Trump Administration’s Struggle Against 1960s School Desegregation Efforts

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration's initiative to dismantle decades-old school desegregation orders is encountering significant resistance from a federal judge in Louisiana.

After the judge declined to terminate a desegregation case that dates back to the 1960s, the Concordia Parish school system and the state filed an appeal on Tuesday. This case marks a pivotal challenge to the government's aim of swiftly ending some long-standing desegregation cases.

The Concordia Parish school system is at the center of the administration's efforts to eliminate legal cases that trace back to the Civil Rights era. State officials argue that these cases are outdated and unnecessary. Remarkably, they have recently garnered support from the U.S. Justice Department, which historically fought to uphold such cases.

The campaign faced its initial major setback when U.S. District Judge Dee Drell rejected a motion from Louisiana and the Justice Department seeking to release Concordia from a 1965 lawsuit initiated by Black families who demanded access to previously all-white schools.

Several legal stipulations from that case remain in effect, and some families contend that the court orders are still essential for enhancing education at predominantly Black schools in the area.

The state and federal government attempted to dismiss the case, claiming that all remaining parties agreed it was no longer necessary. However, this motion was not signed by any of the original families involved in the suit, who are no longer part of the proceedings.

Judge Drell maintained that the court has the authority to reject such agreements when more significant issues are at stake. He emphasized, "At the heart of this case is public policy and the protection of others, and the court has been tasked with ensuring the resolution of this matter in accordance with long established legal precedent."

Instead of granting the dismissal, Drell proposed a hearing for Concordia Parish to demonstrate that it has fully dismantled state-sponsored racial segregation—the conventional route for securing the dismissal of such cases.

The school district and the state subsequently appealed this decision. They have yet to provide a response to requests for comments.

The Justice Department had previously employed a similar strategy to lift a 1966 order in Louisiana's Plaquemines Parish school district, which involved a judge who had been deceased for decades, indicating plans to pursue dismissals of other cases in the future.

Numerous desegregation cases from the 1960s remain active across Louisiana and the South, with some still being litigated while others stagnate.

The Justice Department has characterized these long-standing cases as federal overreach into local school governance. Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the department’s civil rights division, has previously assured that many such cases would "bite the dust."