Lee v. Macon County Board of Education
Decision Date | 01 April 1968 |
Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 604-E. |
Citation | 283 F. Supp. 194 |
Parties | Anthony T. LEE et al., Plaintiffs, United States of America, Plaintiff-Intervenor and Amicus Curiae, Alabama State Teachers Association, Inc., Intervening Plaintiff, v. MACON COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION et al., Defendants. |
Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Alabama |
Fred D. Gray and Solomon S. Seay, Jr. (Gray, Seay, Langford & Pryor), Montgomery, Ala, Jack Greenberg and Melvyn Zarr, New York City, for plaintiffs.
Stephen J. Pollak, Atty. Gen., and Charles Quaintance and Frank D. Allen, Civil Rights Division, U. S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., and Ben Hardeman, U. S. Atty., Montgomery, Ala., for the United States.
Solomon S. Seay, Jr., Montgomery, Ala., for the Alabama State Teachers Association, Inc.
MacDonald Gallion, Atty. Gen., and Gordon Madison, Asst. Atty. Gen., State of Alabama, Montgomery, Ala., Hugh Maddox, Legal Adviser to the Governor of the State of Alabama, Montgomery, Ala., Maury D. Smith and T. W. Thagard, Jr. (Goodwyn, Smith & Bowman), Montgomery, Ala., and John C. Satterfield, Yazoo City, Miss., for defendants.
Oakley W. Melton, Jr., Montgomery, Ala. (Steiner, Crum & Baker), Montgomery, Ala., for defendant state officials and for Alabama High School Athletic Assn.
Before RIVES, Circuit Judge, and JOHNSON and GROOMS, District Judges.
This is another supplementary proceeding where the Court is called upon to deal with problems incident to the desegregation of the several public school systems throughout the State of Alabama enumerated in the order entered herein on March 22, 1967.1 This phase of the case was initiated by the motion of the United States seeking to end in the public school systems of Alabama the practice of operating dual athletic programs based upon race; the United States, now joined by the plaintiffs, also seeks an end to the practice of scheduling interscholastic athletic contests by school officials only among the high schools traditionally maintained for students of the same race. When the motions were originally filed and heard on March 9, 1968, the defendants were the State Superintendent of Education and the State Board of Education and its individual members. Subsequent to the March 9 hearing, this Court, pursuant to Rule 21, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, by formal order dated March 11, 1968, added the two statewide high school athletic associations as parties defendant. The Court also added as defendants the Alabama Collegiate Conference, the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Alabama Junior College Conference. This order was as follows:
Subsequent to the entry of this Court's order of March 11, 1968, the Alabama Junior College Association has admitted to its membership the two predominantly Negro junior colleges operated in the State of Alabama. Representatives from the Alabama Junior College Conference have formally assured this Court that no application for membership will be denied upon the basis of race or color and that its membership policies and athletic programs will in the future be carried out without regard to race or color. Upon this assurance, the United States and the plaintiffs have acknowledged to the Court that no further relief against the Alabama Junior College Conference is sought or is necessary.
The United States and the plaintiffs now take the position that at this time they do not desire any relief against the Alabama Collegiate Conference and its members, or the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and its members.
Upon this submission, this Court finds that there are actually two systems of high school athletics in Alabama—one predominantly white and the other Negro. The predominantly white schools belong to the Alabama High School Athletic Association. Their teams play only teams from other predominantly white schools. Their coaches are white and their game officials are white. They belong to conferences only with other predominantly white schools and hold their tournaments, conferences and competitions only for other predominantly white schools. The Negro high schools in Alabama belong to the Alabama Interscholastic Athletic Association. Their teams play only teams from other Negro schools. Their coaches are Negroes, officials at their games are usually Negroes, and their tournaments, conferences and championship games are participated in only by Negroes.
One of the most effective vehicles for the racial separation in Alabama athletics is these two high school athletic associations. All the accredited traditionally white high schools in the State that have interscholastic athletic programs —and there are approximately 360 of them—belong to the Alabama High School Athletic Association. All the traditionally Negro high schools in the State that have interscholastic athletic programs —and there are approximately 195 of them—belong to the Alabama Interscholastic Athletic Association. At the time the motions now presented were filed, both associations had rules which prohibited members of one association from competing against members of the other association in any athletic contests whatsoever.
The white association, by formal resolution on March 13, 1968, amended this rule so as to allow members of its association to play members of the Alabama Interscholastic Athletic Association. The answer of the Alabama Interscholastic Athletic Association filed with this Court on March 23, 1968, now specifically waives its rule which prohibited the Negro schools which were members of its organization from playing members of the Alabama High School Athletic Association.
The evidence is clear—and actually uncontroverted—that it is the policy of the State of Alabama, acting through its various school principals and coaches and the Alabama Interscholastic Athletic Association and the Alabama High School Athletic Association—both of which are State agents2—to operate completely separate athletic programs based upon race or color throughout the schools in the State. The only desegregation of the athletic programs which has occurred in Alabama has been minimal and has occurred through some Negro athletes exercising a freedom of choice to attend predominantly white schools. The evidence is also clear that it is the policy of the State, acting through these various State agents, not to schedule athletic contests between a team from a traditionally white school and a team from a traditionally Negro school.
It is without serious...
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