Education: Discrimination?

When they first marched into their county school superintendent's office, one day in 1950, the three Negro parents seemed to have a valid complaint. The only high school in Clinton, Tenn. (pop. 3,700) was restricted to whites, and the Negro children had to ride 20 miles to school in nearby Knoxville (pop. 124,000). The Negroes thought their children should be allowed to stay in their own home town. Would the superintendent lift the bars at Clinton High?

The superintendent said no, and the parents decided to go to court. But by last week, the case had become more than a simple anti-segregation suit.

The Negroes argued that the daily bus ride was inconvenient, took too long (40 minutes), and was made in a dirty bus. Attorneys for the defense had a ready answer. The big fact in the case, said they, is that Clinton's white school is just not half as good as Knoxville's Austin High School for Negroes.

Clinton has no cafeteria; Knoxville has. Clinton gives no courses in cooking or auto mechanics, but Knoxville does. Clinton High had squeaky halls, a hopelessly inadequate gym. Its one story, built for 175 pupils, houses 599. Knoxville has three stories for its 640. All in all, said County Superintendent Frank Irwin, the county is paying only $120 to educate each white child, $325 for every Negro.

Is this discrimination? At week's end, Federal Judge Robert L. Taylor said he would think the matter over.