This month I learned about Judge Clifford Davis, one of the heroes of the Civil Rights era who helped desegregate Fort Worth area schools. His death earlier this month at the ripe old age of 100 caps a well-lived life. He litigated the cases that desegregated Mansfield and Fort Worth ISDs; he was the first elected Black judge in Tarrant County (in 1983); he established the first drug diversion court in Tarrant County. Fort Worth ISD named a school in his honor. I wish I’d learned more about Black Texans like him when I was in high school in the early 1980s.
Across the stories I read about Judge Davis, Black figures in Fort Worth and Tarrant County spoke of his mentorship, his fairness, and his commitment to justice. The Texas Monthly obituary gave me a great sense of the man and the tribute by Tarrant County Commissioner Roderick Miles Jr. gave me a sense of the good his mentorship did for others who followed in his footsteps. May Judge Davis rest in power, especially in this time where we have to fight to hold the gains he made.
Sources:
- DMN: Civil rights activist Judge Clifford Davis, who fought to desegregate North Texas schools, dies.
- Star-Telegram: ‘A giant in the struggle for justice’: Fort Worth judge L. Clifford Davis has died at 100.
- Fort Worth Report: Civil rights legend L. Clifford Davis dies in Fort Worth at age 100.
- Texas Monthly: L. Clifford Davis Learned to Go the Back Way. (The back way being into Mansfield, which refused to desegregate its schools until 1964, and threatened violence against Black kids to keep them out of schools.)
- Star-Telegram: From courts to mentoring leaders like me, Clifford Davis made Fort Worth more just | Opinion. By Tarrant County Commissioner Roderick Miles Jr.