1,000 Walk Out in School Boycott - Los Angeles Times, March 9, 1968

Note: The text below is a transcript of the original Los Angeles Times article. For the authentic historical document, including its original layout, please refer to the scanned images below the transcript. At the time this article was published, “Negro” was the common, respectful term for Black Americans, used in newspaper names and civil rights groups alike. Language changed over time as “Black” and “African American” became the preferred terms, so “Negro” now sounds outdated and is generally avoided. Keep that history in mind as you read this article written in its own time and words.

Los Angeles Times, Sat. Mar 9, 1968, pg. B1

1,000 Walk Out in School Boycott

Jefferson Teachers Quit Classes; 19 Juveniles 1 Adult Arrested

By Jack McCurdy

Times Education Writer

More than 1,000 students boycotted classes at four East Los Angeles high schools again Friday while teachers at virtually all-Negro Jefferson High School walked out in protest over concessions to student militants.

Nineteen juveniles and one young adult were arrested in disturbances at two other schools

At Jefferson High School, 1319 E. 41st St., teachers dismissed classes at 8:30 a.m. to hold a faculty meeting which lasted most of the day.

Vow Boycott Will Continue

Student leaders from Garfield, Roosevelt, Lincoln and Wilson high schools later vowed their boycott would continue and spread to elementary schools unless the Board of Education agrees to hold a special meeting on one of the predominantly Mexican-American campuses.

Hundreds of students left morning classes at the four schools to extend the boycott into the fourth straight day and converged on Hazard Park, 2230 Norfolk Ave., for a mass protest meeting.

They were met by Dr. Julian Nava and Dr. Ralph Richardson, board members, and Rep. Edward Roybal (D-Los Angeles}, who flew here from Washington because of the demonstrations.

Student leaders insisted that the board meet at Lincoln High, but Nava and Richardson said they could not commit the board.

Supt. Jack Crowther later pointed out that the board will hear student representatives at 3 p.m. Monday at school district quarters at its regular meeting.

Demand by Students

But at a press conference at Lincoln High, student leaders said they would only appear at thevMonday meeting to demand that the board come to Lincoln or one of the other East Los Angeles schools.

“If we get the board here,” said Robert Rodriguez, a Lincoln student, “we don't have to walk out. Once they listen they will agree with what we want.”

But he and the others warned that the board “will have to make a commitment and show us some proof” that it will meet the students’ demands before the boycott is called off permanently.

Replacement of Buildings

Students have compiled a long list of requests, including replacement of old buildings, more emphasis on Mexican cultural heritage in curriculum and textbooks, expanded student rights, bilingual instruction, smaller classes and a Mexican-oriented cafeteria menu.

At other schools, six teen-age girls were arrested for disturbing the peace when police attempted to break up an estimated 500 students who congregated in front of Belmont High School, 1575 W. 2nd St., during the lunch hour.

And 13 juveniles and a young adult were arrested for loitering at George Washington Carver Junior High, 4410 McKinley Ave., after outsiders urged students to leave school and several windows were broken by bricks, police said.

At Jefferson High, the faculty held a meeting before classes started and decided to continue the meeting at 8:30 “because teachers felt they could no longer hold classes under prevailing conditions,” a school official said.

Teachers reportedly are dissatisfied with with the authority given student militants to patrol the campus and enforce other security measures.

After classes were dismissed, students held discussions in the gymnasium and later met in the library with Mrs. Georgiana Hard, school board president, Richardson and the Rev. James Jones, a Negro board member.

They reportedly participated in a spirited discussion on student complaints about the cafeteria, student rights, teacher attitudes toward Negroes, and other educational matters.

In a statement Crowther said most of the students‘ requests would “require huge outlays of funds” and pointed out that the district “is in dire financial straits.”

He appealed to “parents and citizens to help get these young people back in the classroom.”

Full Attendance

But he warned that “we will not tolerate further absenteeism under these conditions” and asked for full attendance of students on Monday.

At Hazard Park, Nava pledged no disciplinary action against the students who boycotted classes “as long as no violence” occurs.

Although some violence took place at some other schools, the East Los Angeles schools have escaped virtually unscathed.

At an assembly at Roosevelt High, Nava said, “You have proven you can act by walking out. You made your point.”

“The way the walkouts have been conducted,” he said, “made me feel proud, for you have done this in a way not to hurt the school.”

Nava later told newsmen that, “I still think this thing is fully controllable and is positive and constructive.

“These students are resisting the efforts of outsiders to become influential. As long as we keep up the dialog, things should remain all right.”

Mrs. Hardy, in another press conference, said Mr. Jones should not have promised students at the board’s meeting Thursday that a Negro administrator would be placed at Jefferson High by Monday.

“I’m sure the administration will make an effort to get a black administrator there,” she said, “but there can obviously be no guarantee.”

The boycotts began Tuesday when large groups of students at Garfield and Jefferson high schools stayed away from classes.

[PHOTO CAPTION] SCHOOL PROTEST—Rep. Edward Roybal (D-L.A.) addresses students in city’s Hazard Park as Drs. Ralph Richardson and Julian Nava of Board of Education listen at the left. Lincoln High School student Robert Rodriguez signals for quiet from the rear of Congressman Roybal. Students warn of a boycott. Times photo by Bruce Cox