Since the 1970s, federal court orders have governed how many Southern communities integrated their public schools. But new research shows, as those orders have been lifted, school districts are gradually re-segregating.
The history of education in the South is woven to the history of race. When whites saw public-school integration coming, many started private schools, sometimes called "segregation academies" – and they still play a role.
Ever since the Supreme Court declared segregated schools unconstitutional in Brown-versus-Board-of-Education in 1954, the racial makeup of our schools has been in flux.
Forced integration made the South’s public schools some of the most integrated in the country. But now, here and across the nation, schools are re-segregating.
Some of the earliest desegregation efforts played out in Clinton, TN.
It’s been nearly 60 years since the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, and the subsequent flurry of lawsuits forcing the desegregation of schools. Two recent studies—one from Stanford University, the other from UCLA—say that schools, particularly in the South, are becoming re-segregated after the lawsuits are settled. Louisiana’s East Baton Rouge Parish appears to be part of that pattern.
