epilogUe: Byas and Macon County Schools after 1976

epilogUe

Byas and Macon County schools after 1976

afew months before Dr. Byas was relieved of his responsibilities as superintendent of Macon County Schools, he was given an opportunity to speak at a banquet on July 16, 1976. He titled his speech “The Superintendency from a Black Perspective,” and in his remarks, he spoke of the numerous challenges faced by black educators who are chosen to lead school systems.

In school systems where a black is selected superintendent, one can see a string of problems characterized by financial indebtedness of the district, inadequate financial base, deteriorating buildings, insufficient printed materials and equipment, shifting population, complacency and/or hostile attitudes toward the school system by citizens, and low achievement of students as measured by standardized tests. All compounded by an extra large number of black and economically poor families.

In his remarks, he went on to describe the task of the black superintendent as similar to that faced by Moses when he led the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt toward the promised land. He raised the cry to stop treating blacks as “sick white people” and to find ways to provide equal opportunity for black students by understanding the sociology of the black family. He also raised the alarm about “metropolitanization” as a way to dilute the voting strength and leadership of blacks, and he asked if people really believe that blacks can create schools of quality and equality. In addition, he pointed out that opposition to the black superintendent was likely to come from two sources: racist whites and inexperienced grassroots persons who want to see immediate and dramatic changes without the pain of growth.

This address sums up much of Dr. Byas’s experience and wisdom based on his tenure in Macon County. Fortunately, for education in general and black educational leadership, Dr. Byas’s influence did not stop when he left Tuskegee. He continued his interactions with the University of Massachusetts, which conferred his doctorate, as a special lecturer for urban education in March of 1977, rating kudos from his supervisors.1 He then went on to lead the Roosevelt school district in Long Island, New York, for ten years. He had such success that the district renamed a school after him following his retirement. It was a singular honor to a man who dedicated his life to educating youth in schools and church.2

Two letters summarize the feelings of many on his retirement from Roosevelt. R. Douglas Force wrote,

I was a young man when Byas inspired me and other black children trapped in the corridors of inferior schools to seek knowledge and excellence, and for that deed, he was sentenced to be known among men as ULYSSES THE WANDERER, fated to cover the face of the earth, in search for a home.3

The other letter, from one of the people who initially opposed his coming to Macon County Schools, Wilhelmina F. Baldwin, compared Dr. Byas to “a turtle— not afraid to stick your neck out which you must do if you’re going somewhere,” and to “an eagle who soars high above the maze of problems and conflicts so that you can perceive the total picture.”4

Following his retirement, Dr. Byas and his wife moved to Macon, Georgia, his birthplace, and settled into a routine of church, home, and family. He served as a founding member of the Middle Georgia chapter of Habitat for Humanity and served as the group’s vice president. He also joined as an initial member of the Middle Georgia Alzheimer’s Association and served on the board for seven years.

Accompanied by his extensive library of books and numerous file cabinets filled with the documents detailing his entire educational career, he has pursued every opportunity to continue telling his story and working for the improvement

of educational opportunities for all. His creative mind is currently devoted to developing a number system for concepts.

In Tuskegee and Macon County, the changes are almost imperceptible since 1977. The school system did build a new comprehensive high school based on the plans written by Dr. Byas, but it did not build the vocational educational facility that Dr. Byas and his board of education had developed and hoped to build. The board halted plans to build this facility just thirty days before construction contracts were to be signed. The state of Alabama would have paid for the construction of the school and the salaries for ten teachers in perpetuity, had it been built in the 1970s as planned.

The new high school serves nearly all of the teenagers in Macon County with the exception of the Notasulga area. When, in 1990, it was proposed that all high school students would be required to attend the school, Notasulga, the community on the northern end of Macon County, objected to the plan and induced Dr. Byas to speak in their behalf at a hearing. Dr. Byas testified in the case of Lee vs. Macon to the progress made in Notasulga where the school had integrated in the early 1970s with success. He stated if the Notasulgans were forced to attend the new high school, the white student population would be so diluted as to lose their identity. Furthermore, the opportunity of black students in Notasulga to experience real integration would be lost. The community won and Notasulga continues to operate its own integrated high school, while the new high school serves the rest of the county, which is nearly 100 percent black.

Meanwhile, the white population of Tuskegee in particular continued to decrease, and in 1979 many businesses on Main Street were boarded up; only twenty-five persons attended the white United Methodist Church.5

A new shopping center was built in the 1980s as well as an industrial park with hopes of enticing growth. Mayor Johnny Ford continued to be reelected. The erection of a dog-racing track in the Shorter area garnered much support and provided many jobs and funds for new construction, including the building of the new high school.