July 23, 2003
Thomasville - The Thomasville City Schools were officially desegregated in 1970, but the NAACP says segregation still exists within the system, and needs to be erased.
Thomas Henderson represents the NAACP. He says they believe segregation needs to be removed, "to make sure all schools and all children are then offered an equal and valuable education experience."
Jerry Lumpley represents the school board and he says if racial problems exist within the district, it isn't the school systems fault. "Well, first of all, there is no segregation,"says Lumpley. "Our position is that the school district was desegregated in 1970, and that if any racial imbalances exist within the school district, now they're for perfectly legitimate reasons, and they're not unconstitutional."
Lumpley says after the trial is over the school system plans to operate as usual, but the NAACP is hoping for an approach that will lead to more diversity in the classroom. The trial is scheduled to last about three weeks.
posted at 6:20 PM by karen.collier@walb.com
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