Black, White, Brown, Green, and Fordice: The Flavor of Higher Education in Louisiana and Mississippi

Authors

Alfreda A. Sellers Diamond

Abstract

Like many other states, Mississippi and Louisiana have struggled, and continue to struggle with the difficult problem of racial segregation in higher education. Through decades of litigation and negotiation, their higher education systems developed plans to equalize and unite the historically black and historically white institutions. The author's examination of Mississippi and Louisiana's strategies reveals that the states used several different approaches to achieve desegregation, but nevertheless their colleges and universities, like many aspects of society, remain largely racially distinct. The author concludes that many elements essential to effective desegregation were missing from the Mississippi and Louisiana plans. Hopefully, the author offers possible ways that the historically white and historically black colleges that continue to exist can become "just schools."

Recommended Citation

Alfreda A. Sellers Diamond, Black, White, Brown, Green, and Fordice: The Flavor of Higher Education in Louisiana and Mississippi, 5 Hastings Race & Poverty L.J. 57 (2008).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_race_poverty_law_journal/vol5/iss1/2