desegregation

10 Stories

Florida School Yanks Ruby Bridges Movie

Parent complains story about desegregation is inappropriate for 2nd graders

(Newser) - An elementary school in Florida is taking criticism for pulling the Disney film Ruby Bridges out of circulation for its students. As the Tampa Bay Times reports, the movie tells the true story of how Ruby, a Black 6-year-old girl, set off a firestorm when she attended a previously all-white...

Larger-Than-Life Senator Is Dead at 97
Larger-Than-Life
Senator Is Dead at 97
obituary
Apr 6, 2019 4:10 PM CDT

Larger-Than-Life Senator Is Dead at 97

Ernest F. 'Fritz' Hollings was a moderate in explosive times

(Newser) - Ernest F. "Fritz" Hollings, the silver-haired Democrat who helped shepherd South Carolina through desegregation as governor and went on to serve six terms in the US Senate, has died, the AP reports. He was 97. A spokesman said Hollings died at his home on the Isle of Palms early...

Miss. Senator Went to All-White School, Ducked Integration

With runoff looming Tuesday, new allegations of racist ties; Cindy Hyde-Smith dismisses them

(Newser) - Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith is facing a runoff election on Tuesday, and the Jackson Free Press has some less-than-helpful news in the wake of the Republican's "public hanging" comments . Prior to graduating high school in 1977, Hyde-Smith attended a segregation academy meant to allow white parents the opportunity to...

Linda Brown Dies 64 Years After Case That Made History

Decision led to school desegregation

(Newser) - Linda Brown lived to be 75 years old, but she had secured her place in history by the time she was 9. Brown, who died in her hometown of Topeka, Kan., this week, was at the center of the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case that caused school segregation...

Mississippi Town Must Desegregate Schools

Current setup is 'vestige of discrimination': court desegregation order

(Newser) - A small town in Mississippi with a railroad track down the middle literally separating its white community from its black one has been mandated by a federal court to desegregate its schools, possibly ending a half-century battle over the issue, Reuters reports. Per an order handed down by the US...

Civil Rights Hero Fred Shuttlesworth Dead at 89

Shuttlesworth survived bombings and beatings to end segregation

(Newser) - Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, one of the most dynamic leaders of the civil rights movement, died yesterday at the age of 89, reports the Washington Post . Shuttlesworth survived bombing attempts, beatings, and dozens of arrests in his attempts to end segregation in the South, and was key in making nonviolence a...

Haley Barbour Finds Himself in (Another) Civil Rights Mess

2012 GOP contender has problematic political roots, writes Steve Kornacki

(Newser) - Haley Barbour still hasn’t said whether he’ll run for president, but he’s already stirring up controversy thanks to a lengthy Weekly Standard profile in which he recalls his hometown of Yazoo City, Miss., fondly, and doesn’t remember the struggle for civil rights as being “that...

Rand Paul Bombs on Maddow Show

Kentucky candidate dodges question in disastrous interview

(Newser) - Rand Paul doesn't believe the government should tell businesses they can't discriminate against black people. That's essentially the takeaway from the newly-minted GOP Senate nominee's painful interview with Rachel Maddow last night, in which he spent 20 minutes trying to dodge questions about his stance on the Civil Rights Act,...

A Post-Racial Society? Your Toddler Would Beg to Differ

Kids learn racial difference early, and parents aren't helping

(Newser) - Parents, if you think you’re raising color-blind children by avoiding open discussions on race, you’re wrong and could actually be doing the opposite, Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman write in a lengthy Newsweek article exposing how babies really learn about racial difference. Many white parents shy away from...

Little Rock Desegregation Heroes Mark New Era

Former students who helped pave way for Obama presidency to attend inauguration

(Newser) - Five decades ago, nine teenagers walked into their new high school through screaming mobs who spat at them and shouted racist abuse. They were the first black students to desegregate Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., and became known as the Little Rock Nine. Seven of them will attend...

10 Stories