An Unfortunate Court Action

The Negro suit filed against the city schools here yesterday goes further than most other such suits in that it demands the end of segregation itself and not merely the elimination of inequalities in educational opportunities.

For that reason we think the suit is most unwise and likely to alienate the sympathies of a great number of Southerners who are doing everything possible to bring about equal educational facilities within the pattern of segregation.

Georgia law provides that educational facilities shall be equal but separate. The pattern of Negro suits so far, which have on the average been successful, has been to demand that education be made equal in fact. That there has been little equality in Georgia or elsewhere in the South cannot be denied. The Atlanta system, however, has made great progress in that direction and the intent of the Board of Education is that facilities shall be fully equalized as soon as finances permit.

In past cases the U. S. Supreme Court has decided that segregation itself is a matter for the states to decide. It has been insistent only that real equality exist. So far Negroes have been admitted to white schools by the high court only in cases of graduate schools and universities where it was shown the same quality of instruction could not be obtained in Negro institutions.

The suit filed yesterday is on the assumption that the Supreme Court now is ready for a final lifting of the bars. The closest approach of the court to such a decision was in the railroad dining car case when it ruled that segregation of Negroes from other diners was in itself discrimination, even though equal facilities were available The Atlanta suit presupposes or hopes that the reasoning of the will extend further and include educational facilities. However the dining car case involved interstate commerce which is regularly by the Federal Government, while schools involve functions performed by the state.

Common sense tells us that the same principles do not apply in the matter of public schools. There is no matter of prestige involved. There is disparity in the advantages offered between the various public school systems. For example it could hardly be supposed that the students of Baker County have the same facilities as those offered students of Fulton.

At least part of the blame for the suit may be laid at the door of unreasoning state officials and politicians. The offensive declaration of the recent Democratic Convention is a case in point.

Even so, the Negroes have done themselves a disservice in filing the suit. That is particularly true in the case of Atlanta, where the Board is trying hard and earnestedly provide the best facilities possible for everyone, white and Negro.