Federal government orders desegregation in 32 Mississippi schools

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG
Associated Press/Report for America

LEXINGTON, Miss. (AP) — Federal courts have issued desegregation orders for 32 school districts in Mississippi. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division says the desegregation orders fit into a broader body of civil rights work her division has launched in Mississippi. Her division is examining jails, police departments and hate crimes in the state. Clarke spoke to a small group of residents, local leaders and reporters Thursday at the Holmes County Circuit Court Complex in Lexington, Mississippi. The state is the latest stop in Clarke’s “listening tour” throughout the Deep South. Clarke says the Justice Department is learning where to direct resources and where it might need to mount civil rights lawsuits.