news Bogie, Bradley and Busing
The Story of Pinellas County School Integration A nine-part series exclusive to the Gabber By James A. Schnur
When Boca Ciega High opened in 1953, children in Gulfport had the privilege of attending neighborhood schools. They went to Gulfport Elementary, which originally opened in 1910. Disston Junior High welcomed seventh through ninth graders beginning in 1926 and was known as Gulfport Junior High its first year. With Bogie in their backyard, Gulfport’s white youth could attend kindergarten through high school without ever leaving their city. For many Black students, however, a visit to their “neighborhood” school required more than a short walk or bus ride. If a “neighborhood” school is the closest educational facility with credentialed faculty and accredited facilities, Gulfport’s high school students did not attend a “neighborhood” high school between 1927 and 1952. The closest such place was Gibbs High, an all-Black campus they passed on their way to St. Petersburg High. Challenging the Status Quo After meeting with Leon Bradley Sr. and other concerned Black parents, James Sanderlin filed a lawsuit that changed the course of Pinellas County educational history. When the documents reached the Tampa federal courthouse on May 5, 1964, Bradley hoped his son would break the color line by integrating John F. Kennedy Junior High School’s charter class that fall. This journey took much longer than expected, and, for Bradley’s son, never reached its intended destination. A Clearwater police officer and local NAACP leader, Bradley endured an onslaught of threats
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FLORIDA MEMORY
Part 5: The Mythology of Neighborhood Schools
and demeaning phone calls. He feared for his family’s safety. He resigned from the police department. Other plaintiffs involved in Bradley v. Board of Public Instruction of Pinellas County faced similar harassment. Meanwhile, Sanderlin – an attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund – faced objections from an unexpected source: members of the Black community who worried that their students would bear the brunt of the burden and that authorities would close their schools rather than improve them for an integrated student body. Sanderlin’s suit claimed the Pinellas School District violated the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic 1954 Brown decision and provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. At that time, 98% of Black students in Pinellas public schools attended segregated facilities. The district wanted the lawsuit dismissed in June 1964, but Federal Judge Joseph Lieb de-
nied this motion. After some legal back-andforth, the court called for an end of segregated schools by rezoning attendance zones in January 1965. De Facto, De Jure and the Tipping Factor Segregation patterns exist for a variety of reasons. Courts differentiate between de facto and de jure segregation. When members of a particular racial or ethnic group tend to live in an area, whether by choice, economic barriers or other circumstances, de facto (by fact) segregation exists. De jure (by law) segregation happens when ordinances, statutes and legal precedents prescribe separate facilities or enhance disparities. Both proponents and opponents of integration often talk about the tipping factor, the point at which massive white flight begins after a certain level of de-
theGabber.com | July 29, 2021 - August 4, 2021
