Until he won the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing, Horance G. “Buddy” Davis Jr., did not know his work had been submitted. His editor, Ed Johnson, had entered it without his knowledge.
Davis had begun writing editorials for The Gainesville Sun in 1963. He was also a tough but respected professor in the journalism program at the University of Florida. His winning editorials supported the peaceful desegregation of Florida’s schools.
Although Davis did not consider these editorials to be among his best, he had written them in the same voice he always strove for.
“I wanted the readers to know that I was one of them, that I was one of the boys,” he told an interviewer. “I'm not one of those damn Yankees who comes down here and tells everyone what to do.”
Davis’s editorial of Aug. 3, 1970, was addressed directly to Gov. Claude Kirk, who was running for a second term. Kirk, Florida’s first Republican governor in 90 years, lost the race to Reubin Askew.
Do you, Governor Kirk?
By HORANCE G. DAVIS Jr.
Horance G. "Buddy" Davis, Jr.
Does he want re-election so badly that he will pull a George Wallace and split Florida’s people asunder?
It is a fair question, we think, because of Governor Kirk’s racial posture of the past few months. Early this year, he sought extension of the deadline for school desegregation. This was not unreasonable.
But what followed was contemptible. He descended into Manatee County, twice suspended the School Board to keep it from implementing court orders, and caused a confrontation with U.S. marshals almost to the point of violence. Under threat of contempt of court and a $10,000 daily fine, Governor Kirk retreated while muttering “victory” all the while.
Victory for whom? Certainly not law and order.
The governor’s latest binge concerns private schools. He attacked the U.S. Revenue Service for removing their tax exemptions. Governor Kirk conveniently ignores that the IRS ruling clearly applies only to segregation academies.
Does Kirk approve of federal tax exemptions to schools created to avoid integration? “I don’t know of any school that is actually doing what you’re saying,” he replied.
We can give some tips.
– While he’s in Alachua County today, Governor Kirk might chat with County Commissioner Ralph Cellon, whose Rolling Green Academy out Alachua way was founded after school integration in February, has 100 students, a faculty of 7, and tuition of $450.
– He might also look into the explosive expansion of the Heritage Christian School out on North 34th Street, which intruded on public property to recruit students who had the necessary $575.
– He might ask about the embryonic Oak Hall Preparatory School founded by Dr. Billy Brashear and Dr. Harry L. Walker, open to all “without regard to race, creed or color” – with $1,100 tuition, of course.
These are not monumental and hardly worth pressing. More important is the state of Claude Kirk’s mind. And we desire to address him directly.
Back in 1964 when passions ran hot, you said this, Governor Kirk: “I believe in equality before the law and equality of opportunity. . . . We must put to an end the cultivated feeling of minorities and recognize that we are all Americans.”
Back in 1967, you told The Saturday Evening Post: “I’m not one of those red-necked governors like Lester Maddox. . . . I’m the only good guy in the South.”
Later, when invited to a segregation conference in Alabama, you said: “We here in Florida . . . cannot join in attempts to subvert or delay the law of the land as interpreted by the Supreme Court.”
The important thing, Governor Kirk, is whether you have abandoned those high ideals and cast your political lot on the side of bigotry.
Do you, Governor Kirk, think so little of your people?
Sources: “Horance G. 'Buddy' Davis, journalist,” by George Hutchens, gainesvile.com, July 27, 2004, http://www.gainesville.com/article/20040727/NEWS/40727029 ; Pulitzer Prize Editorials: America’s Best Writing, 1917-2003 (Third Edition), William David Sloan, Laird B. Anderson (eds.), Iowa State Press, 2003, pp. 181-82.