Derrick Johnson: Former Nettleton School Policy Designed to Perpetuate Segregation

Mississippi NAACP president says school district was right to nix the policy

From the Better Mississippi Report:

JACKSON (Friday, Sept. 3, 2010) – The Mississippi state president of the NAACP says Nettleton public schools made the right decision by ending a policy that dictated when white and black students could serve as class presidents at Nettleton Middle School.

Derrick Johnson, president of the Mississippi State Conference NAACP, said the Nettleton Middle School practice was a remnant of policies that began when Mississippi schools were being integrated.

“As a result of many school officials and administrators trying to prevent full integration, we found districts going to policies such as this,” Johnson said.

“They established policies where you have black and white valedictorians, black and white proms, selected school officers where only certain race individuals could get elected. Those policies were created … to prevent full integration of public schools in Mississippi.”

Johnson discussed the former Nettleton Middle School policy in an interview featured in a special edition of the “Better Mississippi Report” Internet Radio podcast.

The program was released today, Friday, Feb. 3, 2010. You can listen to the podcast by using the embedded media player in the column on the right of this page; you also can download a copy of the program for your portable listening device by clicking here and visiting our podcast archives.

The Nettleton School Board voted last week to end a policy that used race to decide class officers. The policy originally required class presidents in grades 6, 7 and 8 be white; vice presidents of grades 7 and 8 be white; and the vice president of grade 6 be black.

The policy drew criticism across the state and the nation after a mother of four mixed race children was stunned because her 12-year-old daughter could not run for class reporter because she wasn’t the right race.

“Young kids of all races play more today than they’ve ever played,” Johnson said. “They interact with each other. They listen to the same music. Much of the baggage of the previous years should not be imposed on young people who don’t carry the same philosophical thinking of one another based on racial lines that many of their parents and grandparents carry.”



The Better Mississippi Group, an independent, non-partisan business based in Jackson, is dedicated to improving the state of Mississippi by encouraging good public policy; supporting issues vital to improving the state’s quality of life; and encouraging effective, forward-thinking elected leadership.