Draft:Controversy of school integration in Jacksonville in 1964

Controversy of School Integration in Jacksonville in 1964
Date	February 16th - March 5th, 1964
Location	Jacksonville, Florida
Lead figures
Rutledge Pearson Mayor of Jacksonville Haydon Burns
Casualties
Arrested	60

The 1964 school integration in Jacksonville, Florida was coming after the onslaught of the 1960 Riots also known as Ax Handle Saturday. These riots were dedicated to the fact that Jacksonville was still trying to fully accept racial integration not just in the schools but in the community as well. These riots were attempting with the help of the NAACP to get city leaders to hear them out and put forth real change.

**Instead of calling it a race riot I can refer to it as "civil unrest," "racial uprising," "civil disturbance," or lastly "racial tensions."

History

**[Condense this section] This 1964 event was of school integration being that lead to civil unrest events are related to the riots of the 1960s known as "Ax-Handle Saturday" because of the struggle for Jacksonville's white residents to fully accept racial integration of the black community. However, the riots of the 1960s showed sit-in demonstrations at lunch counters where black residents were peaceful when they were showing that there should be racial integration at lunch counters. This shortly ended after three weeks, but members of the Ku Klux Klan grabbed ax handles and decided to attack these protestors at the sit-ins who were peaceful. Due to this event happening on August 27th, 1960 is when the police got involved and it was quite bloody as a group of African Americans decided to use a variety of tactics against anyone who decided to prod these people protestors.

What followed suit, was what was known as civil unrest which was the ongoing struggle of not just integrating the black community but also the black residents of Jacksonville would have full equality. Additionally, it included racial integration into schools, such as the case that happened on February 16th, 1964. Rutledge Pearson was an important figure during the civil unrest events that occurred in 1964. The main reason behind this he was a civil rights leader and in particular he was the president of the Jacksonville Branch of the NAACP, and he was also a human rights activist and a educator as well. It was Rutledge Pearson who tried to form a biracial committee that Mayor Haydon Burns would hear on February 26th, 1964 of their complaints within Jacksonville and hopefully would oblige by following through with any complaints they had. This also included another event that happened on March 2nd, 1964 which was a meeting held at a church by the Jacksonville Ministry Alliance where they drafted a letter to Mayor Burns requesting that biracial committee be appointed which Pearson's asked previously on February 26th. All these events overall is showing and going more in-depth about certain points that important to the black community within Jacksonville such as racial integration at schools, integration at lunch counters, appointing a biracial committee so that complaints can be heard from both sides and a solution happened that resolves everyone's concerns within the city of Jacksonville.

There was a constant battle between Rutledge Pearson and Mayor Haydon burns as they placed Jacksonville residents in the middle of this whole civil rights struggle. According to Pearson, he believed by having a "boycott during Burn's second run for governorship" would highlight Burns campaign of not dealing or rather having a way to resolve the civil rights issue happening within his town. It would show during his campaign he was running that he couldn't handle this big issue head on or rather he didn't want to resolve it and integrate Jacksonville altogether. Moreover, tensions were already building within the black community and white extremists at this time as well, it didn't help as these white extremists kept up with the with the threat of violence. In contrast, one good thing did happen within the city but it didn't happen soon enough as they started to make radical changes but the African Americans didn't feel this came soon enough and they also believed this change was slow and was intentional to resolve this problem. The city though had a real predicament on their hands, if they played to one side or another it would be a lose-lose situation. If they tried to make any change the white community would react horribly, but if they didn't try to make any changes the black community would stand ready to fight.

February 16th, 1964

At 3:00 a.m. on February 16th, 1964, a bomb detonated beneath the residence of Iona Godfrey, a dedicated civil rights activist focused on advancing African American rights. Notably, Godfrey's six-year-old son Donald had enrolled in Lackawanna Elementary School which was previously an all-white school. Due to her enrolling her son in Lackawanna Elementary School had bothered the white parents whose children attended that school as well which created chaos as they protested and even threatened violence due to this one act of integration. The explosion served as a wake-up call for authorities, underscoring the gravity of the threats faced by activists. Fortunately, the Godfrey family emerged physically unharmed, although their home bore the brunt of the damage, estimated at $7,500. The bomb created a crater approximately "one yard wide and eighteen inches deep beneath the side of the house", causing significant structural damage to the "dining room and kitchen floors". Three forms of justice were taking place after this incident occurred. First, the Jacksonville Police Department was involved, secondly the state and local fire marshals were involved, and lastly was the FBI who launched an investigation.

In December of the previous year, Godfrey received a bomb threat from an unidentified female caller who provided no basis for the ominous warning. Recounting the events, Godfrey disclosed to a journalist that upon her son Donald's enrollment in the school, there were protests led by white women outside the premises during the initial days. Surprisingly, Donald did not express experiencing any mistreatment. Nonetheless, the Godfrey family interpreted the bombing of their residence as indicative of the extent of white resistance prevalent during this period, juxtaposed with the apparent tranquility following the riots of 1960.

February 26th, 1964

Pearson was determined to persist with his direct campaign aimed at achieving greater integration in the city. His ultimate goal was to establish a biracial committee in Jacksonville tasked with addressing the racial issues the city faced. Pearson took it upon himself to gather a group of African Americans to voice their grievances at a city council meeting, but their complaints went unheard. Bothered with the lack of response from local officials, Pearson showed it was due to the failure of city government to provide guidance on community relations. So, he told a reporter, "There were citizens who had come to voice support for their ideas. This tends to indicate the city government is failing to give direction and guidance to the community in the broad area of human relations." In response to this the NAACP increased the pressure on local officials. Joshua Williams, a political activist within the organization recalled, “Pearson felt the city was ignoring him and his demands. He had decided that no matter what happened he was going to force Burns to respond.” Pearson was determined to compel a response from Burns, the city's leader, despite Burns finding Pearson's protests bothersome. Burns recognized the potential for national attention on Jacksonville's racial tensions and sought to resolve the issues before they escalated further.

March 2nd, 1964

A gathering convened by the Jacksonville Ministerial Alliance on March 2nd, 1964, saw sixty-two ministers in attendance, including five black ministers. They unanimously agreed to draft a letter to Mayor Burns, urging him to appoint a biracial committee, as suggested by Pearson, to address the city's racial issues. Coincidently, during the same period, a suggestion from the Community Advisory Committee, primarily comprising business figures and supported by the influential Chamber of Commerce, was forwarded to the city council. The Ministerial Alliance aimed for Mayor Burns to assume leadership in improving race relations in Jacksonville through the council. Despite this, the city council disregarded both recommendations. The ministers hoped that by directly appealing to Mayor Burns, it would prompt the opening of a channel for communication. It is crucial to highlight that racial tensions were escalating rapidly during this period.

Aftermath

March 5th, 1964

After the investigation that the FBI started back on February 16th, 1964, they found the suspect and announced the arrest in the Godfrey bombing. "William Sterling Rosencrans, a thirty-year old laborer from Indiana, had planted the bomb," they said. Rosencrans had a long criminal history that included several burglaries and petty crimes. He became a suspect when his car was found near a cache of dynamite stolen from a local construction company.Rosencrans was connected in the bombing of two Florida East Coast Railroad trains in St. Augustine and was subsequently apprehended by law enforcement. According to FBI reports, he allegedly orchestrated the bombing of the Godfrey house in an attempt to intimidate the family into withdrawing their six-year-old child, Donald, from Lackawanna Elementary School. Rosencrans had been under FBI observation for a period, and it was "suggested that he had ties to one of the five Klan groups operating in Jacksonville. The Klan claimed a membership of approximately 1,000 individuals."

March 15th, 1964

The FBI widened its investigation to find collaborators, concentrating its attention on Jacksonville's Klan leaders. "On March 15th, 1964 FBI agents ended the investigation by arresting six Klansmen and charging them as accomplices in the Godfrey bombing. The African American press praised the FBI's actions. A Pittsburgh Courier reporter wrote, "Seemingly the arrests marked the first solid cases concerning the numerous bombings which have taken place in the South since post World War II." Bartley, also states several days "after Rosencran's arrest, police arrested fifteen African Americans for picketing. At the same time judges also sentenced ten other black teenagers to five days in prison for violating Florida's anti-sit-in law." These arrests only made NAACP'S beliefs stronger and helped NAACP's resolve as well.

See also

• Ax Handle Saturday
• Donal Godfrey