ECISD Desegregation Lawsuit Finally Over

It’s taken nearly 30 years, but it’s finally happened. The federal court approved the dismissal of the desegregation lawsuit against ECISD. Judge Robert Junell ordered the motion on Wednesday. The initial desegregation process began on January 19^th at a school board meeting. The parties involved in the lawsuit met and decided to get rid of it.

Gene Collins grew up in Odessa, during a time the community was openly segregated. The elementary and junior high schools he attended were for black students only. Despite know what was happening was wrong; Collins told Big 2 those were some of the greatest times in his life.

"Mainly because of the connection, the camaraderie, the nurturing that teachers allowed us to have," said Collins

When schools began desegregating, Collins went to Ector High School, which today is a junior high. He remembers his first day of school like it was yesterday.

"There were the Anglos students in a group, the Hispanic students were in a group, we were in our group, and before the first bell rang we kinda dissipated our groups and started talking to other students," he said.

It would be the first time Caucasians, African-Americans, and Hispanics attended school together in Odessa. Collins said even though students got along, he experienced racism from parents and teacher while he attended Ector.

"There were several teachers there at Ector, who did not want to be there and were very much racist and you could tell by how they interacted with students," he explained.

While there was friction at first, ECISD said they’ve learned a lot from the lawsuit and  that the district is stronger because of it.

"Most importantly how to be of service to all the people that we serve, all the students in the community that we serve," said ECISD Superintendent Hector Mendez