Mississippi higher education desegregation and the interest convergence principle: a CRT analysis of the ‘Ayers settlement’

Abstract

The goal of the present paper is to recount a legal history of the Ayers case from its inception through the Fifth Circuit’s 2004 approval and the Supreme Court’s decline to review the 2001 settlement agreement, ending 30 years of litigation. Then from the critical race theoretical frame of interest convergence, I argue that while the ‘Ayers settlement’ ostensibly remedies the historic discrimination in the allocation of higher education funding in Mississippi, the primary beneficiaries of the settlement are white students. This final outcome of Ayers violates both the law of remedies and equal protection doctrine and stems from weariness in pursuit of the law suit, the costs of further delay of any remedy, and the lack of public attention to higher education desegregation. From a policy perspective, there is a concern for black students in Mississippi, the original persons represented in the Ayers suit. If it is the case that Mississippi’s HBCUs fail to meet and maintain white enrollment targets, then ultimately black students at those institutions will continue suffer. Endowments will not be granted by the state and the improvements to each of the institutions fiscally, physically and programmatically will be stymied. Yet, the work of desegregation in Mississippi will be said to have been completed.