Box 17, Folder 13, Document 7

Box 17, Folder 13, Document 7

Ie
r Cooperation
Panels and

| Effort to Cut Drop-Outs
|



By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, July 19 —
President Kennedy has sent a
personal appeal to the presi-
dents of thousands of school
boards across the country for
“your help in solving the grave
civil rights problems faced by
this nation.”

Letters over Mr, Kennedy's}.

\signature were mailed last July
12, They also asked for coopera-
tion in @ nationwide effort this
ple to return to school in Sep-
tember and reduce the nuniber
of drop-outs, _ ’

Mr. Kennedy urged the school
board presidents to work active:
ly with bira@ial commissions
to solve civil rights issues, and
to press for creation of such
commissions were: there were}
none.

In more ender: terms, the
President voiced the hope that
they would “discuss this letter
with your colleagues and if pos-
sible enlist their support.

Asks Report by Aug. 15
‘to the problem of

drop-outs, the President went
on:



“IT urge you } commence to
intensify yor ort immedi-
ately in meethiz _ this national




probleny, and that you
advise Commissioner [Francis]
Keppel of the United States Of-
fice of Education of your prog-
ress—I would hope there could
be an initial report by Aug. 15
and again by the end of Sep-
tember outlining the progress
you have been able %@ achieve.

“Whether there is a signifi-
cant reduction in drop-outs
when schools resume in the fall
will depend, in great measure,
on your efforts’ in your own
community. We solicit your
ee support and assist-



Picese: and the high propor-
tion of unemployed Negroes.

But he told the school board
executives that the problem af-|
fected both white and Negro
students.

“It is of particular signifi-
cance,” Mr. Kennedy said, “be-
cause of a lack of job opportu-
nities for inadequately trained

Continued on Page 9, Column 2

||Continued from Page 1, Col. 4



youtiierd the ees ae
on many c
The Prsident et eeently at

tatives all levels of educa-
tion. He

at that
2 to
school board pre ts.

time to.

Meanwhile, at a hearing of
a House Judiciary subcommit-
tee, Walter P, Reuther urged
Congress to create Federal reg-
istrars who would be able to
sign up “millions of Negro vot-
ers in the South.”

Mr. Reuther, the head of the
United Uatomobile Workers
Union, said he favored “the
wholesale approach to voting
rights rather than the retail ap+
proach taken by President Ken-



nedy.”

The Administration’s seven-
point civil rights bill includes a
provision for appointment of
temporary voting referees to
speed cases brought by Negroes
who charge they are unable to
register because of racial dis-
crimination.

Would Strengthen Bill
Mr. Reuther praised Mr. Ken-

nedys “courageous action” in
cal a sweeping civil

ri eete bile but said the measure|

shouldbe, strengthened in oth-
er ways. | Uses
ter Federal

He ri
auth nstitute civil
right sums and

advance school
desegregation. He also recom-

the White House with represen-|p



eens

Hshing &. a Fat Emplo; ee aa

A separat



Mr. Reuther said i
chances of final passage would
be better if it were placed in
the over-all bill.
Mr. Reuther discarded a pre-
pared statement and spoke for
more than an hour on Negro
rights, human freedom and the
meaning of democracy. At one
point he said:
“Hach of us must understand
that human freedom is indivis-
ible. Every American’s freedom
is jeopardized when the free-
dom of any American is denied.
“We cannot defend freedom)
a ee as long as we deny
in Birmingham. No one will
Setanta,
“We must measure progress
in ‘the field of civil rights not
from where we have come, but
from where we have to go.”
“If Congress has the consti-
tutional right to regulate the
color of margarine served in a
restaurant how can anyone say
it does riot Have the right to
regulate the color of the people
who will be allowed to enter
that restaurant?
“The central question before

this committee is: Can Ameri-

cans eae cy be true to it-
s NEC 4

ind practical
ways e. central
value of*
lief ine the dignity and worth






mended that a provision estab-

y — a be-
of each person?”