“We Got to Fight for What We Want”: Black School Rebellions In Louisiana, 1965–1974

Abstract

Background/Context: Historians have established that Black students used force to challenge racist repression in schools throughout the United States during the 1960s and 1970s. However, the existing literature’s national focus raises unanswered questions about the extent to which Black students’ forceful responses to discrimination varied across local contexts. Focus of Study: This article examines 42 episodes from Louisiana secondary schools in which Black students collectively used force to resist subordination between 1965 and 1974. Drawing upon Black Studies scholarship, it treats these incidents as political acts of rebellion rather than lawless “riots.” Research Design: To determine where, when, how, and why Louisiana’s Black students used force, this historical study draws upon archival materials from eight collections at five archives, more than one dozen local and national newspapers, and author-conducted interviews. Conclusions/Recommendations: Although Black students acted on shared concerns about systemic inequality, site-specific factors shaped each rebellion. This essay therefore argues that scholars should not mistake the ubiquity of Black students’ violent opposition to white supremacy as an indication that subordination or resistance remained static across time and space. It encourages further localized study that is attentive to the temporal and geographic contingencies that shape the racial politics of education.