Atlanta Daily World

Thurgood Marshall Tells School Campaign Story in His Own Words

(Preface - Thurgood Marshall, special counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, holding its annual convention in Dallas this week, explains in the following article, written expressly for International News Service, the NAACP's struggle toward achieving desegregation in public schools).

BY THURGOOD MARSHALL
Special Counsel, National Association For The Advancement Of Colored People - Written Expressly For International News Service

DALLAS, Tex. - (INS) - The entire campaign against segregation, starting in 1935, has as its single objective the destroying of racial segregation in public education.

The cases started with law schools and graduate schools solely because it was thought the issues could be made clearer in such cases than cases involving elementary and high schools.

In the meantime, we secured the services of a large group of social scientists and we discovered from child psychiatrists and sociologists that imposed segregation in public schools actually damaged the minds of young children.

We also found that this injury was permanent unless removed by desegregation.

We also discovered that there were no scientists who disputed this established fact

PREJUDICE NOT INHERITED
We found that racial prejudice was never inherited but was learned. As one scientist put it. "you catch prejudice like you catch a disease."

The scientists were likewise in agreement that while prejudice could be learned it could also be "unlearned."

All of this added up to the realization that every day Negro children were compelled to attend segregated schools their minds were damaged to the extent that we could no longer delay affirmative action to end this unAmerican practice.

The conclusions of the child psychiatrists that Negro children in segregated schools were injured by segregation came about as the result of a long continuing series of tests recognized by other scientists as being authentic and conclusive.

BIAS DAMAGES MINDS
Since that time these tests have been subjected to critical analysis by many other groups of scientists who have also approved the method of testing, so that as of this time there is no question but that it has been clearly established that imposed racial segregation damages the minds of children and young adults.

We believe that we must continue our emphasis in this field so that the younger people can grow up without the feeling of racial inferiority which many adult Negroes now have solely as a result of being exposed to compulsory racial segregation over a long period of years.

Insofar as desegregation of public schools comes about we insist on offering to work with local school boards toward this end.

We are now gathering all available
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Thurgood Marshall
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able information and within a month or six weeks we will be in a position to offer any local school board the results of these studies and trained personnel to help in the desegregation
STRONG LEADERSHIP NEEDED
Once again we are aided by scientific studies Trained sociologists and community workers are now convinced that with strong and determined leadership from local governing authorities. desegregation can come about, almost. immediately
Many sociologists are now convinced that it is better to do it immediately than to do it in piecemeal fashion over a long period of time.
At any rate, we will be in a position to give local school boards the materials on both sides. so that they can be aided in making their final decisions
BASIC REALIZATION
The important thing to remember in all of this is that there must be recognition of the general principle of law that segregation in public school is now unlawful.
Once this is recognized the ways of bringing about desegregation can be decided upon with reasonable certainty as the results of examination of the many studies made by reputable sociologists Primary concern is not the whims of governmental officials or people with fixed determinations one way or the other. The one single purpose is what is best for the children and young adults.