The Hardest Deal of All: The Battle Over School Integration in Mississippi, 1870-1980

by Charles C. Bolton

The history of the state's struggle to desegregate its schools

Genres: History

306 pages, Paperback

First published October 7, 2005

Reviews

[LaShanda Chamberlain · Rating 5 out of 5]

In “The Hardest Deal of All: The Battle Over School Integration in Mississippi, 1870-1980”, Charles C. Bolton explores the deeply rooted racial struggles in Mississippi's public education system. Using diverse sources such as newspapers, interviews, and legal records, Bolton highlights key events like the “Brown v. Board of Education” ruling and the Grenada protests of 1966. He exposes how Mississippi diverted tax dollars to private schools to preserve segregation, demonstrating the state's defiance in upholding racist practices despite national efforts to integrate schools.

Bolton doesn’t hold back in showing the extreme lengths white Mississippians went to in order to preserve their segregated way of life, while Black communities courageously pushed for integration, even as they struggled with underfunded schools. Many Black families faced intimidation and the threat of job loss simply for wanting their children to receive a better education. The so-called Freedom of Choice program, meant to offer "school choice," was nothing more than a bureaucratic scheme to maintain the status quo.

Bolton’s exploration of the 1980s introduces Governor William Winter and his Education Reform Act of 1982. Winter’s efforts to improve funding, raise teacher salaries, and focus on early childhood education were bold steps forward. However, deep-seated opposition to these reforms meant that the shadow of segregation still loomed large.

As a native Mississippian, an African-American woman, and a 1994 Gulfport High graduate, I found Bolton’s work incredibly personal. It’s almost surreal to realize I’m just one generation removed from the policies that devastated so many. Bolton’s book not only shines a light on the struggle for integration but also honors the resilience of Black communities, making it essential reading for anyone interested in the fight for educational equality.

If you’re curious about the intersection of race, history, and education in Mississippi, this book is a must-read. It’s packed with eye-opening insights that will leave you with a deeper understanding of the challenges Black communities faced and the determination they showed in fighting for their rights. Bolton’s work resonates powerfully today and serves as a reminder of the lengths people went to maintain the status quo and the courage it took to challenge it.

[Jim Gulley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dr. Charles Bolton, chair of the history department at the University of North Carolina - Greensboro, published an account of school desegregation in Mississippi in 2005. A native of Picayune, Mississippi, Dr. Bolton also wrote a biography of Mississippi Governor William Winter, whose administration spearheaded education reform in 1982. He pinpointed the turning point of school integration in Mississippi to the October 1969 Supreme Court ruling in Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education that ordered the immediate execution of Brown v. Board of Education's implementation order from 1955. In Alexander, the court told the state that "with all deliberate speed" meant now.

The Hardest Deal of All: The Battle over School Integration in Mississippi, 1870-1980 starts in Reconstruction Mississippi and traces the history of public schools in the state through Brown, onto Alexander, and then through the initial years of implementation. Bolton covers the same ground as Sitkoff but through a distinctly Mississippi lens. He added context and texture to the state's feeble efforts at equalization, included the creation of the State Sovereignty Commission in 1956 (which McMillen ignored), and introduced the state's "freedom of choice" program into the historical narrative.

Freedom of Choice was a program designed by the state to circumvent desegregation by allowing parents to choose the school they wanted for their children. The program involved filling out and filing administrative forms to effect the choice. Bolton does not make it straightforward how this program was effective; one must assume that school administrators manipulated the paperwork behind the scenes to cloak segregation. 90-106

Bolton argues that school desegregation was a "Pyrrhic" victory in Mississippi. While most school districts were unified by 1970, white flight to all-white academies in the Black majority Delta and in Jackson undermined public education in those areas. Black administrators suffered disproportionately from school consolidation through demotions and reassignment. Consolidation also closed more Black schools than white. Most school boards were all-white and did not seek Black input in implementation plans. 144-160

[Micayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where do I start? There are a lot of moments with subtle wording that led me to think this author was too sympathetic to white supremacy. He presented a great overview and fair look into the complexity of the failed integration efforts of Mississippi (and this country), but he pulled too many punches. For example: "Black students continued to believe that white teachers treated them differently than white students [...]" The choice of the word "believe" left a foul taste in my mouth, especially when he follows this up with concrete evidence of the ways in which many white teachers in the 1970s were influenced to purposefully try to harm their black students (e.g., a document circulating amongst white female teachers in Jackson that advocated for them to permanently "eliminate Black males from our Public Schools" by attempting to put Black male students in precarious situations, the ignoring of Black students by white teachers, and the purposeful flunking of Black students). Overall, this is worth the read, but be mindful of these moments as you read.