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

Press Release
August 4, 1971

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

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