between the ninth and the twelfth grades, but that this was also the problem in segregated

10 Id. at 172.

11 Id. at 161.

12 See Wey and Corey, op. cit. supra note 3, at 250, 251.

13 Id. at 248.

14 Id. at 241-42.

15 Id. at 242.

schools. A further source of concern was that the tendency to leave was noted not only among the poorer students but among some of the best.16

In Wilmington, there has been a very great percentage of drop-out among Negro high school students. Attempts are being made to keep them in school by offering diversified occupational courses, including business education and trade and industrial programs, and by developing a system of cooperative employment for students. The number of students retained is increasing."

Resegregation

Yet another administrative problem that is tied closely to the community itself is that of resegregation. The term is used to describe the tendency of a school or school system, after an initial period of desegregation, to become more, rather than less, segregated.

Resegregation is more often found in large city school systems and is, of course, closely connected with population trends and residential patterns. It is difficult to determine whether it represents a reaction to desegregation or whether it is merely an aspect of population shifts in which racial groups, through choice or because of limited mobility, tend to gather in racially segregated neighborhoods.

Most large cities are experiencing a rapid increase in non-white population. At the same time, white families are moving to suburban areas in increasing numbers. The percentage of Negro pupils in the Washington school system jumped from 50.7 percent to 1950 to 74.1 percent in 1958. It is the opinion of Dr. Hansen, the School Superintendent, that the exodus of white families from the city may be partly attributed to desegregation, but the trend started long before the schools were desegregated.18 Other cities have experienced a similar trend.

In October, 1958, Dr. Hansen reported that the enrollment in 106 of Washington's 128 elementary schools was from 80 to 100 percent Negro or white, and that racial balance in enrollment, if it occurs, does not last long.19

This has been the experience in Baltimore and Wilmington.20 Oklahoma City has also seen very rapid changes in the School populations from all-white to all-Negro or predominantly Negro.21

Since the benefits of school desegregation cannot be ensured by a program of pupil desegregation alone, Dr. Hansen suggests that much

10 Id. at 184.

17 Id. at 76.

18 Id. at 56, 57, 62.

19 Id. at 57.

20 Baltimore: Statement by the Superintendent of Schools submitted to the Commission; Wilmington: Nashville Conference, p. 75.

" Id. at 101.

can be gained by setting up intergroup faculties, by establishing and following a common curriculum, and by observing the same cultural and academic standards in all schools whatever their racial composition.22 Whatever the solution may be, it is certain that the tendency of a school system to resegregate after initial desegregation presents manifold problems for the school administrator.

Harassment and intimidation

One of the most tragic aspects of school desegregation has been the vicious and irresponsible attacks directed against school board members, superintendents, and other school personnel. Often they have been directly under court order, subject to contempt proceedings for non-compliance; yet factions of the community have continued to heap abuse upon them. At times they have been left without the support of State or local leadership even without adequate police protection. Caught up in the clash between State and Federal authority, they have been subject to conflicting orders of courts and administrative bodies as well as in legislative and executive directives. Pressures have taken many forms-threatening letters and telephone calls, verbal abuse at meetings and on the street, economic boycott, and even physical attack. Dedicated and experienced school people have been forced to leave their jobs. School board members with many years of non-remunerative service to their community have been forced to resign. Too often the primary goal and duty of education has been lost in the issue of segregation.

It has generally been true that these pressures have been brought to bear most often and with most telling effect in the smaller and more rural communities, where law enforcement facilities may be inadequate for the task of policing a major disturbance. Then too, local police may themselves be reluctant to take action that would identify them with desegregation. In the small community, school officials and school board members are vulnerable to more immediate and direct community pressures.

The former principal of the high school at Clinton in Anderson County, Tenn., stated that the purpose of the intimidation was to "destroy the mental and physical health and stamina of persons in leadership roles." 23 In analyzing the position of school officials, he said, "School people are figuratively caught in the jaws of a vise comprised of legal contradictions, public opinion, and professional welfare." 24

At an official school board meeting in the community of Springer, Okla., six patrons appeared and vigorously protested the desegrega

22 Id. at 57.

23 Wey and Corey, op. cit. supra note 3, at 167.

24 Ibid.