- School
- Segregation
- 1968–1992
- DeKalb County
- General area only
DeKalb school desegregation and Freeman v. Pitts (1969–1992)
Black parents sued the DeKalb County School System in 1968. A 1969 consent order closed every former de jure Black school, and in 1992 the U.S. Supreme Court let courts release the district from supervision step by step.
The record
The class action followed Green v. New Kent County (1968). In 1969 the district court approved a plan under which 'all of the former de jure black schools were closed' (Freeman v. Pitts). The district's students were 5.6 percent Black in 1969 and 47 percent Black by 1986. The county grew from 70,000 to 450,000 people between 1950 and 1985. About 64,000 Black residents moved into southern DeKalb between 1975 and 1980, most from Atlanta, leaving the county's northern half predominantly white and its southern half predominantly Black. On March 31, 1992, in Freeman v. Pitts, the Supreme Court held that district courts may withdraw supervision in stages before full compliance in every area.
Today: The DeKalb County School District, which serves the county outside the Atlanta and Decatur school systems.
Where on the map: Countywide (DeKalb County School System; excludes the separate City Schools of Decatur).