Guard Called Out as Schools in Selma Reopen Amid Protests

SELMA, Ala. —  Schools closed for a week by a racial protest were reopened Tuesday amid heavy security, including 200 National Guardsmen who were sent by Gov. Guy Hunt. Absenteeism was high, but officials reported no problems in the classrooms.

About 150 black student protesters boycotted Selma High School and marched around a flagpole chanting: “Shut ‘em down; no school,” before the opening bell. Two dozen other protesters continued a sit-in at City Hall for a seventh day.

“This is the first time troopers have been used to ensure that whites could go to school,” said Jamie Wallace, executive director of the Selma Chamber of Commerce.

The protest, prompted by the dismissal of the city’s first black school superintendent in a vote by white school board members, was less strident than in recent days, when throngs of black demonstrators rekindled images of the historic Selma civil rights marches.

The superintendent, Norward Roussell, who was reinstated last week, called Tuesday for racial unity. But he said he doubted that the conflict will end “until there is some movement on my contract,” which expires in June.

His supporters contend that he is being dismissed because of his race and actions he took on behalf of black students, not because of an alleged lack of managerial skills cited in an evaluation.

Also, protesters want the school board, with six white members and five black members, to be elected rather than appointed by the City Council, which has five white and four black members.

Hunt agreed to dispatch 200 National Guard military policemen to join an undisclosed number of state troopers and local police officers in guarding Selma’s 11 public schools, which were closed last Wednesday amid rising racial tensions. The system, with 5,971 students, is about 70% black, and some white parents have moved their children to private schools or other systems in the last week.

Roussell said about 23% of the students were absent Tuesday.