"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : THE 1969 DESEGREGATION COURT CONSENT DECREE, IN THE HISTORIC JIMMY ANDREWS VS THE CITY OF MONROE, LOUISIANA DESEGREGATION COURT CASE THAT LEAD TO THE INITIAL ENROLLMENT OF BLACK STUDENTS AT "NEVILLE HIGH SCHOOL"

 

                                                                                                                                                                                             "Segregation has, No Place in the American Education System"  -Richard Dawkins                                                                                                                According to reliable sources,"THE MONROE CITY SCHOOL SYSTEM IS ACTIVELY DISCUSSING SIGNIFICANT REZONING CHANGES THAT COULD POSSIBLY PAVE THE WAY FOR NEVILLE HIGH SCHOOL TO BECOME A CHARTER SCHOOL!" Well, the first thing that comes to mind is that a couple of weeks ago, there was an article in The Monroe Free Press about how the Neville Charter Association was getting ready to REINTRODUCE their proposal to have Neville High School become a Charter School. You see, as I see it,  it was by CHOICE that "WHITE PARENTS" CHOSE to withdraw  their "WHITE CHILDREN" from public schools and enroll them into PRIVATE SEGREGATED SCHOOLS, IN THE FIRST PLACE! Also, up until the Louisiana State Congress refusal to allocate MILLIONS of DOLLARS in funding for Governor Jeff Landry's  FLAGSHIP PROGRAM, "THE LOUISIANA GATOR SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM," there was very little discussions about A NEW REZONING PLAN FOR MONROE CITY SCHOOLS. Additionally, the REZONING DISCUSSIONS seem to be mainly centered around transferring Black Students OUT OF SALLIE HUMBLE, LEXINGTON, AND NEVILLE TO MAKE ROOM FOR WHITE STUDENTS, whose parents are having problems paying the HIGH COSTS of sending their children to PRIVATE SEGREGATED SCHOOLS! Furthermore, I feel that Black Parents who have children at Sallie Humble, Lexington, and Neville should be paying close attention to what the Neville Charter Association and other White Organizations are plotting behind close doors!!! With that said, let me inform everyone about The 1969 Court Decree in Monroe Louisiana. Well, let's start with the Desegregation Lawsuit Case that led to the court decree. Back on August 5, 1965, Jimmy Andrews and Tommy Robertson filed a lawsuit against The City of Monroe, the Mayor, and the members of the Monroe City School Board, through their mothers, Ms. Etta Mae Andrews and Ms. Odell Willis, alleging racial segregation and discrimination in the operation of the Monroe City Public Schools. After months of deliberations, Judge Ben C. Dawkins Jr. issued a court order for the Monroe City Schools to desegregate, establishing a plan that mandated an end to bi-racial systems, requiring the city and parish districts to merge plans to integrate students and staff. One of the things that caught my eye is that since Judge Dawkins original court ruling in1969,"HIS CONSENT DECREE HAS BEEN SUBJECT TO AT LEAST TWENTY-TWO MODIFICATIONS," within the last 55 years! Finally, I would like to share this last piece of information,"WHAT I CONSIDER TO BE THE SMOKING GUN," behind the Neville Charter Association's scheme to make NEVILLE A CHARTER SCHOOL!                  Come to find out,"CHARTER SCHOOLS IN LOUISIANA CAN BYPASS TRADITIONAL DISTRICT MANDATES LIKE THE THE 1969 DESEGREGATION COURT CONSENT DECREE IN MONROE, LOUISIANA," because CHARTER SCHOOLS often operate under different state oversight rules and policies,"WHICH ALLOWS THEM TO SIDESTEP OLDER COURT-ORDERED DESEGREGATION PLANS AND CONSENT DECREES!" In other words, Louisiana Charter Schools are allowed to CLAIM PUBLIC SCHOOL STATUS, even though they are SEGREGATED AS HELL, and receive public funding as well! In closing, I would like to say that it is discouraging to say the least that many of our Black Public Elected Leaders and other Black Representatives in Monroe have decided to remain quiet, instead of speaking out on pertinent issues such as THE NEVILLE CHARTER ASSOCIATION'S  SHAMEFUL ATTEMPT to BYPASS the CURRENT DESEGREGATION LAWS and CONSENT DECREES that have been in place for DECA

"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : WHARLEST JACKSON SR., FORMER TREASURER OF THE NATCHEZ, MISSISSIPPI BRANCH OF THE NAACP

 

                                                                                               "Before Black People Die, We Multiply"            -Garry Blanson                                                                                                                                     It saddens me dearly when I think about all of the Black People who were killed at the hands of Police in America; those who were innocent, and those who were guilty, "BUT SHOULD NOT OF BEEN MURDERED BY VIGILANTE JUSTICE!"          On You-Tube, there is a video from 1969 of Civil Rights Activist/Actress Ruby Dee reading off a long list of the names of Black People who were killed by Police in America.You know what's even sadder than the Police killing Black People? What is even sadder is how so many of the guilty Policemen and Policewomen are allowed to escape punishment! By the  way, two of the most hideous incidents of Police killing Black People occurred right by here in Northeast Louisiana! The first incident that  I remember was the murder of "RONALD GREEN" by White Louisiana State Police Officers. Strangely enough, if it had not been for a LEAKED VIDEO of the "HORRIBLE BEAT DOWN" that "RONALD GREEN" received from the State Police Officers,    "WE WOULD NOT KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT THE BRUTAL WAY THAT RONALD GREEN DIED!"The second incident is the murder of my cousin,"WILLIAM HENDERSON," by White Monroe Police Officers. Yes, my cousin put himself in a bad situation, but I know that he didn't deserve to be executed by a firing squad of White Monroe Police Officers! These are just two on the many recorded times that Black People lives have been wrongfully taken by Police."WELL, THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT IT ALL IS THAT THEY CAN'T KILL US ALL!" Nevertheless, on to this week's Black Pioneer, Wharlest Jackson Sr.! Wharlest Jackson Sr. was born in 1929, the same year as previous "OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE BLACK PIONEERS," Martin Luther King Jr. and Pythina "Pye" Brown. Similar to many other Black Pioneers, there's no information online about Wharlest early life. As a matter of fact, the only information that I was able to find centered around his job and the bombing of his vehicle, which brought about his untimely death!     However, his oldest son praised Wharlest as being a good fisherman, hunter, and family provider. In addition to his being a fine sportsman, Wharlest was noted as being a fearless Civil Rights Activist.            By the way, at the time of his death, he held the position as treasurer for the Natchez Chapter of the NAACP. Additionally, Wharlest was employed at The Armstrong Rubber and Tire Company in Natchez, Mississippi. About week or so before Wharlest was killed, he received a promotion as well as a raise in pay at his job, which didn't sit well with the White workers at his job. You see, two other White workers had applied for the position, but Wharlest, a Negro was chosen for the position instead! Furthermore, it is rumored that two members of the local KLU KLUX KLAN had attached a bombing device under the frame of Wharlest vehicle, below the driver's seat.On the night of February 27, 1967, after working a full shift, and putting in a couple of hours of overtime, Wharlest exited the building of The Armstrong Rubber and Tire Company, got in his vehicle, and drove off. Wharlest was only a couple blocks away from his home when the bomb exploded, blowing off the roof of his vehicle, and thrusting Wharlest body from his vehicle! When his oldest son, Wharlest Jackson Jr. heard the loud blast from the yard of the Jackson home, he got on his bike and rode toward the sound of the blast. Once Wharlest Jr. made it to the site, he found his father's disfigured body lying in the street! Following a local investigation, and several FBI investigations, the case was closed, without anyone ever being arrested at all! On that dreadful day when Wharlest Jackson Sr. died, he left behind a wife and four children, which substantiates my quote at the beginning of this week's article,"BEFORE BLACK PEOPLE DIE, WE MULTIPLY!"