Optional Integration

1965-1969

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation and outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. As a result, the federal government finally had the power to enforce the Brown v. Board of Education ruling and require school desegregation. In December 1964, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare sent a three-page directive to all segregated school systems asking them to submit desegregation plans by March 1965. The Coffee County School System complied, instituting a system of desegregation known as “Freedom of Choice.”

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Coffee County Head Start Students, 1966