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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1960East SideBy P. D.And now, again, there comes to my attention the case of one Clyde Kennard. In view of the mail received since last September, I presumes some have remembered it was Mr. Kennard who attempted to enroll at Mississippi Southern College, Hattiesburg, and was arrested and charged with liquor possession and reckless driving. The majority of the letters I’ve received asked “Whatever happened to Clyde Kennard?” Well, briefly, after his arrest on the campus of the college, he was confined in the Forrest County pokey, then released on bond, and tried in a Justice of the Peace court and fined, as I recall, five-hundred dollars. He appealed the case to county court, and the conviction was upheld. I presume he paid the fine, but I don’t know that. It may be on appeal to a higher court now. In any event, it doesn’t really matter; the purpose of his arrest has been served.• So there won’t be any misunderstanding, let me say once again that Mr. Kennard was treated with respect and courtesy while on the MSC campus last September, by the administration, faculty, and students. The arrest and obviously thumped-up charges were in no way connected with the college, insofar as I’ve been able to determine. Indeed. it mattered little what anyone on the campus may have thought or felt; the state law governs the school and, let’s be realistic about it, the state law is rather clear on the matter of integration. I don’t think it’s right, not at all; but it’s sure as hell clear.Enough digressing. Last month, on the 26th, there appeared in the local daily paper in Hattiesburg a letter from Clyde Kennard, addressed to the editor. I read it with interest and thought it may well serve to inform those interested in “whatever happened to Clyde Kennard” with something of an answer, as well as what Mr. Kennard was thinking. I could comment at length on the letter, but it would indeed be at length, and I haven’t the space to do it. However, basically, let me say this: I agree with the “soft sell” of Kennard, but I disagree with token integration as a means of skirting the law of the Nation. Be that as it may; herwith is the letter:The discussion of the problem of integration which faces our state at this time, prompts me to offer a statement, not in defense of my efforts to enroll at Mississippi Southern College, but as an explanation of our position on public school integration.Mississippi Southern College is the only State supprted four year college in this area and my situation at home makes it very difficult for me to leave home to continue my education. On this account I have been unable to attend school for nearly five years. By attending Mississippi Southern College my problem would be solved, as I could live at home and attend school.From a general point-of-view I am keenly aware of the race problem entailed, as nothing has so constantly occupied my thoughts during the past three years. I know that there are those among us who feel that both races would be best benefited by a policy of private and public separation of the races, and that this segregation should be maintained no matter what the cost to ourselves and to future generations.Unfortunately, perhaps, I have not been able to convince myself, nor has anyone else been able to convince me that this is really the wisest course for Mississippi to follow at this critical juncture in our history.Those who advocate the separation of the races theory generally say: To teach Negro and White students in the same schools would mean, in part, mixing of White and Negro blood to the extent of destroying both races; Negroes as a result of their economic and social history, have developed such low moral habits until it would be tragically degrading to White youngsters for them to associate with Negro youngsters; since White students are so much more advanced scholastically than Negro students it would be a grave injustice to Negro students to have them compete in the same class room, for since Negroes are so inferior in development to White students this would end even the little development which they are capable of making when left to themselves; if schools are racially integrated, Negro teachers would have to turn to some other income source here in Mississippi or leave the State completely for employment; and if schools maintained for Negro people are equal in facilities and teachers to those maintained for White people, then the schools are equal in total essence.Although, I have tried never to understimate the importance that many people attach to being of a certain racial group, I have not been able to discern a noticeable difference, other than color, between a good White man and a good Black and Yellow man.I would be in favor of a commission of eminent social scientists to make a careful study of colleges and universities which have prac-(Continued on Page4)
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Petal Paper
Petal, Mississippi, US
Thu, Feb 11, 1960
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Devery A.
USA 25 Jul 2020
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