THE STUDENT VOICE VOL. 5 NO. 19 STUDENT VOIC E. INt;. 6 Ra ymond S tree t , N . W. Alla n ia. Georgia 303 14 AUGUST 5, 19f4
FOP BLASTS MISS. DEMO CONVENTION
lic . the Freedom Democratic Party issued a statement calling the convention "the greatest example of hypocritica l polir.tcal expediency in A merican history."
JACKSON, MISS. - In an obvious an empt to s idestep a preconvent ion clash with the national party, Mississippi' s all-white Democratic Party named lUlinst r ucted delega tes to the na t ional convention and took steps [0 place both pledged and un- " By resolving that in Seprempledged e lector s on the ballot ber both pledged and unpledged in November. e lectors will be placed on the
Immediate ly afte r the ccnven- ballot , the Miss issippi party hoption' s dec is ions were m ade pub- es [ 0 te mpt the na tional par ty
..... _____________ ~ with at least the poss ibility of
Ark. Workers Face their supporting the nationa l candidates in November. But this transparent ruse was used io1960 While Harassment and it Is common knowledge that at that time the Mis siSSippi party threw its whole we ight behind
AT NEW YORK MEETING From left to right, Bayard Rustin ; Greenberg of the Lega l Defense Fund, Inc •• Whitney Young. Urban League; James Farmer of CORE : Roy Wilkins of the NAACP; Dr. Martin Luther King . Jr.; J ohn Lewis . SNCC Chairman; A. P hilip Randolph. of "the Negro A me ric an Labor Council; and Cour tla nd Cox . SNCC Program Director.
ISNCC, CORE Refuse Action Moratorium HELENA, ARK. - Voter re-
gis t rat ion worke rs from SNCC the unpledged electors and de- NEW YORK, N. Y. - The Stu- of SNCC to di sc uss s icuations in nounced the na t ional candidates," have faced constant har ass- dent Nonviolent Coordina ting individua l Negro communities in
mellt f.CUllJ police off Ic1als and r--------------i Comm ittee (SNCC) and CORE which we are not work ing." other whites here . have refused to sign a s tatement When asked why SNCC had
Negroes fr iendly with SNCC HOLLY SPR INGS, MISS - Sum- calling for a moratorium on ac- refrained from s igning the anti-workers have been warned not to mer volunteer Wayne Yancey,21, tion protests until after the demonstration state me nt, Lewis house them. and policemen have of Chicago, was killed in a hend- November e lection. T he sta te- sa id "We arc conducting a masencouraged Negroes to run white on automobile collision Aug. 1. ment was signed by NAACP head s ive voter r egistration campaign SNCC staffers out of town. Roy Wllkins. Dr. Martin Luthe r in Southwest Georgia , Centr al Yancey was working in Holly
Bill Hansen, director of the Springs and Marshall County. King, Jr. , Urban League head Alabama, East Arkansas and Arkansas Project, reported the He attended Cooley Vocational WhiOley Young and Negro labor throughout the state of Mississ-fo loowing incidents : High School in Chicago. and had leader ' A. P hilip Randolph. ipp i. In the South and throughout
• a carload of white men A second s tatement. condemn- thi s countr y in communities like finished three years at Mobile threatened SNCC worker Lar- Economy School in Ann Arbor , ing violence and the panic ipa- Harlem, Negr oes must be allow-ry Siegel Mich. tion of " extremists " in the civ il ed [0 protest, for they are very • a policeman told a local He had been ac tive In civil rights movement wa s signed by fru s tra ted. despera te and r est-Negro that whites didn ' t allow r ights in Chicago, and had been NAACP, SCLC. the Urban Lea- less. Ther e is a need for some Negroes in their neighbor- an -e!?ted there sever al times. gue , Randolph and CORE . SNCC sort of crea tive expression." hoods and Negroes shouldn"t Cha irman John Lewis r efused to The state ment was proposed
allow white s In the irs. "'~:'::::::':;----1~S~i~g~n,;" ~S~a~y~in~g~'~' ;.;.~i=s~n~o~t~t!h:e~po~l~ic~y~~C~O~N~T~IN:U~E~D~O~N~P~A~GiE~'~4~':::~ • a judge at a tria l of a white ' FOP spokesmen sa id. man who assaulted a Negr o Some regular Democrats had during an integra tion attempt been expected [0 ask for de le-ordered some Negr oes to ga tes pledged to Republic an can-leave the courtroom. didate Barry Goldwater. • gr oups of white men have The Freedom Democr atic Par-bee n ma king night-time vi s it s ty is planning to challenge the to the home of a l oca l Negr o all-white MiSSiss ippi regulars at who houses SNCC wQ r kers . the convention in Atlantic C ity. Telephone threats have been The FOP has rece ived support rece ived from nine Northe rn s tate dele-• a Negro home was shot into gations, and thi s week. Georgia' s, five times. only Negro Senator, A tcorney Le
Local Negroes ha ve r eported roy J ohnson, announced he would " mostly unsuccessful" attempts support the FOP. J ohnson is to enter all white public places. one of four Negr oes named a even after the passage of the 1964 delegate to the convention from Civil Rights Act. Geor gia .
Operating from a c entral office The FOP 2nd Congressional in Pine Bluff . SNCC worker s Dis trict Convention was he ld this ar e organizing thr oughout the Delta portion of the s ta te. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
... and the search continues TheL~1\ tltifwty (Miss.) not [0 be lieve what they r ead
Messenger has printe<1' ,,~ ... jJ:>otL. Hwti'6illf'i" ii .... .-,.l,e highlight s of ~ea.rel 1It1111G ~unllMM ~~ anJoJ!t~~ltVst continuing for three C iVillJii'~S.1 pe'!ll~ f.! tf..~ na tion ••• lle r e i s workers misstftlWlfNe fr<>ltl OutffttmG, PftIltS"1h County s ince June !l:- • blac k a'rE white . go where they
The Mes senger .says: "The please. when the y plea se, in comsear c h by the Navy for the las t plete safety and withoutdanger." "FreedQm Riders ' i s r idic ulous to the exCreme. It is not a search, jus t an aimless random r ide up and down country roads. Occasionally a few will wa lk 10 or 15 yards off the r oad and kick ove r a leaf and say 'Well, they aren't her e .' ..
They (the sa ilor s) wr ite homefoU~ s in all 50 staces te lling them
"Annoyance on the base has resulted in the wea ring of a new ser vice ribbon, s imila r to those given out for battle participation.
"White bar. bl ack bar, white bar. with 'Miss isSippi Search' underneath. We under s tand even some of the officer s ar e wearing them ."'
PAGE 2 AUGUST 5, 1964
EEDOM SCHO ther s and sIsters of the 110 high school students who walked out of school when four of their number were arr esteu on a s it-in charge at the Greyhound hus sta tion in 1961.
"1 think the Fl'cedom School is inspiring the people to lend a 1t,IJld in the fight, " Fea therstone reports . "The older people ar e looking to the young people, ,mel theil' cOllrage, is rubbing off. The school makes the kiLls fee l they ha ve n' t been forgutten. It makes them fed that at last something is coming down to help them. The y fee l the school is for them:'
" 1 am Mississippi bred, 1 am Mississippi f ed,
The McCoinb school swrted in the backyard of the SNCC Freedom. House a week after it was bombed. For one week, stlldents conducted c lasses in the blistering hea t only yards away from the spot where three explosions ripped away one wu ll . Now they al'e in a church.
I asked for your c hurches , and YOLI turned me down,
But I'll do my work if I have to do it on the ground,
YOli will not speak fur filar of be ing heard,
So YOll crowl in you shell and say, " Do not distrub,"
YOll th ink because you've turned me (lwa y.
You' ve protected yourself Cor another day.
Bue tomorrow surely will come, A nd your enemy will sUll be
there with the r ising sun, He'll be there tomorrow as all
tomorrows in the past, And he 'll follow YOLI into the
future if you le t him pass.
*u from a poem by JOYCE: Brown, 16, Freedom School pupil in McComb, Mississ ippi
This poem was written by a 16-year old Negro girl in McComb Miss. She and approx imate ly 1,825 other Negroes -- children , teen-agers and adults - - ar e attending the 39 F reedom Schools of the Miss iss ippi Sum mer Projec t, sponsored b,)' the Council of Federated Organiza t ions (COFO). a statewide organiza tion of local groups a ided by fie ld secr etar ies of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). CORE. NAA C P. and the Southern Chr istian Leadership Confe r e nce . T hese s tudents -- go ing to " school" in c hurches. private homes, and backyards are teaming Negro hi s tory , civ ics , t\ mcrican history , art s and crafts dl-ama , music , English, arithmetic , algebr3 ::l.lld chemistry
They are being tallght by 250 Negro and white summer volunteers from 40 states in schools which have been se t lip in every Mississippi city or town of cons iderable s ize , as well as in rur<ll counf. ips whe r e Negroes have been shot to dea th for attempting to registel' to vote.
Project coordinators state that the Freedom School program is an unqual ified success. Rev. rhom as Wallman, a coordinator )f religious activities at New York University, and a Freedom School coordinator, terms the project a " completely lUlexpected .,henomenon." Despite the fear Nhich prevails in most Negro communities throughout the state , " several are demand ing that COFO come in and set up school s/' says Wahman.
Ralph Featherstone , a 25-year ~ld Negro speech teacher fr om Washington, D.C., is dir ec tor of the McComb Freedom School. Featherstone expla ins that the open ing of the school was delayed for two we_eks aicer thr ee civil r ights wor kers disappeared in Philadelphia, Miss. and advance scouts prepared the way in the dangerous Sou thwest area of MiSSiss ippi .
But Fea the rstone found the students ready and wa iting. In fact, Feathcr s tone says , "They 'd ;leard about the school and they ~e lt left out because we d idn ' t arrive on t ime."
Now the registration in Mccomb is up to lOS , with a daily a ttendance of 75. Many of the s tudents are the younger bro-
The I lattiesburg Freedom School system (there are five) ha s the highest regis'tration and the most v<lried curr icula in the state. Some 575 yOWlg people and adults attend morning and evening classes in the usual academic subjects, plus music programs, discussion groups , slide exhibitions, and.1n classes. Three of the five school s nre putting out a newspaper , and Mrs. Carolyn Reese, a Negro Detroit school teacher and admi.nistrator of the Haniesburg Freedom Schools, ceport s tha t the other two will begin putting theirs out soon.
To wlderstand what the Freedom School s mean to those attending them , it i s first necessa r y to wlderstand severa l facts about the r egular system of educ ation in Mississ ippi.
The Miss issippi educa tional system is gea red to teac h the Miss issippi Way of Life : Dissent is hel'esy. Ignorance is safer than inquiry. Fear pervades the academic atmosphel'e.
Example : in the spring of 1961 , a number of Negro students in J ackson were expe lled from (Negro) higl1 school because they stooel up in the ir classrooms and inquired pointedly .:tbout the Freedom Rides and their s ignificances.
Example: More them 800 s tudents at Alcorn A&M College (Negro) in Southwest Mississippi were cossed out of school in the .:>~rillg of 1964 by the college pl'e-
nothing bitt
Mississippi slave, ... siden t because they protes ted soc ial conditions on the cam-pus . The preSident enli s ted the aid of the muc h-feared Miss-iss ippi Highwa y Patrol to load the students into busses so that the:! could be sent home wi thout evo;p the oppol'tunity to co llect the ir bel ongings .
Example : al so during this spr ing, an issue of the student newspaper a t the University of Southern Mississippi (white) was confisca ted by campus police llldel' the direc tion of school president W.D. McCa in because it can -ied an article about the school administration ' s r efusa l to grant admi ss ion to <I Negro applicant. (rvlcCain is a strong s uppon er of the White Citizen ' s
VOICE AUGUST 5, 1964 PAGE 3
)LS ISSISSIPPI
poor black boy. "1 am a
Council. and an advisory board member of the Patriotic American Youth. a campus youth organization which shares space with the John Birch Society in a Jackson bookstore. He also received a special commendation from the state legislature for refusing adm ittance for the fifth time to John Frazier, a student at predom inantly Negro Tougaloo College.
There are many other such examples of suppression of swder,[ rights, and even offaculty r ight s , e.g., the constant persecution of Ole Miss Professor . James W. Silver. However. what is even more chilling is the economy of school segrega tion in Miss-
i ssippi . Despite the fact that Alabama
spends less per pupil, black and white , than any state in the nation. the expenditure in the Mississippi Delta is even less. More important. the di sparity betweer. funds spent per white student and funds spent per black student is even greater.
In Mississippi, the county appropriates funds for education --- accor ding to its own budgel --- in addition to the funds con-tributed by the s tate. The following is the county appropriation. above the state min imum. for in~on per p'lpil in 1960-61: North Pike County (44. % non-white)
(McComb)
white Negro
South Pike COLUUY (Magnolia)
white •••• Negro ••••
Forrest Counry (28% non white)
• $30.89 • • • •• .76
• ••• $59.55 • • • •• 1.35
white Negro
••••• $67.76 • •• 34.19
Hattiesburg Separate
white • • • • • 0 $ll5.96 Negr o • • •• 61.69
Whites who control Mississippi have little respect for education. but use it unscrupulously to prevent Negroes from obtaining the basic de mocratic dght. the right to vote.
For instance. while the State Penitentiary Reform Bill was s till in the Senate. Sen. Howard McDonnell of Biloxi proposed an amendment which would require that the superintendent of the penitentiary have two years of college educa tion. Foes of the amendment said the requirement would force the ouster of the present superintendent. C.Eo Breazeale . The amendment fa iled McDonnell then asked that theSuperintendent be required to have a high school education. That amendment was also defeated.
Yet, the Mississippi legislature ha s established voter registration requirements which lawyers contend would be extremely difficult for anyone without a law deg r ee to pass , if the
... •... I will be buried in a Mississippi grave,
nothing but a poor dead boy." o •• These words were penned
by a 13-year-old youngster , tests are honestly admin istered.. , ~hers for the month of AUgUSl
The Freedom .schOols are a and expects that schools in five
war aga inst this academic proverry. It is not just the courses provided, but the fact that the schools are a focal point for personal expression against the oppress ion, on the one hand, and for personal growth and creativity, on the other. The regular Mississippi school s are fundamentally opposed to this approach.
Mrs. Reese says, "The Freedom Schools mean an exposure to a totally new field of learning new attitudes about people, new attitudes about self, and abo ut the right to be dissatisfied with the status quo. The children have had no conception that MissiSSippi is a part of the United States ; their view of American history is history with no Negroes in it. It's like making a cake with no butter 0"
Mrs. Reese e xplains that "M iss i ssippi has sold itse lf short. There are many good minds here which are be ing used as sacrifi:::ial lambs. The children are alert and eager to learn . If they had something to learn, they'd be happy to learn it:'
Both Mrs. Reese and Featherstone find them selves faced with the lUlexpected problem of a pupil-teacher ratio which is growing too large. Mrs. Reese tells of one teacher who is so popular that he r class has increased from IS to 27 students -- who come every day. Wahm an is now recruiting an additiona l 100 tea-
new communities will be opened then.
Both Fea therstone and Wahman point to the Negro history curric ulum as possibly the most valuable legacy of the Freedom Schools this summer. "Th~ only thing our kids knew about Negro history," Feather stone says, "is about Booker T . Washington and George Washington Carver and his peanuts."
But subjects like chemistry and algebra are also popUlar. Feather s tone told by pupils in the McComb school that Negro children are taught algebra in high school, but white -children begin the subject in the sixth grade •. Wahman says that when the chemistry teacher left the Gulfport Freedom School, his 15 students also left in protest, and return only when another was sent into the school.
Mrs. Reese gives an idea what the Hattiesburg schools are accomplishing : "The children are learning that somebody is supposed to listen to them. They are writing letters to the editor of Hatt iesburg newspapers, and learning where to direct their complaints .. A t first, the children were somewhat awe-stricken with the white teachers, at their whiteness, their hair, but many are learning to appreciate them as hum an beings. "When you get an appr eciation of yourself, then you can put the other individual into hi s proper focus."
PAGE 4 _~~ _ _ ~-=-=::-:::A~U_G~US.:-=-.:T....:..5':.-I:.:%.::.:4' _ ___ _ ___ _ _ T::=-_ ___ ..!S~lUr:t:!!D~EN~T~V~O)!I:C:C~E
SHOOTINGS, BEATINGS, BOMBINGS AND BURNINGS CHUtCHES DESTtOYfD
BRANDON, MISS - The fourteenth church burning since the Summer Proje"cu began was reponed here July 31.
The Pleasant Grove Bapti st Church on Highway 80 three miles from here was burned to the grolUld.
Unlike some recent church burn ings in the s tate , Pleasant Grove had been connected with civil rights activity.
A Mrs. Palmer. whose gr andfather built the c hurch and was the first pastor sa id she had made speeches about the Mississippi Summer Project at the church. Other reports indicated, however. that there had been no civil rights activity connected with the destroyed building.
Fire offic ials from Brandon sa id the church was destroyed so badly when they arrived, they could do nothing to sa ve it.
Churches have been burned in McComb. J ackson. Madison COWlty. near Greenwood, in Hattiesburg and Moss Point.
In Meridian. the MOWlt Moriah Bapti st Church was discovered July 30 burned to the ground.
Deputy Sher~ Alton Allen said there was no 'evidence of foul play~
There have been no arrests in any of the church burnings.
NIGHTtlDEtS ATTACK BATESVILLE, MISS. - N ight
riders fired three shots past the home of a Negro who Is housing two volunteers in theMississippi Summer Project July 31.
Kathy Amatnick. 20, a volunteer. reported the shots were fired around 11: 30. No one was injured.
The owner of the home. Robert Miles. had received threats. and on July 25, his home was tearga ssed.
During the past week, 100 P anola County Negroes wer e regi s tered. The Justice Department was successful in initiating a "freeze" suit in Panola . demanding that registration s tandards for white s and Negroes be the same.
OffICE SHOT AT GREENWOOD, MISS - Shots
were fired into the SNCC office Aug. 1 and a 93-pound swnmer volunteer was ::.rreste d f or assault with a deadly weapon.
Carol K-ornile ld, 21, of Bayside, N.Y •• was held under $1,000 bail in the Leflore County J ail.
She allegedly threw a brick through the window of a store owned by Greenwood Policel7,an " Slim" Hender son. Henderson pulled a pregnant woman along a Greenwood street during a Freedom Day two weeks ago. (See July 22 SlUDENT VOICE)_ Three other local Negroes
were al so jailed Aug. 2. and a local volunteer worker, J ohn Handy, ", was beaten in the jail AUg. I.
Handy, who was char ged with
and policemen drive through the Negro neighborhoods "making arrests for little or no reason:'
VOLUNTEEtS IEATEN CARTHAGE, MlSS~ - A sum
mer volunteer and a Iowa minis ter were beaten in a doctor's office near here July 31~
John Polacheck. the volunteer, and Rev. Edward K. He ininger. from Des Moines, Iowa. reported they were attacked in the office of a white doctor in Madden. 12 miles from here.
Rev. Heininger said the doctor asked him if he was" s taying with those Negroes in Ha rmony" where a carom unity center is being built by local Negroes.
While they we r e speakbtg. Heininger said, "I was suddenly hit from behind; at the same time they were hitting me with their fists and the doctor was pushing me from the front into the people who were hitting me:'
Between five and 10 men did the bea ting, he said.
Both Heininger and polacheck were arres ted and charged with disturbing the peace. They were
reieased on $100 bond.
"disorderly conduct:' said in a NOT E TO OUR READERS sworn statement Greenwood po-licemen beat and kicked him and If you are receiving more than tore his three-inch beard out one STUDENT VOICE, or if your with their hands . address is incorrect. please let
MRS, FANNIE LOU HAMER
MISS, DEMOCRATS CONTINUED FROM P AGE I weekend in Greenville.-
The party received additional support from Massachusetts Democrats . who ar e al ready on r ecord - with Democr atic groups from eight other states - against the seating of the regular Democrats. A t least six mem ber s of the delegation from Massachusetts "have publicly s tated their support for the seating of MFDP.
Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer of Ruleville. who opposed Representative J amie Whitten of the 2nd Dis trict , is touring Northern states seek1ng support for the party.
The party has established an office in Washington, at 1353 U Street, N. W.
ACTION TRUCE us know.
"They threw me up against the t--:::::~==~=-----~ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 concrete wall," Handy said. " I was wearing a rather long THE STUDENT VOICE by Wilkins after recent riots
Published Once A Week t igg d in H I b th h goatee. They pluc ked it out r ere ar em yes oot-On Monday s At Atlanta, lIt' g of a 13 year old N ~o
with their hands:' - - eO"" . SNCC worker s r eport Green- By ~~~;~;~u~~ic~~' INC, A survey of local civil rights
wood is " very tense." Cars drive groups acros s the country in-6 Ray mond Street. N, W, dicated few would follow the pro-
by the office during, the night, _~Atlankl . Geo rl!ia 30314 posed ban.
In Pine Bluff. Ark., J. Albert Bagsby. president of the pine Bluff Movement. said his followers would be "guided by the local situation r ather than decisions reached on the national level."
Pittsburgh NAACP leaders sa id they would demonstrate tithe
~Q 'c) T-f1~~ ~ ''VQ ~H b~'t.~
local scene r equired protests. Stanley Branche. head of the
Freedom Now Committee in Chester I P a., 'sa id demonstrations would be continued. Branche said protests were lithe only way we got as far as we have.1t
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! pleMpOOM SOLS ~:::>NS !O SPUo?J~.5!.,/\~:~!gllv
'N,N 'I"'IS puowAo~ 9
Two New York leader s, the Rev. Milton Ga la mison and Jesse Gray. said Harle m protests would go on. The ir sentiments were echoed by Br onx CORE leader Herbert Callender, who said " as long as unjus t conditions exist we will demonstrate."