kidnapping, racial brawl, mississippi

this seems to be the bottom line. in a brief converation with an area NAACP chapter, which made it very clear that - due to impending trial dates - they could not discuss specifics of the situation, it seems nevertheless clear that what follows is far from made up. while it is moot at this point to mention, it must be noted that while MS has made much progress in the realm of social justice and racial reconciliation, the threat of violence and bigotry is hardly gone:


april 2, walthall county, MS

~ a white public school busdriver allows her white 19-year-old daughter - not a student in the walthall county school district - on the bus for a ride home

~ at some point in the bus ride, the 19-year-old daughter gets in an altercation with a black 12-year-old student - apparantly for getting in an argument with the 19-year-old's 12-year-old stepson. the 19-year-old white non-student eventually strikes the 12-year-old black student.

~ the 12-year-old's black 16-year-old sister moves to defend her brother, and a larger fight ensues.

~ the bus-driver pulls the bus over, and herself enters the struggle. thereafter, she is allegedly heard yelling into her cellpone, "i'm on my way," and takes the bus well off of its intended route, to a house in a rural area.

~ at the house - a huge deviation from the bus route - the white students are ushered off the bus and are joined with other white children and adults who, brandishing bats, shovels, etc. proceed to chant threats and racial epithets to the black children still on the bus.

~ the walthall county deputy arives and takes the 19-year-old daughter into custody, as well a one of the black students.

~ the bus driver resumes her duties, returing students home over an hour later than usual.

april 3, walthall county, MS

~ parents of the black students show up at the school the next morning. the principal refuses to meet with them to discuss the events of the previous afternoon - saying they must issue a complaint with the director of transportation.

~ the black parents notice that their children's bus route has been split into two - one for the black students, driven by a black male busdriver, and one for the white students, driven by the husband of the woman who had driven the bus route the previous afternoon.

~ an altercation ensues - beginning between students, then between parents and students, and then a large-scale struggle develops involving students, parents, and school faculty.

~ in the aftermath: three black students face expulsion, and four black parents were arrested. no white students or community members have faced charges - other than the 19-year-old daughter of the white bus driver - who was taken into custody on april 2.

april 4, walthall county, MS

~ bullets riddle the home of the white bus driver.

notes on walthall county

~ known as the "cream pitcher of MS" - due to dairy production
~ on southern MS boarder with LA
~ racial demographics of county: 54% white, 44% black
~ the 2,600 student school district is about 65% black

sources/links:

http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=6352908&nav=menu119_3
http://www.africanpath.com/p_blogEntry.cfm?blogEntryID=583
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070411/NEWS/704110374/1001/NEWS
http://www.wapt.com/news/11640345/detail.html