Black Students Asked to Give Up Seats to White Children

When parents put their children on Red River Parish school buses, they probably don`t think they will be the target of what many are calling discrimination. Last week Delores Davis allegedly asked nine Red River Elementary School black students to give up their seats to white children. That news flabbergasted some Coushatta residents. "I think that is wrong and they shouldn`t have her driving if she is a racist," said Bridgette Ardison. "I think they should be sitting side by side on the bus, one black, one white, one black, one white on down like that," explained James Williams. Some kids claim the nine students had to occupy two seats which means they were sitting on each others laps. Bridgette Ardison`s youngest son attends Red River Elementary and says if it comes to it, she will drive her kids to school. The incident has also raised the eyebrows of the NAACP after receiving calls from outraged people. "The fact is that the school system, when they found out about this, attempted to solve the problem by having a black bus driver go pick up the kids," explained James Panell, Vice President of NAACP Shreveport chapter. He goes on to say, "We feel this may be a symptom of a much greater problem so before you file a charge on this particular incident, you need to make sure that its the magnitude of the real problem." The parents of the children have told school officials they want Davis to be terminated immediately. "As far as firing, I don`t think so but unless he gets things straight that is the only chance has is termination," said Williams. "She should be dismissed for driving that bus, that`s what I think, and she shouldn`t be able to drive nowhere else if she is going to act like that," Ardison said. We did try to contact Davis and the Red River School District superintendent but they were not available to comment. Meanwhile, the NAACP is still investigating the incident and could make formal charges as early as the end of next week.