A federal appeals court has terminated more than 60 years of federal oversight for a Louisiana school system that was under a court order to eradicate segregation. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday lifted the desegregation mandate for the Concordia Parish School Board.
This decision represents a victory for the Trump administration, which has advocated for the termination of such court-ordered plans. The Justice Department under the Trump administration has shifted from its decades-long stance of fighting for these cases, now framing the remaining segregation orders as federal overreach into local school systems. Louisiana officials have echoed this sentiment, stating that the orders are no longer necessary and are relics of a past era.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill stated, “The good people of Concordia Parish elected their school board to govern their schools — not unelected federal judges. Today’s decision puts that authority back where it belongs." The Concordia Parish School Board members did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Families who initiated the lawsuit are no longer involved in the case.
The Concordia Parish case originated in 1965, during a period of segregation and significant Ku Klux Klan activity in the region. Black families in Ferriday filed a lawsuit seeking access to all-white schools, leading to federal intervention. As the district began integrating its schools, many white families relocated. The demographics of the district's schools subsequently began to mirror those of their surrounding areas, with Ferriday remaining predominantly Black and low-income, while neighboring Vidalia, which benefits from tax revenue from a hydroelectric plant, is largely white.
Some parents and civil rights organizations maintain that desegregation orders are crucial for addressing lingering effects of segregation, such as racial disparities in student discipline, academic opportunities, and teacher hiring. The Concordia Parish order had previously been instrumental in requiring a mostly white charter school, established in 2013, to prioritize Black students and foster a more integrated student body.