Mary Blackstone

Dr. Gagnon

History 3090

November 5, 2004

History of Desegregation: Athens-Clarke County

In 1954 the United States Supreme Court ruled, "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" which violates all Americans fourteenth amendment right to "equal protection under the law." This decision caused twenty states to have to reevaluate having segregated school districts. Georgia was one of those states. Although Georgia and the other states fought the decision by passing State laws banning desegregated schools, the federal government fought a long fight to uphold the decisions. The Nixon administration finally won out by forcing the schools to either desegregate or lose federal funding in 1970. Athens-Clarke County schools were no different. They began token integration in 1963 by allowing six black students to attend formerly all black schools. Over the next seven years the Clarke County School District fought the federal government as much as it could to keep separate schools, even almost losing federal funding by not complying with the federal standards. Athens story is not that different from other counties in Georgia and the Nation.¹

After the Brown V Board of Education decision the Governor of Georgia, Herman Talmadge, stated that Georgia schools would not desegregate. Talmadge said that the decision did not uphold the Constitution and "blatantly ignored all law and precedent." In fact Georgia and South Caroline went as far as to try to abolish the current school system, replacing it with a private one ran by churches and other private organizations, with the state setting up scholarships. In fact the Georgia State Legislature passed a law making it a felony for and state figure to give money to support desegregated schools, making it impossible for State districts to comply with the Supreme Court decision.²

When these laws proved unsuccessful, Georgia tried to create separate but equal schools, even going as far as to let a few token black students attend white school, all to try and get the Courts off their backs. Atlanta agreed to a plan in 1959 that allowed a small number of black twelfth graders to gain acceptance in white schools. Legal fighting on behalf of the black community kept this plan on the books for a year, and by September 1961 they admitted some eleventh and twelfth graders. However, few students wanted to move in the last years of their schooling especially when they would be such a minority. In 1961 ten of the 133 applicants were accepted into previously all white schools. That number grew more then four times as much in the following year with forty four of the 266 applicants were accepted to grade tenth, eleventh and twelfth. Although this seems like a gross improvement 4000 black students still remained in overcrowded schools, and this small change resulted in great white flight into the suburbs.³

In 1963 Athens-Clarke County began token integration by allowing six black students to attend previously all- white schools. In August of that year, the Clarke County Board of Education received a petition containing about one hundred signatures asking to desegregate the schools. The Board compromised, and decided to keep the schools separate, but equal. The lawyer representing the school district claimed that the Supreme Court decision (Browne V. BOE) applied only to that particular county, not all counties. However, if the parents were willing to fill out the necessary paperwork, the Board of Education would allow the students to transfer from their current schools as long as the application was approved. That summer, the Board received eleven applications, three of which were sanctioned by the NAACP. Of those applications the Board approved eight, however only six were black students who requested to be moved to white schools.⁴

In 1964 Congress passed the Civil Rights Act with specific laws on how education should work in order to be equal. First it said that schools could not discriminate against a student due to "race, color, religion or national origin." It also stated however, that this does mean the schools should assign students to overcome a racial imbalance. The Act also provided for grants to pay for teachers training and specialist to advise if problems occur. Lastly, it outlined what the Attorney General should do if a complaint is filed. Since these were the only guidelines, Athens-Clarke County was completely in accordance to the law. ⁵

In June of 1965, the Athens Board of Education passed the "Freedom of Choice" plan, which allowed more black students to attend white schools. The "Freedom of Choice" plan was in actuality no different then the plan that the school district was currently doing, except that applications were sent to all the parents within the district, instead of being sent by request. All parents were to fill out one form stating what school they had chosen for their child. A separate document stated that the parent wanted their child transferred along with an explanation as to why they want to transfer. The Pupil Transfer Committee would then look at all of the transfer applications. If overcrowding occurred in one school, then the student would be placed according to proximity, not race or origin. The "Freedom of Choice" plan also included training for personnel, so that they would know how to deal with a mixed race class. This plan resulted in approximately 200 black students attending schools that were previously all white.⁶

In May of 1966, Superintendent Wood explained to the Athens-Clarke County Board that there were many problems with "Freedom of Choice", and that needed to be dealt with. In his yearly report to the board, Woods explained that "Freedom of Choice" needed to be reformed to fix several problems. First, there was major over-crowding in many schools, the white ones. Overcrowding in a classroom does not result in a good learning environment for anyone. Second, due to the over crowding in white schools, many of the black schools were under crowded and some classes were vacant. Lastly, there was the problem of transportation. Many students attended schools far from their own neighborhood. This resulted in major bussing. School transportation was not only extremely expensive, but it forced the students to ride the bus for a long time before they got to school. Over the next month, the Board discussed the best ways to solve these problems. A month of discussing and few changes were made. They decided that 33 students was the limit for one classroom, but classrooms were still either under- or over- crowded. The Board did not address the problems with transportation, but decided instead that over the next year they would design a new plan, most likely with districts.⁷

The Office of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) saw no problems with the School Boards plans; however, once school started, it became apparent that things had not improved. The parents, especially, noticed lack of change. On September 14^th of that year, several parents met and protested the classroom sizes and the transportation provided by the school. Superintendent Wood responded by stating that there were openings in many of the previously all black schools, if the parents wanted to put in for a transfer. He also stated that there was nothing he could do to fix the problem at this point in time. A year later, the Board had still done nothing to fix the problem, and parents were back to complain again. This time, the low level of education that their students were receiving brought the parents up to a new level of rage. Many of the transfer students had a lower reading level, the whole class was forced to schedule social studies time as reading lessons. And again, the Board made excuses claiming that the students were receiving the best education possible.⁸

By February 1968 the Board knew that they could no longer carry on the current "Freedom of Choice" plan. They decided, once again, to modify it. "Freedom of Choice" would continue in the high and junior high schools, at least until a new high school was built. The elementary students who lived in the outlying areas of town would be placed in districts, while the inner-city students would have the freedom to choose between five schools. This revised plan would cut down the amount of transportation needed and also help with the overcrowding situation. Also included in the new plan was more training for teachers on how to work with an integrated classroom. The board felt that this would allow for a total of forty classes to have mixed races, with over 800 students attending schools that they would have not previously gone to. The Board’s ultimate plan was to go to complete districting with only five out of eighteen schools not being integrated by the 1969-1970 school year.⁹

The entire School Board was satisfied with the plan; however in April 1968 HEW set out new requirements for the next school year, and the plan did not meet them. This caused Clarke County to be considered non-compliant with federal standards, with the possibility of losing all federal funding. HEW sent a representative down to Athens to meet with the board and try to find a new plan for the upcoming year. HEW presented "Plan B." Plan B states that each neighborhood would have two elementary schools paired together. One would have grades one through four and the other, fifth and sixth. The neighborhoods would be divided in such a way as to have a seventy-thirty proportion.¹⁰

After the representative left, the board decided that they had three options. First, they could stick with the original plan. This would mean appealing to the courts and risk losing all federal funding. Second, they can use "plan B" or a similar plan endorsed by HEW. Plan B would be very expensive as it meant completely reorganizing the physical facilities and major bussing. Their final option was to revise the original plan so that the districts each have between twenty and forty percent black students. Each of the board members fought for several months over which plan was the best for Athens- Clarke County. The board was spilt in two groups. One was lead by Mr. Martin, who represented those for Plan B. Martin stated that he felt this was the most progressive and permanent plan. The other was lead by Mr. Jones. Jones stated that he could not support Plan B, because he could not understand how that would benefit the black student.

Jones felt that the school system could survive without the federal money. After a vote, the Jones group won out. ¹¹

With-in two weeks, the Board was back together, revoking the vote for the original plan and working on a compromise. The "Compromise Plan" was the first time that Board really attempted to fix all of the problems with "Freedom of Choice." This plan made all schools, except Burney Harris High School, desegregated. It called for "pocket busing" meaning that black and white students would be bussed from one school to another. The board looked at seven items when creating the plan: minimum bussing, grade one through six in elementary schools, minimum cost, practical and good for all children, a fifty-fifty proportion in East Athens and West Athens, twenty to forty percent blacks in all other schools, and a rearrangement of pupils in the five inner-city schools. Many parents protested saying that this plan had long bus rides which was illegal according to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. So many parents were upset that they hired a lawyer and sued the School Board. ¹²

Three separate petitions went to the Clarke County Superior Court and Judge Barrow upheld the compromise plan, stating that it was the "obligation" of the School Board to "terminate dual school systems." Barrow also stated that this was a "good faith effort" made by the Board. Parents appealed the decision, but this appeal did not stop the "Compromise Plan" from taking effect in the 1969-1970 school year. The appeal reached HEW who told the Board that they had until Dec 1, 1969 to achieve complete high school desegregation. This decision caused great concern for two major reasons. First they were still waiting for a new high school to be built, and secondly the Burney-Harris school building had a lot of history for the black community, having been built in 1868. On November 25, 1969 Superintendent McDaniel announced attendance plans, which made Burney-Harris an integrated school. ¹³

Things went well in the school district until April 16, 1969 when a disruption occurred at Athens High School. "Rowdy Thursday" began when black students at Athens High read a newspaper article calling them "militants." After refusing to return to class, the students walked off campus towards Burney-Harris, while at the same time, students from Burney-Harris began a march toward Athens High. These students met, and returned to Athens High, where a "melee" occurred in which several Athens High students were injured. The Burney-Harris students returned to there school and were told to "cool-off." Twelve students and 100 John Does were given temporary restraining orders from Judge Barrow. Attendance for the next month in both schools was low, until McDaniel announced that students would be reprimanded for unexcused absences.¹⁴

Students soon realized that many of the problems were due to a loss of identity, and a committee was formed to deal with this issue. This committee, made up of students from both high schools, came up with eight major decisions. First Athens High School would change to Clarke Central High School. Clarke Centrals school colors would be red, from Athens High, and gold, from Burney-Harris. The assistant football coach would be black, allowing for an integrated coaching staff. All student activities acceptance will not be based on race or color. All multi-ethnic textbooks would be considered when purchasing new textbooks. Administration and staff vacancies will be filled according to the existing race ratio. A bi-racial committee will approve all pre-requisites for classes, as to not keep black students out. Finally the 1970-1971 senior high curriculum will include black studies. This decision seems to keep future battles at bay.¹⁵

Athens- Clarke County School district desegregation policy evolved like many other school districts in Georgia. Although they spent many years fighting as much as possible, Athens allowed for a fairly peaceful transition from segregation to integration to desegregation. The School Board was aware of things that would upset not only the white community, but also the black community; such as desegregating Burney-Harris, and did it’s best to bring the people together as it attacked this extremely difficult process. Although not every decision made by the board was the best, one great was bring the high schools together to work out huge issues together. Luckily, Athens did not deal with any major issues because of desegregation like other cities including Selma and Little Rock. Ultimitaly Athens desegregation process was much more smooth then the rest of the Nation.¹⁶

1 Patterson, James T, Brown V. Board of Education: A Civil Rights Milestone and it’s Troubled Legacy (Oxford University Press, 2001) xiii-xxix. National Brown V. Board of Education webpage http://www.nps.gov/brvb/ . Accessed 5 October 2004. United States. Clarke County Board of Education. Meeting Minutes. 1963-1968. Accessed in Hargrett Rare Manuscripts Library. University of Georgia Libraries. United States. Clarke County Board of Education. Meeting Minutes. 1969-1976. Accessed in Hargrett Rare Manuscripts Library. University of Georgia Libraries.

4 . United States. Clarke County Board of Education. Meeting Minutes. 1963-1968. Accessed in Hargrett Rare Manuscripts Library. University of Georgia Libraries. Rice, Marion. "The Carrot and the Stick: Clarke County Desegregation." Athens Banner-Herald. 2 December 2001. Newspaper online. Available from www.libs.uga.edu/athens/education.html. Accessed 24 September 2004.

5 United States. Congress. Civil Rights Act 1964. Title IV. Accessed online. http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/civil64.html Accessed 18 October 2004. . United States. Clarke County Board of Education. Meeting Minutes. 1963-1968. Accessed in Hargrett Rare Manuscripts Library. University of Georgia Libraries

6 . United States. Clarke County Board of Education. Meeting Minutes. 1963-1968. Accessed in Hargrett Rare Manuscripts Library. University of Georgia Libraries 153-154; 168. Rice, Marion. "The Carrot and the Stick: Clarke County Desegregation." Athens Banner-Herald. 2 December 2001. Newspaper online. Available from www.libs.uga.edu/athens/education.html. Accessed 24 September 2004

7 . United States. Clarke County Board of Education. Meeting Minutes. 1963-1968. Accessed in Hargrett Rare Manuscripts Library. University of Georgia Libraries 228; 234-236. Rice, Marion. "The Carrot and the Stick: Clarke County Desegregation." Athens Banner-Herald. 2 December 2001. Newspaper online. Available from www.libs.uga.edu/athens/education.html. Accessed 24 September 2004

8 . United States. Clarke County Board of Education. Meeting Minutes. 1963-1968. Accessed in Hargrett Rare Manuscripts Library. University of Georgia Libraries 256; 262; 334. Rice, Marion. "The Carrot and the Stick: Clarke County Desegregation." Athens Banner-Herald. 2 December 2001. Newspaper online. Available from www.libs.uga.edu/athens/education.html. Accessed 24 September 2004

9 . United States. Clarke County Board of Education. Meeting Minutes. 1963-1968. Accessed in Hargrett Rare Manuscripts Library. University of Georgia Libraries 384-387. Rice, Marion. "The Carrot and the Stick: Clarke County Desegregation." Athens Banner-Herald. 2 December 2001. Newspaper online. Available from www.libs.uga.edu/athens/education.html. Accessed 24 September 2004

1. Clarke County School District http://www.clarke.k12.ga.us/home/index.jsp
2. Georgia Department of Education http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/
3. The University of Michigan Brown V BOE Digital archive http://www.lib.umich.edu/exhibits/brownarchive/index.html