The Kansas City Trouble

Since the public schools of Kansas City, Mo. were integrated four years ago, the board of education has tried to hush up ugly racial incidents. But parents heard stories from their children, and the word soon got around town: in a few schools, white and Negro pupils were living by gangland rule. One ominous piece of supporting evidence: police cars kept daily watch on certain schools when the children arrived and left.

Last week, after one of his white male teachers had been hit by a Negro pupil, School Superintendent James A. Hazlett finally brought the mess into the open. The story, as Hazlett and his teachers told it, was one of basic hooliganism aggravated by racial friction. Strong-armed bullies of both races extort nickels and dimes from young whites and Negroes alike. But when an argument starts, the races close ranks. "A fight might not be caused by racial issues in the beginning," said Hazlett, "but before it is over, you have a white-Negro problem."

At Central Junior High (64% Negro), teachers patrol the lavatories during class breaks to prevent gang attacks, often frisk the pupils for switchblades and razors. Favorite weapon: a beer-can opener with honed edges. One boy at Central Junior was transferred to another school, his teacher reported, "because the extortion racket and fear were just about to produce a nervous breakdown."

Teachers--white and Negro--at Central Junior lay much of the blame for the classroom combat on a small core of Negro bullies whose methods were soon picked up by other pupils. Other troublemakers: chronic malcontents who have to stay in school under Missouri law until they are 16, and non-pupils who invade the school grounds to stir up trouble.

The lid blew off a fortnight ago when Preston Young, 16, a Negro pupil at Central Senior High, punched Richard Powers, 28, a gym teacher. Outraged Superintendent Hazlett last week prodded the board of education into expelling Young for the rest of the year, asked for the right to expel any disorderly pupil for up to a full semester. Hazlett called for the names of juvenile extortionists and weapon carriers, planned to make their parents "answer to the central office why their child should stay in school."

Meanwhile, Kansas City cops continued to patrol the schoolyards, cracked down on non-pupil troublemakers. "Some day someone will bump the wrong person," said one sergeant, "and when it happens, I'm afraid we'll have a lot worse situation here than they had at Little Rock."

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