American Woman

by Benjamin T. Greenberg on August 28, 2006

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Black students ordered to give up seats to whites

August 24, 2006

COUSHATTA -- Nine black children attending Red River Elementary School were directed last week to the back of the school bus by a white driver who designated the front seats for white children. . . .

[Superintendent Kay] Easley would not comment much on the allegations Wednesday, saying it is a personnel issue. She acknowledged that she has investigated the claim. And she confirmed that the bus driver did not run her route Wednesday, nor would she today.

Asked if the driver would work for the rest of the year, Easley said, "I'm not going to answer the questions. " You're getting all that you're going to get from me. I'm sorry."

How in 2006 is this possible? Ask yourself how in 2006 is it possible downstate to evict 2/3 of the Black population from New Orleans, and you have something like an answer.

Or maybe it's the other way around. Bus driver Delores Davis said to herself, if they can choose whether to let Blacks back into NOLA, I can choose where Blacks get to sit on my bus.

When segregation was the law of the land such analogies may have been more explicit and more obvious. They still govern the minds and actions of Americans today.

As along as we're making analogies, it's worth saying, too, that separate is never equal:

After Richmond and Williams [parents and guardians to the children] filed complaints with the School Board, Transportation Supervisor Jerry Carlisle asked Davis to make seat assignments for her passengers, Sessoms said.

"But she still assigned the black children to the back of the bus," she added.

And the nine children had to share only two seats, meaning the older children had to hold the younger ones in their laps.

Of course the problem is just one bigoted driver, and the situation is easy enough to rectify, right?