The Crime of Minnie Lee

In her 21 years as a teacher in little (pop. 2,500) Lakeland, Ga., Mrs. Armstrong B. Baskin, 64, never aroused anything but praise in the community. A farmer's wife, she worked hard for her $3,300 a year, was well liked both by her elementary-school pupils and by their parents. Last week Minnie Lee Baskin was out of a job. Reason: she had outraged the sensibilities of Lakeland's whites.

She committed the outrage with all the innocence in the world. One day last December she inadvertently dismissed her fourth-grade class late, found that the school bus, which normally takes three of her boys home, had already left. She offered to drive the boys home herself. But as luck would have it, she found that her car had a flat tire. Just then, a Negro school bus drove into sight, and one of the boys, Pat Taylor, 9, sensibly pointed out that "it goes right by my house." Teacher Baskin assured the boy that she would drive him home once the tire was fixed, but since Pat seemed impatient and did not seem to mind riding with Negroes, she hailed the bus and let the boy climb in.

When Pat's father learned what had happened to his son, he flew into a rage. Next day County School Superintendent J. W. Threatte called Teacher Baskin in, ordered her to explain to Mr. Taylor exactly what had happened. At first Minnie Lee Baskin did not feel that the matter was particularly urgent, decided to postpone her visit until after the Christmas holidays. When school reopened, the superintendent called her in again. The whole school board, he said, was up in arms. She had better see Taylor fast.

When Teacher Baskin first called on

Taylor, he was not at home. It was not until a few nights later that she finally caught up with him. By that time, Taylor had calmed down, even agreed to sign a statement absolving her of any evil intention. With the document in hand, she felt sure that the incident was closed.

She was wrong. Huffed Superintendent Threatte when she showed him the statement : "This may not be the last you hear of this business." The same day, a school-board member called on Armstrong Baskin, told him that his wife should resign, or be fired. A few days later, Superintendent Threatte, Board Chairman Wallace Thigpen and Member John Crum visited Teacher Baskin herself. Confronted by the awesome threesome of Threatte, Thigpen and Crum, she decided to quit.

Last week she reconsidered, insisted that her resignation "is illegal because it was under duress." But no one around town really thinks that Schoolmistress Baskin will ever teach in Lakeland again. "What is my crime?" she once demanded of a school-board member. "Not a thing," said that worthy, "except you put a white boy on a nigger bus, and a lot of folks don't like it."

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