Citizens of Lake Charles, Louisiana, played an important role in the development and desegregation of the Calcasieu Parish School System. The impact of the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling of 1896, with its “separate but equal” doctrine, initially encouraged schools and communities to teach that some schools were more privileged than others, which promoted racial discord. This mentality contributed to a great degree to the failure of society to establish schools where all students receive a high-quality education, regardless of ethnicity or race. Racial equality through desegregation of the school system was then achieved despite the challenges that occurred during and after the Brown v. Board of Education (1954) ruling. Multiple explanations have been posited for achievement gaps, an idea that is actually a social construct rather than an objective reality. Scholars have argued that using the term “achievement gap” creates a binary that essentially pits whites against blacks, but white achievement on standardized tests are continuously and strategically used as the norm. Using white achievement as a norm places insurmountable pressure on black communities to conform to this so-called norm or to fail. Thus, black educators, for years, have been charged with the responsibility of single-handedly saving black youths from the tyrants of yesteryear determined to keep them inadequately educated and impoverished.

The goal of this research is to examine the role citizens of Lake Charles, Louisiana, played in the desegregation of the city’s public high schools and to provide evidence to support the acceptance of the desegregation of Lake Charles schools. Historical and comparative analyses are used. Primary sources such as interviews, newspaper articles, documents, and recordings are used; secondary sources such as yearbooks, scrapbooks, and encyclopedias were also used.