On a hot, humid, sombre July 4th, I snapped this to commemorate the times. Then my camera battery died, and this was all I shot today.
Lee High School, founded in the 1950's, was originally named Robert E. Lee High School. There were no African American students at first, as they were segregated at the all-black McKinley High four miles away. As the public schools desegregated in the 1970's and 1980's, Robert E. Lee High School became integrated. A few years ago, the Robert E. was dropped; a few days ago, the school board voted to rename the school.
To desegregate, the school board redistricted neighborhoods and created magnet schools at formerly all-black schools. The landscape changed constantly, making it a challenge for parents to find the best schools for their children. Our daughter is a graduate of Robert E. Lee High School. One son is a graduate of McKinley High.
When I registered my grandson in public school in 1997, the school system was under court supervision in one of the longest-running school desegregation cases in the U.S. I discovered I could not designate his race as "bi-racial," a term we preferred. He had to be labelled "black" or "non-black" and his race determined which schools he could attend. In third grade we put him in a Catholic school where his teacher told me "I do not see color."
The photo is great.