Buckeye Three School Desegregation Controversy (1981)
Louisiana: The State We're In
Details
Collection:LPB
Genre: News, Public Affairs
Place Covered: Rapides Parish, Louisiana
Copyright Holder: Louisiana Educational Television Authority
Date Issued: 1981-01-09
Duration: 00:23:52
Subjects: Education | School integration. | Busing for school integration | Desegregation | Buckeye High School (Deville, La.) | Scott, Nauman, 1916-2001 | Lee, Richard E. | Buckeye Three | Filmed panel discussions
Contributors:
- George, Beth Host
- Blome, Ron Host
- Waites, Charles Interviewee
- Treen, Dave Speaker
- Glusman, Edward Interviewee
- Greco, Cyrus Interviewee
- Simon, J. Minos Interviewee
Description
This segment from the January 9, 1981, episode of “Louisiana: The State We’re In” features an in-depth report on the week’s events at Buckeye High School in Rapides Parish, which are related to a school desegregation controversy and conflicting orders from a state and federal judge regarding three white girls attending the school. The parents of the three girls transferred custody of the teenagers to friends living in the Buckeye school district, which federal Judge Nauman Scott ruled was an attempt to circumvent his desegregation order in Rapides Parish. He ordered the girls to attend a school 15 miles away in the district of their parents. State Judge Richard Lee ordered that this was a custody issue and named the girls wards of the state. State troopers escorted the girls to school until Attorney General William Guste said that the federal court order superseded the state court order. Judge Lee then personally escorted the girls to school in defiance of the federal court order until Judge Scott ordered Judge Lee, the parents of the girls and the school’s principal to attend a contempt hearing. This report is followed by a panel discussion with three attorneys on the legal issues at work in this case: J. Minos Simon, a Lafayette lawyer representing the parents and guardians of the three girls; Cyrus Greco, a Baton Rouge attorney and former Assistant District Attorney; and Edward Glusman, the President-Elect of the Louisiana State Bar Association. Host: Beth George Host: Ron Blome