In 1967, a group of Black parents and their children in Rankin County, Mississippi filed a federal lawsuit against Rankin County School District (RCSD) to integrate the school district, which still maintained a segregated public school system thirteen years after the landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. The case, known as Adams v. Rankin County Board of Education, aimed to fulfill the constitutional right of Black children to equal opportunity in education. LDF and local attorneys, including Fred Banks, Jr., represented the class of Black students and their parents and successfully secured rulings from federal court placing the school district under court supervision. Since 1970, RCSD has operated under a series of desegregation orders, like many other districts across the country, to ensure that this promise becomes a reality. LDF and local counsel Amir Badat continue to advocate on behalf of Rankin County community members to ensure the school district meets its legal obligations to comply with the requirements in the court’s desegregation orders and fully remove the vestiges of past racial segregation in the public schools.
On August 2, 2024, the district filed a submission to the court arguing that it has achieved “unitary status” and asking the court to end the desegregation orders, end court supervision, and dismiss the case. In response, LDF filed a brief in opposition to the school district’s request and is working to advocate on behalf of RCSD community members to ensure desegregation standards are met within the district.
While more than 70 years have passed since the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision, many school districts like RCSD across the country still face enduring barriers to achieving equal opportunity for all children. In fact, in recent decades, school districts are increasingly more segregated than ever before, and research shows that many did not desegregate at all.
Student enrollment at Steen’s Creek Elementary, Puckett Elementary Florence Elementary, Florence Middle, Pisgah Elementary, and Pisgah High, remains overwhelmingly white. In some recent years, each school has been more than 82% white.
RCSD regularly approves student transfers that exacerbate racial segregation by sending white students to predominantly white schools and Black students to disproportionately Black schools.
22% of RCSD’s students are Black, but only 12.8% of students are in the gifted program, Venture.
Puckett Elementary, Highland Bluff Elementary, and Pisgah High have had zero Black teachers on staff in recent years. Several schools have only one or two Black teachers.
Twelve District schools had zero Black principals or assistant principals. Many schools have leadership teams that are nearly all white.
Black students are nearly twice as likely to be suspended than white students. From 2019-2024, the District suspended Black students at higher rates than white students.
Some schools have zero or only one Black coach or sponsor for extracurricular activities.
A desegregation case continues until a school district demonstrates to the court that it has eliminated all forms and vestiges of segregation to achieve equal educational access for all students — referred to as “unitary status”. To achieve unitary status, a school district must show the court that it has fulfilled its duties under the desegregation orders in all areas, including student assignment, faculty and staff assignment, extracurricular activities, quality of education, and discipline. To make a decision, a court will consider whether racial disparities and lack of equal opportunities persist related to these factors. Once a school district has demonstrated that it has fulfilled these duties and achieved unitary status, the court can lift the desegregation orders and declare the school district no longer bound by them.
The United States Supreme Court issues the landmark unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education and rules that racial segregation of children in public schools is unconstitutional. This case captures the hope of ensuring educational equity for all children.
A group of Black students and their parents file a lawsuit against the Rankin County Board of Education in federal court. They are the original class plaintiffs. The plaintiffs contend that the quality of education for Black students and white students in RCSD is not the same and that RCSD operates under an unlawful and unequal racially segregated public education system in violation of Brown.
The Southern District of Mississippi District Court agrees with the plaintiffs and orders RCSD to (1) take affirmative steps to end all school segregation and (2) eliminate the effects of a racially dual public education system.
The Rankin County Integration Plan is implemented. Students have the freedom to “zone jump,” or to attend any public school in the district. The plan does not work. White students leave the McLaurin School Zone and only 268 seats out of 1,330 available seats are filled. Meanwhile, the Florence School Zone is at overcapacity. Many social events are canceled to avoid interracial activities. Black schools are absorbed by white schools, and Black teachers are fired or not rehired. The number of Black faculty in the district decreases by 26 percent.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rules that the 1971-72 integration plan violates the Constitution. The court issues a consent decree, which orders the school district to desegregate classrooms, rehire Black faculty and staff, and give Black students equal access to extracurricular activities. The court also orders specific zoning to combat “white flight,” and zone jumping by white parents moving their children out of areas with integrated school zones.
The court issues a second consent decree, supplementing the 1970 Order and 1973 Consent Order. Among other things, the court further orders that:
The court rules that RCSD has reached partial unitary status. This means that RCSD has fulfilled its duties under the desegregation order in two categories—transportation and facilities. However, RCSD has not achieved this for faculty and staff assignment, student assignment, extracurriculars, and quality of education.
RCSD files a motion seeking a declaration of unitary status in all remaining areas and an end to the case.
LDF files a motion in opposition to RCSD’s motion, arguing that the district has not yet achieved unitary status.
