I'm motivated (although reluctant) to send this post after reminiscing about
my earlier years in Civil Rights-- specifically school desegregation, and
realizing that most of my former co-workers are deceased. I have not written
anything on this subject and have no plans to do so, in that I was more of
an activist than an academician. If no one reads this rambling post to the
last line, at least it will have been cathartic for me.

I was a Mathematics teacher in Norview Senior High School when the Norfolk
City schools were closed in the 1958-59 academic year, which was part of the
passive resistance strategy. I broke contract in mid-year because my
conscience wouldn't allow me to teach white children in makeshift private
schools, mostly in Independent Baptist churches but in other facilities to
avoid desegregation. Those who did that received an extra salary. I didn't
enjoy attending faculty meetings at 1:00 pm every other day in order to
qualify for monthly payments on my annual salary of $3,250 (my earlier
starting salary was $2,900 per annum). So I resigned in December of 1958.

A broken contract in those days meant that you probably wouldn't get a job
in another school system (they labeled the recommendation "with prejudice").
I moved to the West Coast in December of 1958 to enroll as a graduate
student in Mathematics at Oregon State University (was on the Quarter
system), and then transferred to the University of Michigan to finish my
first graduate degree in 1960.

After receiving the MA from the U. of Michigan, I returned to Virginia in
1960 with the Arlington County Public Schools, a system in the throes of
court-ordered desegregation. I played a behind-the-scenes role in that
transition at Washington-Lee High School and in the central administration.
Just last month, an African-American former student recognized me in a
grocery store in Arlington to thank me for my supportive role during that
difficult time in her life.

When the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, I decided that I wanted to be
a part of that. It wasn't easy to get into the Federal Government back then
if you were from the South, but I eventually succeeded. Perhaps my
upbringing in Appalachia played a role in my identification with the
underdog.

My first assignment in HEW was to a grants program (Title IV of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964) that made grants to universities for "racial sensitivity
training." That was a good experience working with numerous universities in
the South, black and white. All of my close co-workers from that program are
now dead. There is no one to talk with about those experiences. I remember
Dr. Anthony "Tony" Gaines, a sociology professor at St. Augustine's College
in Raleigh, NC. He said that he was the first black person to receive a PhD
in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania. Tony died at least 25
years ago. I listened to many stories about racial prejudice, not only from
Tony, but from other gifted members of that faculty (Dr. J. Cheek was the
President).

Later, I was assigned to help develop desegregation plans in several North
Carolina and Georgia Counties (I have vivid memories of being denied service
in restaurants and motels because of my bi-racial team-- Ramada Inn was the
worst chain), working with school boards to develop desegregation plans to
eliminate the dual school system. Most of the people in those Counties were
civil (not violent), although all were very defensive and anti-HEW, from
Morehead City and Jones County in the east to Senator Sam Erwin's Burke
County in the west.

The ultimate experience came in calendar year 1969 when I was assigned to
develop desegregation plans under the jurisdiction of the 5th Federal
Circuit Court in New Orleans. These school systems were under Court Order to
desegregate, but had made no progress for several years. The first
assignment was to develop a desegregation plan for the Philadelphia,
Mississippi school system, just after 3 civil rights workers had been
murdered and were buried south of town. We negotiated with the School Board
attorney, a Mr. Wolf-- we called him "Wolfman" because he was also the
attorney for those who murdered the Civil Rights workers-- an eerie man. He
drove us south of town to show us the site that bulldozed the graves of the
dead civil rights workers. He wanted to know where we were staying, but we
always gave false information. We occasionally flew to Atlanta or New
Orleans to spend the night. The U. S. Government gave us a blank book of
plane tickets to anywhere we wanted to go, and we were advised not to drive
GSA cars. We felt somewhat safe in Meridian because of FBI presence, and we
liked Gulfport and Hattiesburg and Jackson.

On another assignment that year, we were staying at the Holiday Inn in
Hattiesburg for a day of rest-- we watched on TV the men landing on the moon
on that day in August 1969. We didn't realize until the next day that the
black man who cleaned out the swimming pool was reporting our movements to
the white power structure.

The newspapers published our movements and wrote negative comments about our
mission. Once, a clerk at a motel recognized us and said, "You're going to
burn in hell for this." After assessing the danger, we cancelled our
reservations and moved to another location after notifying the FBI.

Soon thereafter, we went to Columbia, Mississippi for a night meeting with
the school board. We were trailed or shadowed by the FBI, who parked near us
in an older model car. We had requested their surveillance after receiving
death threats. As much as we appreciated the protection of the FBI, we
didn't trust them unconditionally, even though they were assigned to protect
us. After that meeting, we had to drive to New Orleans. We were petrified
that we had to drive through the Parish that was ruled by Judge Perez. He
was a tough Judge who was anti-integration.

One thing that I learned during that year in Mississippi was the role of
Uncle Toms. They betrayed us many times (we had a bi-racial team). I
remember once when we asked a black man for directions to the airport. He
gave specific directions-- "go two miles and turn right at the end of the
lake." We did, but it was a dirt road that led into the woods. We went back
to the same black man who was mowing a lawn in front of a plantation house.
We asked again, and he said to keep going down that road. Well, our FBI book
showed that this was the headquarters for a KU Klux Klan "Rod and Gun Club."
We decided to drive on to Jackson. Why would a black man send us into an
ambush? We had not researched this very well or we would have known that
there was no airport in that town, nor within 60 miles.

I headed the team that closed the high school of former Governor Ross
Barnett. That was a major accomplishment that went surprisingly well. I also
was in charge of the effort to desegregate the Neshoba County system (near
the Alabama border), but that was unsuccessful. As I recall that was the
home County of Senator Stennis. President Johnson undercut our efforts to
desegregate that system because he needed the Senator's votes on the ABM
legislation. The President had betrayed us for a "more important cause."

Leon Panetta was head of the HEW Civil Rights Office. He had compassion for
everyone- rich or poor, black or white. I remember him weeping in one staff
meeting after he had made a trip to the Delta area of Mississippi. As you
may recall, the tapes of Richard Nixon stated that his greatest
accomplishment during his first term was firing Leon Panetta (not an
accomplished record). I have not been in touch with Panetta since we parted
in 1969. I've seen him on TV; he looks great for his age. I plan to get in
touch with him.

Last year I attended a 50th anniversary of my Korean War unit, a Navy Patrol
Squadron (VP-772). I had served as a radarman on a 4-engine PB4Y2 aircraft.
We were in the line of fire and won an Air Medal for flying 28 missions over
Korea and along the coasts of China and Russia.  I told my comrades at the
reunion that my service in civil rights was more dangerous duty than flying
in the Korean War.

Only an old man would make this kind of post, after realizing that he may be
the only surviving member of the 1957-1958 faculty at Norview Senior High,
and that most of his coworkers in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s are
dead. BUT, I hope this post might make a connection with someone of the
past. This is not an attempt to start a thread on this topic!

Wilmer L. Kerns
Arlington, VA

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