A History of Schooling in Shreveport, Louisiana during the 1970s: Racing Away from Race

• In Event: School Choice, Level Playing Fields, and States Rights: Why Betsy DeVos Needs to Study History

Abstract

When Caddo Parish schools desegregated in the 1960s and 1970s, conservatives were agile enough to understand that the old tactics of overt racism and public threat were counterproductive and not necessary to maintain white privilege. Council leaders simply changed the discourse. Public discussion shifted away from the racist discourse to efforts to recreate the effects of Jim Crow laws using the rhetoric of states' rights. In this presentation, I demonstrate the tactics used by city officials to delay, obfuscate, and wear down the Department of Justice and HEW to ensure that any school change or compromise would favor whites.

Author

• Douglas McKnight, University of Alabama