News release Public Information Office   SLU 10880   Hammond, LA 70402   phone: 985-549-2341   fax: 985-549-2061 publicinfo@selu.edu     www.selu.edu/news Contact: Christina Chapple Date: 2/17/03   SOUTHEASTERN CHANNEL LOOKS BACK AT DESEGREGATION IN TANGIPAHOA PARISH       HAMMOND -- Area residents' memories of an historic moment in Tangipahoa Parish history will be the focus of a Southeastern Channel special,  “Desegregation in Tangipahoa Parish,” scheduled to air at 7 p.m. Thursday, February 20, on Charter Communications Cable Channel 18.       The show is part of a series on African American Heritage Month airing in February on Southeastern's educational access channel. The springboard of the program is a recent university lecture by Hammond native Wayne Brumfield, vice president for student affairs at the University of  Louisiana-Monroe. Brumfield researched Tangipahoa Parish desegregation for his master's thesis as a graduate student in Southeastern's history program.       Racial tensions and protests of the 1960s spilled over into Tangipahoa Parish in 1967 when Federal  Judge Alvin Rubin of New Orleans, ruling on the lawsuit of  Moore vs. the Tangipahoa Parish School Board, charged the board with integrating parish schools. The program examines the board’s efforts to integrate despite protests from local citizens. It also re-creates the tense atmosphere as cross-town bussing and full desegregation began in the fall of 1969.      The show also touches on the perspectives of black and white students and teachers thrown into the cauldron of racial tension and how they worked to achieve harmony over the years without serious incident.      “The special highlights a tense and critical moment in parish history,” said Rick Settoon, director of the Southeastern Channel.  “It was the time of a sudden, painful growth spurt in the public school system.  The program shows how students, teachers and parents of both races persevered and actually came together through the crisis.”       Among area residents interviewed are Brumfield, Hammond veterinarian and civic leader Dr. J.L. Garrett, and former Hammond High Students Vivian Addison and Barbara Carroll Forrest. Also featured are former school board member Allen Bankston and Al Link, a Hammond High School teacher in 1969 who later served as the school's principal and currently is president of the Tangipahoa Parish School Board.       For additional information, contact the Southeastern Channel at 985-549-2418. Return to News Releases