Racial Tensions Mount from Choice of Louisiana Town School Chief Special

Natchitoches, Louisiana is the town where the film Steel Magnolias was made. It has the beautiful boulevards, friendly faces, great food, and joy in living people admire when they visit the town. The town of Natchitoches, however, is also the place Uncle Tom’s Cabin was written about. Little Eva Plantation is less than 20 miles from the heart of Natchitoches, and it is the plantation Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote eloquently about in her depiction of the awfulness of slavery that fueled the emotions against the practice of slavery, making it a serious issue for civil war. Natchitoches is also located 70 miles from Jena, Louisiana where hanging nooses in a schoolyard to taunt black students brought national attention. The community of Natchitoches, according to Bobby DeBlieux one of the descendants of the early settlers to Natchitoches, mirrors in many ways the history of New Orleans. It has the racial tensions identified with the city, as expressed by some of the African American members of the town surrounding the selection of a school superintendent just days ago. I interviewed Claire Prymus for this article. She said, “I am so angry, so angry. I have lived many places and thought the South had gotten past this, but what happened here was terrible.” Prymus is the niece of Ben Johnson, considered to be one of the most influential black leaders in Louisiana before his death in 2006. He was the racial arbiter, the man who helped bring people together so that integration could occur without much violence. He brokered deals with the white community so the black community could have its playgrounds and meeting places. Ben Johnson made a fortune in real estate, out of hard work and long-term investments. Prymus is now heir to the responsibilities of his properties and is considered a dominant leader in the African American community of Natchitoches. She doesn't have a reputation for being a radical and has a number of friends in the white community, so her feelings came out of something else, she maintained, a real concern for the future of the town. These are the facts. There were 17 contenders for superintendent. After screening all the candidates, the selection came down to a final four who stood together before an audience of both white and black citizens in a public forum in Natchitoches. These finalists included Derwood Duke, of Natchitoches, Assistant Professor, Northwestern State University; Mary Nash-Robinson, of Greenwood, Caddo Parish School Board Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources; Thomas Roque, of Natchez, Rapides Parish School System Assistant Superintendent of Administration and Shannon Verrett, of League City, Texas, Houston Independent School District Leadership Development Manager for Aspiring Principals Institute. Derwood Duke, who had previously been Superintendent of Schools of Winn Parish a number of years ago, was chosen Superintendent by the predominantly white vote. Winn Parish is an adjoining parish to Natchitoches which is approximately 95% white. When asked about his knowledge of technology for the schools, despite the fact that Duke works at Northwestern where every administrator and instructor is supposed to use Blackboard, a computer-based interactive and information tool, he admitted to knowing nothing about how to use it. His experience has been in predominantly white schools. But what was particularly of note to some of the African Americans in the audience was they believe Duke was one of the first members of the United Methodist Church in Natchitoches, an all-white congregation, to leave the church after many years of membership when the church hired Donald Avery, an African American as its pastor. This reporter inquired of this with a member of the church, however, and found this wasn't true. The candidate from Houston and the other from Natchez are both African American with strong scholarship and doctoral degrees, one with long-time, relevant, local experience and the other considered one of the outstanding leaders of education in the Houston area. The vote was almost instant, revealing what many African Americans and others saw as arranged in advance, as Duke had been brought in as a candidate by the school board President, a white woman, after the application process had closed and when it seemed clear that the leading candidates, and likely person to be selected, would be African American. Prymus had a lot to say and did. Her voice breaking at times, Prymus continued: “This is the Deep South, Carol,” she said. “Segregation and racism lives here. What happened was unfair and ridiculous. My uncle was a pioneer who believed in fairness to children. Now what do African Americans tell their children about what happened? The selection was a political move, and something needs to be done.” I write the story this morning, thinking about Claire Prymus, and her words and wonder as many will whether race was a chief factor in the selection of the Natchitoches school superintendent. As events unfold we will likely all know more of the truth. What we can say is that people like Claire Prymus are angry and are addressing their concerns publicly. I covered the Obama election in the town, the only journalist on the scene the night of the election, where there were less than ten white people in a crowd of 200. It will be interesting to see the impact of race on the outcome of this present issue and whether the election of an African American President, Barack Obama, really has made any difference in the Deep South.