Black Students Ordered to Give Up Seats to Whites

[Exquisite5]

I think this is over in the Delta Sigma Theta forum as well, but its news- so here it is...

Black Students Ordered to Give Up Seats to Whites
August 24, 2006
By Vickie Welborn

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.

The situation has outraged relatives of the black children who have filed a complaint with school officials.

Superintendent Kay Easley will meet with the family members in her office this morning.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People also is considering filing a formal charge with the U.S. Department of Justice. NAACP District Vice President James Panell, of Shreveport, said he would apprise Justice attorneys of the situation this week. He's considering asking for an investigation into the bus incident and other aspects of the school system's operations, including pupil-teacher ratio as it relates to the numbers of white and black children, along with a breakdown of the numbers of black and white teachers employed.

"If the smoke is there, then there's probably fire somewhere else," Panell said in a phone interview from New Orleans. "At this point, it is extremely alarming. We fought that battle 50 years ago, and we won. Why is this happening again?"

Remainder of article here: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/...0332/1002/NEWS

[RU OX Alum]

it's what year?

[shinerbock]

Obviously the driver will be fired.

Perhaps they should hire Ray Nagin as a bus driver. They surely wouldnt have to worry about him being racist against blacks, and I think his qualifications for bus driver are probably better than his ability to manage a major U.S. city.

[Exquisite5]

Originally Posted by shinerbock

Obviously the driver will be fired.

Perhaps they should hire Ray Nagin as a bus driver. They surely wouldnt have to worry about him being racist against blacks, and I think his qualifications for bus driver are probably better than his ability to manage a major U.S. city.

I was waiting for your response. I knew it would be classic.

[DeltAlum]

The date on the aritcle was yesterday.

This driver has taken leave of his/her senses.

Unbelievable.

[Drolefille]

Ok, so I heard a bit more detail but I can't verify it, but hell, this is the internet:

Allegedly: Seats were assigned last year, the younger kids were new to the route and siblings of the old ones and thus were told to sit with the older kids because other children (who happened to be white) were assigned those seats.

No idea if this is true or not :-/

[tunatartare]

If the problem isn't enough seats, then why didn't the school just rent a bigger bus which could have prevented this from happening in the first place? Now they have to pay for an additional bus and driver just to pick up 9 children, not to mention the negative publicity and press that they are getting from it.

[Rudey]

Technically weren't the white kids the minority here?

OK I'm just messing.

I can't believe this happened. This almost sounds like a joke.

-Rudey

[Munchkin03]

Ah ha, hush that fuss...

...but seriously. This is just stupid. I read on cnn.com that the driver made some of the kids stand or sit in others' laps while some kids got seats to themselves. Racism aside, isn't that really unsafe?

Leave it to Lousy-anna...almost as crazy as Flori-duh!

[KillarneyRose]

Originally Posted by James Panell

"We fought that battle 50 years ago, and we won."

Guess someone forgot to notify the bus driver.

[Tom Earp]

Hopefully this will not be buried in the back page, just to see what was said about what happened?

If it was racial, the driver should be let go, but lets see what the testimony is on this before rush to judgement!