appeal in the spring of 1956. TheUnited States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decree ordering the desegregation of Mansfield High school. This was the first decree in Texas history to order a local school board and school district to integrate a secondary school in accordance with the Supreme Court mandates of Brown I and Brown II (82).Before the 1956-1957 school year was to begin, an effigy was hung from the school’s flag pole. It was dressed in men’s work clothes, and stuffed with straws, the La Point 6hands and head were painted black and the body was covered with splotches of red paint. A sign hung from the effigy threatened,”THIS WOULD BE A TERRIBLE WAY TO DIE,” and “THIS NEGRO TRIED TO ENTER A WHITE SCHOOL.” When the students attempted to enter the school the next day, they were met with and angry mob chanting vicious epithets and threatening violence. Governor Allan Shivers brought inthe Texas Rangers to keep the peace, but not importantly to ensure that segregation was maintained in Mansfield (89-94).Mansfield schools were not integrated until 1965, due to the federal government threatening to end federal funds for the school district. Thirty black students were enrolled during the first year of integration and there were no reported racially motivated incidents inside or outside the school. Desegregation did not come at an easy price. Mansfield High School was a precursor of what was to unfold at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas a year later.Little Rock, Arkansas is the site of one of the most significant battles for desegregation. In September 1957, Little Rock Central High School became the focal point of clashes between segregationists and civil rights activists. After the new school districts were drawn up to comply with the Supreme Court’s order to desegregate the city’s schools, nine black students, Minnie Jean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest ...
