School Desegregation Digitization 3

By 1963, only thirteen out of 226 biracial school districts in Arkansas had begun to implement school desegregation plans. After the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, by the spring of 1966, only twelve had failed to draw up such plans. The delayed response to obeying the law proved crucial. White school administrators used the intervening period to craft longer-term strategies to stall the meaningful integration of schools. Black teachers often found themselves without any job protection and summarily dismissed from closed black schools. Meanwhile, black students were forced to accept the full responsibility for desegregating white schools. You can find out more about school desegregation in Arkansas in a new digital exhibit hosted by the UA Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture.