Education: Ultimatum for the Court

South Carolina Governor James F. Byrnes was worried about an anti-segregation suit due for hearing in Charleston federal court this May. Regardless of the outcome there, he was sure the issue would eventually go right on up to his old colleagues on the U.S. Supreme Court, too. Last week Jimmy Byrnes gave the South Carolina Education Association (white teachers only) his thoughts on segregation, and along the way served an astonishing ultimatum:

“I hope the United States Supreme Court will uphold what has been the law* of the land for more than a century but, in any event, South Carolina will not now, nor for many years to come, mix white and colored children in our schools.

“I hope the South Carolina General Assembly will act to influence the court by providing schools substantially equal for both white and Negro pupils. We should do it because it is right and also because it is wise in view of the suit.

“Should the federal courts outlaw segregation in our schools we will, if it be possible, live within the law, preserve the public school system, and maintain segregation at the same time.

“If that is not possible, reluctantly we will abandon the public school system.”

* As the law has been interpreted by the Supreme Court, segregation is legal, provided the state furnishes equal facilities for whites and Negroes.