Edward Bates

Dr. Gagnon

The DeKalb County School Desegregation

 

 

The desegregation of the DeKalb County school system proved to be a long and arduous task.  For a decade following the Brown v. Board of Education decision, the school board and the county fought viciously to protect the race-based political and social structure that had been established late in the nineteenth century.  Together, they cleverly deceived the federal government by implementing the bare minimum required of them by law.  Eventually they would be forced into total compliance, but a simultaneous change in the demographics of the county would question the actual extent of compliance.  It would take a Supreme Court decision nearly three decades later to rule whether or not the still divided schools were the continued resistance to desegregation or merely the result of changing demographics.

 

Racial discrimination was the central theme motivating de jure segregation in DeKalb County.  It enabled the self-proclaiming, superior white race to impose rules and regulations, which severely limited the opportunities both socially and economically for members of the black race.  From these tensions, blacks realized that they were going to have to do something about their problem if it were to get resolved.  They realized that they were not being treated fairly and they wanted the opportunity for equality.  Long lasting tensions between the races created an unstable society.1 

 

There was a racial hatred that existed between whites and blacks.  The white class wanted to remain superior over the black class and educational proved to be the key tactic to maintaining dominance.  Whites could forever remain atop society if they could keep blacks “unschooled and untrained.”  Many whites felt that depriving blacks of a quality education “could keep the black population subservient.”2

 

Comprising the eastern side of the city of Atlanta, DeKalb County became a focal point nationally in terms of race relations and school segregation.  The white defiance to mandate integration made headlines around the country and black communities all over the nation who were undergoing the same sort of process appreciated the effort and moral fervor displayed by DeKalb County residents for equality.  While the decision from Brown v Board of Education combined with the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s helped propel much of the country towards desegregation, these events did very little to shape the school system of DeKalb County in a positive and progressive manner.  In fact, it can be argued that initially the county’s measures taken towards integration were actually used against the blacks of DeKalb County in an attempt to preserve segregation.  While the programs that were created temporarily satisfied the monitoring courts, the intentional degree of inefficiency present within those programs also satisfied the county government who had designed the programs to ensure that segregation would not die without a fight.3 

 

The 1950s were supposed to be a turning point for the nation in terms of shifting school systems towards integration.  Blacks and whites, who were sympathetic to the cause, joined to form groups and organizations like the Commission on Interracial Cooperation.  The Supreme Court decision in Brown v Board of Education (1954) marked the beginning of a process that would eventually bring integration to the school systems.  The problem was that it was a slow process and the school systems like DeKalb County were going to evade the order for more than a decade.  Residents fighting for integration did not take this lightly.  As one black man from Atlanta proudly exclaimed in 1960, “we do not intend to wait placidly for those rights which are already legally and morally ours to be metered out to us one at a time.”4 

 

As blacks began to challenge the legal system during the late 1960s, using the Brown v. Board of Education decision as a stepping-stone, they were able to experience the first signs of meaningful change.  The only problem was that the Brown decision had been ruled fifteen years earlier.  During these years, the DeKalb County school system structured the transfer to integration in a deliberately inefficient manner.  They repeatedly used the issue of overcrowding as an excuse for not having the resources available to de-establish the dual-system schools.  The school system claimed that they did not have the funding to make integration possible.  By successfully exposing the stagnant nature of the county’s plan for desegregation, the courts were able to rule in the favor of integration.  The implementation of desegregation had been long overdue in DeKalb County.  Citing that “all deliberate speed” was not fast enough, the courts opened the doors for meaningful integration.  It was obvious to everyone that the conditions were not providing blacks with the same education as whites.  Not only were the schools providing unequal opportunities for whites and blacks, but they were also still operating a segregated, dual-system.5     

 

As a result of the racial inequality of the DeKalb County dual-system, black schoolchildren were not receiving an adequate education.  Test scores were significantly lower in the all black schools in comparison to the white schools, the instructors were paid less money in the black schools, and the facilities and funding were not proportionate either.  There was also a major problem of overcrowding in the all black schools, while the white schools were all running well under capacity.  In 1969, the DeKalb County school system had 74,741 students and of those 3,754 or roughly five percent, was black.  Of the county’s seventy-seven elementary schools and twenty high schools, five of those elementary schools and two of the high schools were attended only by blacks.6

 

 The DeKalb County school system did not implement any programs for meaningful desegregation until 1966.  At that time, the “Freedom of Choice” plan was introduced.  The goal of this plan was to give majority students the option of attending the next nearest school according to the school zones.  Unfortunately, the school zones were “gerrymandered” so that seven schools were all black.  Whites who lived in the black zone would be the minority in the area, so they would be given the “freedom of choice” to chose a different school.  Julian Bond commented, “the only freedom of choice in Atlanta’s School integration plan is the freedom school officials have to keep most Negro students out of nearby-white schools.” In cases where blacks were able to transfer to a predominately white school, they were often mistreated by white faculty members and other students and in many cases did not finish the school year due to suspensions.7 

 

1968 was a big year for the DeKalb County school system.  In this year, the Supreme Court decided in Green v. School Bd. of New Kent County that the “freedom of choice” plan was not an effective way to desegregate.  Also during this year, several black high school students from DeKalb County, including Willie Eugene Pitts, and their parents in addition to four white students and their parents decided to file a class action lawsuit against Jim Cherry, the superintendent, and the entire DeKalb County school system.  The complaint dealt with the county’s failure to integrate the school system as well as the failure to comply with the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare that was mandatory under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Failure to comply with this would result in the elimination of federal funding to the school.  At this time, federal funding to the DeKalb County school system was 2.3 million dollars, which was approximately eight percent of the school’s annual budget.  DeKalb County did not want to concede segregation, but knew that they had to do something to stall the mounting dilemma.8

 

After the lawsuit was filed, the DeKalb County school system made an attempt to satisfy the petitioners by implementing their own desegregation plan.  The “equalization plan,” as it was called, pumped an enormous amount of money into the black inferior schools to bring them up to speed with the white schools of the county.  Money went into the improvement of black school in the form of facilities, higher paid instructors, services, activities, and programs.  The school system seemed to be missing the boat on the unconstitutionality of the separate but equal doctrine.  In fact, the school system provided this improvement in the hopes that the blacks would be happy with the conditions and voluntarily accept segregation in the school system.  The petitioners did not fall for this tactic and neither did the courts!9   

 

In June of 1969, the courts ruled that the DeKalb County school system must be completely desegregated in all grades, including kindergarten by the start of the school year in the fall of 1969.  The court also ordered DeKalb County to redraw the school zones so that they would not form all black or all white school districts.  In addition the court ordered the closing of all the black schools.  This would send the black students who had attended those schools to the previously all white schools.  The move to close the schools was the single most important event in the process of integration.  It ensured immediate desegregation and gave the county no choice but to include the blacks in the schools with white students.  Many whites were infuriated by the decision and thought that the courts were out of touch with the situation.  Decatur republican, Ben Blackburn, commented about the ruling, “the court is operating in a vacuum and has failed to seek the distinction between Alice in Wonderland and reality.”  Going beyond that, Governor Lester Maddox called the decision “a criminal act.”  Indeed, the ruling upset many whites, but at this juncture the southern grip on segregation was beginning to unravel.10 

 

Not only was the integration of students vital to the process, but also equally important was the integration of diverse faculty members.  The courts maintained that race would not be a factor on the administrative side of the school system.  To make sure that the school system was following orders, progress reports had to be sent to the courts annually to monitor the current student and faculty statistics in reference to race at the schools.11

 

Desegregation appeared to be working properly immediately following the closure of the all black schools.  For the first time ever, a substantial number of black and white students were attending the same public schools.  But how would the whites react to the sudden invasion of blacks into their schools?  Would the forcing of black students into the white schools eliminate the hatred and racial tension that had caused the division to begin with?12

 

The years following the 1969-70 school year saw a peculiar trend occurring.  Nothing had changed as far as school policy was concerned, but all of a sudden the DeKalb County schools began to re-segregate.  With each years report to the supervising court, the numbers began to turn upside down.  What had been mostly white schools evolved into predominately all black schools.  In a ten-year span, the enrollment in DeKalb County schools decreased sixteen percent.  While the overall enrollment was decreasing, the black enrollment increased 119%.13

 

DeKalb County was experiencing a massive demographic shift.  Whites began to move out of areas that were experiencing racial integration.  There was a rush to sell their property before the districts would be labeled as “black neighborhoods.”  The huge number of whites selling their properties caused real-estate values to plummet.  Many decided to move out of the county to the predominately white suburbs, while others took sanctuary on the equally white north side of DeKalb County.  During this transition, approximately 47,000 blacks moved from the inner city of Atlanta to the southern side of DeKalb County.  The formulas and school districts that had been created prior to the demographic shift were no longer producing an equally balanced school system.  With a physically divided county, the schools within the county took similar shape.14

 

Whites, losing the battles with the courts over desegregation, decided to retreat and relocate to areas that were predominately white.  This remained the last option for retaining physical separation between whites and blacks.  It appeared that the courts could order changes to the structure of the bi-racial society, but they could not change the sentiment of the whites not wanting to integrate with the blacks.

 

With the schools in DeKalb County becoming racially polarized once more, the question of the legality reappeared.  As far as the school system was concerned, they were operating in compliance with the court orders.  In 1986, Robert R. Freeman, the school superintendent, sought to have the county school system dismissed from the judicial supervision.  The original petitioners against the county, including Willie Eugene Pitts, were outraged by the request.  They believed the re-segregation of the school system was in violation of the court’s order to desegregate.15 

 

The Supreme Court decision in Green v. School Board of New Kent County (1968) not only ruled that the “freedom of choice” plan was not effective, but it also created certain criteria to evaluate whether or not a school system was in compliance with desegregation.  The factors included: student assignments, transportation, physical facilities, extracurricular activities, teacher and principal assignments, and resource allocation.  The case of Freeman v. Pitts was heard in the Court of Appeals and the ruling stated that the schools were still not desegregated and the court would retain supervision in the continuing process.  The argument on behalf of the DeKalb County school system was that the changing demographics were out of their control and the subsequent division in the school districts was the result of this natural occurrence rather than the intentional resistance to desegregation.  Not happy with the outcome, the school system filed an application for writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court in February of 1990.  The case was accepted one year later and the trial began.16

 

The Supreme Court heard the case and voted eight to zero in favor of DeKalb County.  Justice Kennedy noted that “where re-segregation is a product not of state action, but of private choices, it does not have constitutional implications.”  He continued by saying, “it is beyond the authority and beyond the practical ability of the federal courts to try to counteract these kinds of continuous and massive demographic shifts.”17 

 

The courts supervised the desegregation of the DeKalb County school system for over twenty years.  After the process of desegregation was deemed over, the school districts still remained largely divided in terms of race.  Unfortunately, the process of desegregation in DeKalb County did not accomplish much terms of racial division within the county.  Two things it did accomplish were the application of equal teacher and principal assignments and also ensured appropriate resource allocation to all of the schools regardless of location or predominant race of the school.  The legal process to desegregation was extremely exhaustive and expensive for everyone in DeKalb County.  Much of the county resources and time went into the process of defending the ideals of the DeKalb County school system.  The effort can be summed up by this statement, “if one half of the energy that had been devoted to opposing and protesting the federal court orders had been devoted to making them work and to developing support for the public schools, we would have had only a small problem.”  As long as the whites chose to live in physically separated regions from the blacks, complete racial integration in the schools does not appear feasible.18      

                       

                  

Related Links:  Freeman v. Pitts (1992)

                            DeKalb County Schools

                            Timeline of School Desegregation (Atlanta)