By Garry Blanson
“The only thing worst than being ignorant is being ignorant and not knowing it” -Rev. O’Dell Blanson
Once again, I have come across something from the past that many people of the “YOUNGER GENERATION” in Monroe, Louisiana are “CLUELESS” about! The thing that I am referring to began after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the “BROWN vs BOARD of EDUCATION CASE,” back in 1954.
It seems that many White Politicians and White Citizens resented being told that they had to permit their White Children to attend public schools with Black Children. Therefore, they organized programs and created policies that became known as “SLOW GO,” Policies, which were policies designed to slow down, delay, and derail the school desegregation court orders. Well, one of the “SLOW GO” policies that was enacted in Monroe, Louisiana involved Neville High School and Carroll High School.
According to a court decree, White Students in the 9th grade at Neville had to complete their entire freshman year of schooling at Carroll, while Black Students in the 9th grade at Carroll had to attend Neville. By the way, this initiated what many people in Monroe referred to as “WHITE FLIGHT!” Meaning that many White Parents decided to withdraw their White Children from public schools and enrolled them into private schools, “WHICH IS ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS THERE ARE SO MANY WHITE PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN LOUISIANA TODAY!” Interestingly, some of these “SLOW GO” programs and policies lasted well into the 1970s.
In closing, I hope that people will take a closer look at Governor Jeff Landry’s La. Gator Scholarship Program and the Neville Charter Proposal and see if there is any resemblance of the former “SLOW GO” programs and policies of the past. Additionally, it will do us well to remember the following statement, “ignorance of the past, excuses us not!”
