xt7ttd9n6952 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7ttd9n6952/data/mets.xml Kentucky Negro Education Association Kentucky Kentucky Negro Education Association 1942 The most complete set of originals are at Kentucky State University Library. Call Number 370.62 K4198k journals  English Kentucky Negro Educational Association: Louisville, Kentucky  Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Kentucky Negro Educational Association Journal African Americans -- Education -- Kentucky -- Periodicals The Kentucky Negro Educational Association (K.N.E.A.) Journal v.12 n.2, January-February, 1942 text The Kentucky Negro Educational Association (K.N.E.A.) Journal v.12 n.2, January-February, 1942 1942 1942 2020 true xt7ttd9n6952 section xt7ttd9n6952  

 

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. Vol. 12 January-February, 1942 No,

 

SERVICE RECOGNITION NUMBER

 

LINCOLN INéTITUTE V KENTUCKY

    
 

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SPIRITUAL- MORAL'VOCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

"An Equd Eduunonnl Oppoflunily for Every Kgnlucky Child"

    
 

 

 

 

 

  

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The? Kentucky
Qtafifi CGEEege

Established 1886
FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY

 

A. E’zogrsssive State Supported Insziiuzion

COURSES
Arts and Sciences
Agrieuliure - Home Economics

Well Trained Faculty

 

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'Fui‘z Prggram cf Smdeni Activities

“ Siaméayd Ciass A Four Year Coilege
Accredited by 1129
Southern Associaiicn of Colleges

and Secondary Schools

FOR ALL INFORMATION WRITE To
DR. R. B. ATWOOD, President

 

 

 The K. N. E A. Journal

official Organ of the Kentucky Negro Education Association
Vol. XII January»February, 1942 No. 2

 

Published by the Kentucky Negro Education Association

Editorial Office at 1925 W. Madison Street
Louisville. Kentucky

Atwood S. Wilson, Executive Secretary, Louisville, Managing Editor.
H. E. Gaodlae, Danvifle, President of K. N. E. A.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Lyle Hawkins, Louisville Whitney M. Young, Lincoln Ridge
W. W. Maddox, Paducah Victor K. Perry, Louisville

Published bimonthly during the school year: October, December,
February and Apr-ll

PRICE 50 CENTS PER YEAR OR 15 CENTS PER COPY
Membership in the K. N. E. A. (One Dollar) includes subscription

to the Journal

Rates for Advertising space mailed on request
Present Circulation, 2,000 Copies. 19441 K. N. E. A. Membership 1455

 

con-rams
K. N. E. A. Committees for 1941-42 ........ . .....

 
 
 

Editorial Comment .
The Negro In Kentucky—(By R. B. Atwood).
The Kentucky Negro In National Defense—(By David A. Lane). . . . 11

 

Our Progress Since Emancipationa03y A. S. Wilson) ............. 14
Sketches of Lincoln Institute Key Winners ........................ 15
Kentucky Negro Schools ........................................ 20
Tentative Program of the 1942 Convention ........ . ............... 24
The Proposed Constitution of the K. N. E. A.... .................. 25
K. N. E. A. Announcements .............. . ............... . ....... 28
K, N. E, A. Kullings ............................................. 30

The .K. N. E. A. Honor Roll .................... ' ................... a 1

  

 

TEACHER LOANS
071 Signature Only

N 0 Security

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STATE-WIDE SERVICE

Time Offers a Swifl. Simple,
Easy plan available to every
teacher throughout the State
of Kentucky. Immediate at
tention is given all mail and
personal inquiries and all loans
are completed witheut delayi

REDUCED RATES

Charges substantially below
lawful rates allowed by the
State are obtainable in many
classifications. Full details
available on inquiryl

TIME'S CHART OI" COSTS
Amount ‘Average
Borrowed Cost per day
3 2500 costs less than l‘lfic
50.00 costs less than 3::
10000 costs less than 6c
200.00 costs less than 12c
300.00 costs less than 17::

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(Detach and mail to nearest
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Without: obligation, send full
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 K. N. E. A. Committees For 1941-42

 

NOMINATING COWITTEE
W. E. Newsome, Gynthiana, Chairman
F, I. Sugar, Mayfield Mrs. Willa West, Henderson
J. Bryant Cooper, Louisville John Cooper, Ashland

 

LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE
Dean D. A. Lane, Louisville, Chairman

W. R. Cummings, Pikeville J. A Thomas, Louisville
C. W. Anderson, Jr, Louisville J. B. Caulder, Lexington
M. J. sleet, Paducah H. C Russell, Louisville
.L A. Carroll, Lincoln Ridge J. F. Fletcher, Riohmopd
E. W. Whiteside, Paducah A. L. Garvin, Louisville
A. F. Gibson, Fineville
RESEARCH COMMITTEE
D. H. Bradford, Frankfort, Chairman
G. D Wilson, Louisville Lyman Johnson, Louisville
W. T. Seals, Lexington E. T. Buford, Bowling Green

 

RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE
Mrs. Lucy H. Smith, Lexington, Chairman
Mrs. Nettie R. Smith, Lebanon 5. L. Barker, Owensboro
Blyden Jackson, Louisville George Edwards, Russellville

AUDITING COMWTTEE
P. L. Guthrie, Lexington, Chairman
John Stewart, Franldort M. J. sleet, Paducah
A. E. Meyzeek, Louisville

 

NECEOLOGY COMMITTEE
Amos Lesley, Hodigensvflle, Chairman
C. M. Burnsides, Monticello H. S. Osborne, Middlesbom
w. H, Fouse, Honorary Member

SCHOLARSHIP LOAN COMMITTEE
Miss Clara Clelland, Harrodsburg. Chairman
Mrs. Bob'bye Waddell, Hopkinsville r. L. Baker, Lexington
Mrs. Bettie Davis, Georgetown A. S. Wilson, Ex-Officio Member

YOUTH COUNCIL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Miss Eunice Singleton, Chairman
‘ Miss B. L Whitenbill, Co-Chainnan
Miss Maxine Baughman, Danville Mrs. Ann Heartwell, Frankfort
Mrs. A J. Carroll, Lincoln Ridge Mr. Wiley Daniels, Louisville
Miss Ruth Hodgens, Campbellsville

3

  

Privileges of Active Membership
in the K. N. E. A.
1, The privilege «if attending all general sessions of the
Association.

2. The privilege of participating in the departmental
sessions

3. The privilege of speaking and holding office in the
Kentucky Negro Edumtion Association.

4. The privilege of voting and participating in the busi-
ness affairs nf the Associetinn.

5. The privilege of receiving all literature of the Associa-
tion, including the offieial publicatinn, The
K N. E. A, Journal.

No Kentucky Teacher Should Fail 10 Enroll
Send One Dollar

To A. 5. WILSON, Seerelary-Treuui—er
1925 w. Madison Street, Louisville Ky.

 

 

 

LINCOLN INSTITUTE

(Rated Class “A” By Southern Association
of Colleges and Secondary Schools)

Lincoln Ridge, Kentucky

(Courses Offered)
men SCHOOL (college preparatory) BUILDING muss

AGRICULTURE HOME ECONOMICS
APPLIED ELECTRICITY COMMERCE
PLUMBING RADIO

STEAM BOILER OPERATION MUSIC

WORK SCHOLARSHIPS AND N. Y. A.
SCHOLARSHIPS ARE AVAILABLE
For Further Information
Wtize

Director Whitney M. Young. Lincoln Ridge, Ky.

 

  

Editorial Comment

OUR FRONT COVER

Director Whitney M. Young, Lincoln Institute, reports that there
have been five Lincoln Key awards. The Lincoln Institute Key award.
'5 awarded annually to the one person in Kentucky, who during the
year has rendered the most valuable service toward education in Ken-
tucky.

The fiist awards were given Mr. Lyle Hawkins and Mr. W. R. Cum-
mings because each had done outstanding work in two different fields,
Mn Hawkins in the field of Adult Education and Mr. Cummings in
achieving an outstanding piece of work among the mountain people
of eastern Kentucky. At that time Mr. Cumming’s program was far
ahead of any other school in the eastern mountains

Charles W. Anderson was given the award for sponsoring certain
legislations designed to give the Negro equal educational opportuni-
ties, especially the rural Negro youth, and a law permitting married
teachers to teach.

President R. B. Atwood was given the award for outstanding services
at Kentucky State College.

The recent award was given MI. Atwood S. Wilson for outstanding
services as secretary of the K. N. E. A., having built up one of the
largest organizations among Negroes in the United States.

 

THE 65TH ANNIVERSARY CONVENTION

The majority of the teachers of Kentucky will soon be in Louisville
attending the annual convention of the Kentucky Education Associa-
tion and the Kentucky Negro Education Association, both organiza-
tions meeting from April 15 to 18, 1941

The K N. E. A. will hold its 66th annual convention. This organiza-
tion has met continuously in Louisville and elsewhere in Kentuclv
Since its onganization in 1877, sponsored by State Superintendent H.
A. Henderson. The Kentucky association stands at the top of colored
teacher organizations in the United States The K. N. E. A. enrolls
annually nearly every colored teacher in Kentucky, over 1500 out of a
mobable 1600 paying their fees annually, attending the Louisville con-
vention and receiving its official publication, The K. N. E. A. Journal.
Favorable comment has been received concerning this publication by
noted educators from many yam of the United States Atwood S. Wil-
5011 of Louisville, the executive secretary of the organization for
twenty years, is its editor and is energetic in keeping the association
activities in line with modem trends in education.

5

 The K. N. E. A. not only holds general sasions but has seventeen
departments which hold well planned sectional meetings. The newest
department is the K. N. E. A. Youth Council, an organization sponsor.
ed by the younger teachers for our older high school students and col-
lege students.

Annually the K. N. E. A. {brings to Louisville outstanding educators
of both races. This year we will bring Dr. Dorothy Ferehee. Washing-
ton, D. C., a physician of note and Grand Basileus of the Alpha Kappa
Alpha Sorority. We are also presenting Attorney Earl Dickerson, Chi~
cago, a member of President Roosevelt’s special committee on National
Defense and President Rufus E. Clement, Atlanta University. Other
speakers include Mr. Mark Etheridge, Managing Editor, The Imus
ville Courier-Journal.

The 65th convention will also feature an annual spelling bee in
which the Courier-Jamal gives the main prizes. There Will he held
on April 17 the Annual Musicale featuring the Apollo Quartet, the
Louisville Municipal College and Kentucky State College singers.
The convention will close with its final business meeting on Saturddy
morning, April 18.

The K. N. E. A. :brings honor to Kentuclw and through its activities
and cooperation with the K. E. A., “Education Marches On."

OUR RECORD OF ACHIEVEMENT

Through its editorial columns, a Louisville weekly paper has asked,
“What has the K. N. E. A. ever done for Negro youth?" After raiding
the article, one would infer that the K. N. E. A. has done little or
nothing except to have an annual convention and have outstanding
educators address the teachers. A review of the history of the K. N. E.
A. and a notation of its achievements distinctly refute the implicatiem
of the editorials under consideration.

The K. N. E. A. is the oldest of the Negro educational associations
in the United States, having been organized in 1877 and having a. com—
plete record of its activities for 65 years. One of the first things which
the K.N.E.A. did was to urge the maintenance of a State normal school
for the education of Negro youth in Kentucky. The minutes reveal
that due to the campaign waged by the K. N. E. A. along with other
groups, there has been continuous progress of the normal school and
later the college at Frankfort. The records further reveal that the K.
N. E. A. has met annually and conducted sectional meetings and gen-
eral programs largely designed to make teachers more efficient. As the
efiiciency of a teacher is improved, the youth which that teacher
serves are thereby benefitted. This is a subtle but powerful influence
of the K. N. E. A, For many years the K. N. E. A. was the main plane
where the bulk of Negro teachers could get professional training
except in Institutes that were conducted in some sections of Kentucky.

There are those who feel that the K. N. E. A. should duplicate the
work of the N. A. A. c. P. Such is not the practice of that organiza-
tion. The K. N. E A. is a group of professional workers who meet an-

6

 nually to get inspiration and help in better performing the work
which they are called upon to do. The association, however, seeks to
improve the status of the Neyo teacher and to urge better equipment,
better school buildings and better opportunity for Negro youth. The
K. N. E. A. has performed excellently along these lines.

The K. N. E. A. sponsored legislation that abolished dual boards
of education, situations in which the taxes of white people paid for
white schools and the taxes from colored property paid for colored
schools. Needless to say, such a situation produced inferior Negro
schools. The K. N. E. A. had two representatives on the school code
committee of 1935 and they used their influence to abolish this Im-
dematic practice. The K. N. E. A. further sponsored the idea of a
single salary schedule in the school code of 1933, and making it a law
miat Negro and white teachers be paid salaries based on merit, ex—
perience, and training. The K. N. E. A. donated $500.00 to the com-
mission which worked on the school code. The K. N. E. A. has sponsor-
ed the teacher retirement sysz which has recently gone into efiect.
Several hundred dollars were spent :by the K. N. E. A. in cooperating
with the K. E. A. in the setting up of the retirement system.

Only recently the K. N. E. A. donated $500.00 to the Inequalities
Committee whioh worked toward the equalization in the salaria of
Negro and white teachers in Inuisville. This is one of its most recent
ants. Space does not permit mention of the many things the K. N. E.
A. has done to help Negro children in Kentucky and to help improve
the teaching profession among Negroes. Enough has been said to
refute the implication that Elie K. N. E. A. has done nothing.

 

ADVANCE ENROLLMENT

It has been gratifying that so many of our counties and city schools
have enrolled in the K. N. E. A. for the year 1941-42. Five entire
faculties and one entire county have enrolled as Honor Members, pay.
ing an additional fifty-cents.

The $1.00 membership fee has so many duties, that an urgent plea
has ’been sent out asking teachers to pay $1.50, the extra fifty cents to
the put in a special fund. and used only for the purpose desig-
natod to eradicate various inequalities in Negro education in Kentuc-
ky. We note, with pleasure, how many of our teachers have responded
to this request.

To January 1, 1942, over 250 teachers throughout the state have en~
rolled for the ensuing school year, 194142. It’is the privilege—the duty
of every loyal teacher in Kentucky to enroll in the K. N. E. A. It is
your organization. We are asking that enrollments be sent in early
and that as many as possible make their check for $1.50 this year—-
a good way .to help yourself.

If you haven’t enrolled-do it now, and urge other teachers to do so.

 1m: 1:110an or minus sex-1001.5

Another problem of citizenship peculiar to the South is that of public
education for Negroes. Our ancestors who established public schools
believed that every child was entitled to a reasonable opportunity for
education They realized also that a sound democracy was impossible
without an educated citizenship. But there were many children whose
parents were not able to pay for private education 50, in harmony
With the American idea], a system of public schools was provided
for in which the poorest child should have the same chance as the
most foitunate. The law of every southern state distinctly says that
this shall be true, Whether the child is white or colored.

In relation to Negro children, however, this law is rarely carried
out. The average expemiiMn’e of public school money throughout the
southern states is nearly four to one in favor of the white child—
$44.31 for each White child enrolled and $1227 for each colored child.
This is an explanation for many discrepancies in the amount of learn-
ing Whiuh White children receive over that observed in colored child-
ten.

WAGES AND PUBLIC WELFARE

The low wage scale of most Negro workem is a suious element in
the problem of racial adjustment for America.

Low wages for any group mean, of course, that they have little pur-
chasing power and that their standards of living are low. This in turn
means less business for those they buy from‘ At the same time the
competition of this law wage group tends to lower living standards
of all other workers.

50 everybody suffers together, white and colored, business people
as well as wage earners This is doubtless one reason why the wealth
of the southern states averages only $1,785 per person, while in the
rest of the country the average is $3,609—4-nore than twice as great.
There is no ready answer to this problem, but intelligent people may
well begin to consider it seriously.

 

JOIN THE K. N. E. A.

Active Membership per year and Journal.

Honor Membership—Journal and Proceedings—~Mention.
Life Membership—always an active member

Send You: Fee To:
A. S. WILSON. Secretary

1925 W. Madison Street, Louisville. Kentucky

 
 

”$10.00

   

 

 The Negro In Kentucky

thy n. B. Atwood)

The State of Kentucky has the responsibility of dealing fairly with
all of. its citizens; in the past the Negro citizens of the State have not
received equal opportunities he find security and happiness here. As a
result at the absence of economic opportunities the number of Negroes
in the state dropped 20 percent in the thirty years following the turn
of the century For over a hundred years the Negro group in Kentuc-
ky has declined in proportion to the white population, has increased
more slowly than the latter, but it is only in the last thirty or forty
years that it has become smaller in actual numbers This decline may
’be attributed to three causes: high death rate, low birth rate, and mi-
gration to other states

Basically the situation can be traced directly to the economic status
of the colored people. More Negroes are dying every year in Kentucky
than are being born, and of those who do live many are deserting the
stats Never since the days oi slavery have Kentucky Negroes been
allowed to make satisfactory economic and social adjustments Within
the‘stats. Roughly for every two Negroes in Kentucky in 1930 there
-was one living in some other state who had been born here. Interstate
migration is typical of American Life, but Kentucky has not been re-
ceiving firm the other states in proportion as she has given. For
every five Negroes leaving the state only two have come in, and the
majority of these come from the Deep South.

From 1910 to 1930 Neg-r0 farm ownership declined over 9 percent,
and in the same period Negro farm tenancy increased by 10 percent.
Failing to find satisfaction on the farm, Negroes have moved in large
numbers into the urban centers. The percentage of Negroes living in:
cities in Kentucky doubled in the fifty years preceding 1930. Negroes
were and are being forced from their productive tasks on the land and
are being crowded into the towns and cities of the state

Two of the reasons for the decline of the Negro population may be

directly traceable to urbanization, that is, death rates have increased
and. birth rates have decreased when people moved from country to
town. Indeed, in the rural sections of the state, the death rate for Ne-
groes is high, actually more than the birth rate, indicating a loss in
Population; but in the urban centers throughout the state the death
rate increases drastically, 35 percent, and at the same time the ‘birth
rate drops, thus increasing the difierence between additions to the
population and losses.
‘ Livi g conditions which reflect the low economic status of the Negro
m the cities are the major causes for this condition. Negro Workers in
the cities have crowded into the field of domestic and personal service.
This is the largest single classification of Negro workers, and is fifty
percent larger than the second group, farming,

The Negroes of. Kentucky are concentrated in those occupations
Which are the least satisfactory economically, that is, which ofier the
lUWest wage, the smallest degree of organization [or collective actidn,

9

 and receive no protection from the Federal Social Security Act Fifty
.percent of all Negroes employed are either in domestic and personal
service or farming. A wholesome family life is endangered by the
fact that almost a third of all the gainfully employed Negroes in Ken-
tucky are women. This is three times the porportion of white women
in the state who are so employed

A serious scarcity of Negro doctors, dentists, and trained nurses
constitutes a phase of this problem, To preach his funeral the Kerk
tuck-y Negro apparently has clengylmen a plenty, one out of every 810
Negroes as compared with one for every 961 persons in the white
group, but he has relatively few doctors, dentists, and trained nurses
to protect his health. The following figures show the disparity between
the Negro and white groups in the number of such professional men
available: For every 898 persons of the white group there is a doctor,
while there is one doctor for 1751 Negroes; for every 863 persons of
the white group there is a nurse, while there is one nurse for 2628
Negroes.

Related to these problems is the serious uneven distribution oi the
Negro population in Kentucky. There are 120 counties in the state,
and in l930 over two»thirds of the colored population lived in but 27
of these counties. The land area of these counties is but one-fourth of
the area of the state. For the one-third scattered thinly over the rest
of the state there are critical problems concerning adequate facilities
for church, school, recreation, health, and other social services

While the Negro population in Kentucky has shown losses over a
period of years it must be pointed out that in 21 counties of the state
their numbers have increased during the decade 1920—30, These in-
creases have occurred mostly in those cities or counties containing in-
dustrial plants and in the coal mining districts, particularly in the
eastern coal fields, In Letcher county for example, the Negro popula-
tion increased 4,5081 percent between 1900 and 1930. The Negro popu»
lation in Kentucky in 1930 presented the following distributions: 22
counties with a Negro population less than 1 percent; 64 counties with
l to 10 percent; 28 counties with ll] to 20 percent; and 6 counties over
20 percent, (Bourbon, 222; Christian, 34.1; Fayette, 24.0; Fulton, 21,1;
Todd, 25,1; Woodford, 20.1) There were no Negroes reported in Elliott
or Martin Counties in 1930‘

The State of Kentucky carries the responsi ty to all its citizens
to provide them with equality of opportunity in the pursuit of happi-
ness. This responsibility rests with the state regardless of race and ir-
respective of the numbers in that racial group. Only a casual study of
the situation will reveal that Kentucky has failed to provide the
equality of opportunity to its Negro citizens that it has its white. No
greater evidence of this fact is needed than the Very fact that the
Negro citizens of Kentucky have continued to leave Kentucky in
search for a place where they can live more nearly like citizens in a
free, democratic society. ‘

To get our state to see, accept and meet this responsibility is the
task of us alll What are your thoughts on these matters? Is there any-
thing which we as Negroes can do? Do you want to help? You can.

10

   

 The Kentucky Negro In National Deiense
(by David A. Lane)

The Selective Service MI

The purpose of the Selective Service Act under which the United
States is now marshalling its manpower is “to secure an orderly, just,
and democratic method whereby the military man-power of the Unit~
ed States may be made available for training and service in the land
and naval forces of the United States, as provided by the Congress,
with the 'least possible disruption of the social and economic life of the
Nation” The Act declares that “in a free society the obligations and
:privileges of military training and service should be shared generally
in accordance with a fair and just system of selective compulsory
military training and service.” In addition to setting forth the scheme
of registration, selection, and induction, the Act provides that after
quotas have ‘been determined for each state and territory, “any person,
regardless of rose or color, between the ages of 18 and 86 (subsequent.
ly reduced to 28), shall be afiorded an opportunity to volunteer for in-
duction into the land or naval fumes" for the one years training (sub-
sequently increased to a possible 2V2 years.) It is specially provided,
moreover, that the selection of men for training and drafted service
shall be made “in an impartial manner" and that “in the selection and
training of men under this Act, there shall be no discrimination against
any , rson on account of race or color," ,

These safeguards written into the organic lBlW would seem to in-
sure full and non-discriminatory participation of all races of Ameri~
cans in the military and naval services. It would also seem to indicate
the intent to provide for fair and just participation of all races, includ-
ing Negroes, in the administration of the Act.

Much of the efiect of these safeguards, however, is nullified by other
provisions of the Selective Service Act itself and by Army and Navy
policyl One provision of the Act, for example, is that “no man shall
be inducted for training and service under this Act unless and until
he is acceptable to the land or naval forces for such training and ser»
vice." Another is that “no man shall be inducted for such training
and service until adequate provision shall have been made for such
shelter, sanitary facilities, water, supplies, heating and fighting ar-
rangements, medical care, and hospital accommodations for such men,
as may be determined by the Secretary of. War or the Secretary of
the Navy, as the case may her" Now the official policy of the Army,
as announced by the Secretary of War, is to organize white and Negro
units separately for both training and service, While the Navy, as part
of its ofiicial policy of acceptability, has thus far admitted Negroes as
mess attendants only. Finally, it should be noted with reference to the
Ant itself that under in terms “the Governor of each state shall have
charge of the administration of the selective service law in his State"

VT-hux it is possible in several ways for the clear intent of the non-
discrimination provisions of the Act to be “legally” evaded.

11

   

 Participation of Negroes In Adminisixaiion

To what extent are Negroes participating in the administration of
the Selective Service Act in the State of Kentucky?

As of September 15, 1941, twenty Negroes were serving on Kentuc-
ky registrants’ advisory boards, whose duty it is to see that registrants
have advice and assistance in preparing questionnaires, claims, etci
Three Negro physicians were serving as members of medical advisory
hoards and 23 as examining physicians, and 22 Negro dentists were
serving as examining dentists.

The actual administrators, however, of the Selective Service Act are
the “local boards" in the several communities, There are 165 such
boards in Kentucky. Each of the 165 boards consists by law of at least
three members, appointed by the President upon recommendation of
the Governor, But although there are a number of communities in
which there is a heavy concentration of Negro population, there are
only two Negro members of local boards in Kenhmky, and both of
these are members of Louisville boards. In addition, one Louisville
local board employs as clerk a young Negro woman who is the only
salaried Negro in the Kentucky selective service system.

This paucity in the number of Negro local :board members and em-
ployees would appear to he actually even if not intentionally discrim-
inatory It is suggested that the attention of the Governor should be
called to this situation, in order that in filling vacancies caused by res-
ignation or through increasing the membership of certain local boards
(since no maximum is stipulated in the Act) he may increase the num—
ber of Negro members oi local boards, particularly in commities
whose Negro population is considerable. If this is done it is quite
likely that a larger number of Neyo clerks will be employed, as is
“fair and just."

Can you help? Will you?

The Operation Of The As!

How has the draft operated in Kentucky? Have Negroes been clas-
sified fairly? Have they been inducted in fair and just proportions?
Has racial discrimination been shown?

Reliable figures indicate that at the close of the last filial year nine
per cent of Kentuckians inducted into military service were Negroes,
This figure should be compared with a registration percentage of 8,1
per cent and a population percentage of 7.16, no doubt a reasonably
close correspondence.

The same reliable data also indicate: (1) that a significantly larger
percentage of Negro registrants than white was placed in tentative
class l—“availa'ble for Service"—(18l8 per cent of Negro registrants
as compared with ten per cent or the white registrants;) (2) a very
much smaller percentage of Negro than white registrants was placed
in Class III-A—“man with dependents"—-(5l .per cent of Negro rege
istrants as compared with 69,6 per cent of white registrants» (3) a
negligible percentage of Negroes was placed in Class ILA—“necessary
in his civilian activity" and not a single Negro was classed as [1-3—
“necessary fur national defense."

12

 These difierences are not prime. facie evidence of racial discrimina-
tion on the part of local boards. It is lmown, for example, that the
claims of many Negroes for III-A classification had to be disallowed
because of the common-law status of their “marital” relationships
Lack of opportunities for technical training and the discriminatory
practices of labor unions and employers have combined, moreover, to
keep Negroes generally out of types of employment considered “neces-
sary" in civilian activity or national defense as defined in the Act. As
far as can ’be ascemined, classifications have been generally fair in
Kentucky, appeals have not been numerous, and appeals by Negroes
have been comparatively fewer than those made by white registrants.

An unfortunate situation is revealed, however, when it is noted that
white registrants actually inducted into military service constituted
approximately 33 per cent of the White registrants placed in Class I,
while Negro registrants actually inducted constituted only approxi-
mately 22 per cent of the Negro registrants placed in Class L The dif-
ference results partly from the fact that a larger percentage of Negro
registrants is rejected for physical, educational, or other deficiencies
after being called, but it is also due to the fact that smaller percent-
ages of Negro registrants have been called or requisitioned by the
War Department The chairman of an urban local board states, in es-
sence and for example: “There were about equal numbers of white
and Negro registrants within the area of my board, but White draftees
have been called for in much larger numbers than have Negroes that
we are rapidly exhausting our supply of white I-A‘s while we have
Negro l-A’s ‘piled up’ and waiting.”

This imbalance, it should be noted, is not chargeable to the local
boards, for requisitions made upon boards by the War Department
specify the number of white and Negro draftees to be delivered. It
grows out of the fact that Negro military units have not been organiz-
ed in sufiicient numbers and strength to enable the induction of Negro
draftees to keep pace With the induction of white draitees. This con-
dition, which appears to ,be general throughout the country, can be
remedied only in Washington Can you help? Will you?

Posiscripi ‘