Statement by William T. Coleman, Jr. Re: Austin School Desegregation Suit

Press Release
August 4, 1971

Statement by William T. Coleman, Jr. Re: Austin School Desegregation Suit preview

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  • Press Releases, Volume 6. Statement by William T. Coleman, Jr. Re: Austin School Desegregation Suit, 1971. 443ac3ac-ba92-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/71889a5a-b5da-49df-934e-79b54880115d/statement-by-william-t-coleman-jr-re-austin-school-desegregation-suit. Accessed July 20, 2025.

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    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

AUGUST 4, 1971 

STATEMENT BY WILLIAM 1’. COLEMAN, JR. 

PRESIDENT OF THE 

NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. 

RE: AUSTIN SCHOOL DESEGREGATION SUIT 

NEW YORK, N.Y. --- I have requested the staff of the Legal 

Defense Fund to take steps to see that the constitutional rights 

of Negro children are protected in the Austin, Texas desegregation 

case. When the Supreme Court last term in the Charlotte case held 

that school districts must integrate completely, even if that 

requires busing, the President of the United States announced that 

was the law of the land and would be enforced by him. 

Following that, the Department of Health, Education and 

Welfare submitted a complete desegregation plan for Austin. After 

that plan was rejected by the U.S. District Court, the Department 

of Justice announced yesterday that it would appeal. We had 

at the appeal would seek to implement the administration's 

own HEW plan. Apparently, however, political "southern strategy" 

considerations immediately took over. And now the administration 

announces that it is opposed to the plan which it submitted to the 

courts pursuant to the Supreme Court decision. 

In view of the fact that as a result of the change in the 

administration's position only the Legal Defense Fund represents 

the rights of black children in Austin, Texas, we will be doing 

whatever is appropriate to see that those rights are preserved. 

ACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. | 10 Columbus Circle | New York, N.Y. 10019 | (212) 586-8397 

William T. Coleman, Jr. - President Jack Greenberg - Director-Counse

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