President Donald Trump gave another victory to the forces of racism and intolerance on Tuesday by dismissing a desegregation case against Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. The Justice Department, led by Attorney General Pam Bondi, gave up the case that has been operative since 1966, when it was first filed.
Following the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1954, schools in America had to desegregate. But Plaquemines Parish resisted. The effort was led by avowed racist politician Leander Perez. Perez founded the white supremacist Citizens’ Council of Greater New Orleans and argued that segregation was mandated by the Bible, an argument that eventually led to his excommunication by the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
A group of Black students enter the Boothville-Venice School in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana on Sept. 12, 1966, as a group of white mothers wait at the entrance of the school.
Rallying against school integration in his home state, Perez once argued, “Are you going to wait until Congolese rape your daughters! Are you going to let these burr-heads into your schools! Do something about it now!”
Perez and his ideological offspring have been given a victory, thanks to the Trump administration.
Before the Justice Department’s actions, schools in the parish were subjected to oversight by the federal government to ensure that they were actively working against school segregation—something that did not end with the Civil Rights Movement. As recently as 2023, the district was asked to provide the federal government with data on hiring practices and how school discipline was administered. Studies have shown that Black children are more likely to face suspension than white children, even though both groups of children misbehave at the same rate.
Some local officials complained that it took “hours” to compile the data, even though racist policies can create massive negative repercussions for children and their families. Former Fox News personality Leo Terrell, who was installed as senior counsel to the DOJ Civil Rights Division by Trump, said in a statement that Louisiana “got its act together decades ago.”
Terrell, who is Black, has falsely claimed that systemic racism does not exist. It does.
Johnathan Smith, chief of staff and general counsel for the National Center for Youth Law, told the Associated Press that segregation is still a problem for schools in the region and noted, “Most of these districts are now more segregated today than they were in 1954.”
“It’s really just signaling that the backsliding that has started some time ago is complete,” said Robert Westley, professor of antidiscrimination law at Tulane University Law School.
Related | Trump kills 1965 anti-segregation order in blizzard of racist actions
Trump has an extensive history of racism and racist comments. He popularized the racist “birther” conspiracy about President Barack Obama and argued for the execution of the innocent Central Park Five in the 1980s.
The Justice Department action is in line with Trump’s other actions to undo the gains of the Civil Rights Movement. Early in his presidency he signed executive orders that repealed previous executive orders meant to desegregate federal contracting. Trump allowed federal contractors to once again operate segregated facilities, purged government web pages highlighting Black heroes like Jackie Robinson, and reinstalled the names of Confederate leaders at military bases.
Trump gave some of the most virulent racists in American history a victory they were denied and continues to roll the clock back on the most vulnerable people: children.
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