Heritage Academy is a private school in

Columbus, Mississippi Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, on the eastern border of Mississippi, United States, located primarily east, but also north and northeast of the Tombigbee River, which is also part of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterwa ...

. It was founded in 1964 as a segregation academy.

History

Heritage was founded in 1964 as a

segregation academy Segregation academies are private schools in the Southern United States that were founded in the mid-20th century by white parents to avoid having their children attend desegregated public schools. They were founded between 1954, when the U.S. ...

. In 1988, Heritage enrolled its first Black students, Jabari and Jasáda Dunbar.

1989 football forfeitures

In 1989, Heritage Academy was the first school in the

Mississippi Association of Independent Schools The Midsouth Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) is a consortium of schools in Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana and Arkansas. It is responsible for accreditation of its member private schools as well as governing athletic competition for its ...

(MAIS) North Conference to have a black player on its football team. The school received national media attention when two other schools offered to forfeit games rather than play against a racially integrated opponent. The opponents,

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy Sharkey-Issaquena Academy is a Private school, private, nonsectarian, school in Rolling Fork, Mississippi. It was founded as a segregation academy in 1970. History In 1970, one year after the Supreme Court of the United States, United States S ...

and the

East Holmes Academy East Holmes Academy (EHA) was a segregation academy in West, Mississippi. The school was founded in 1965 and closed in 2006. In 1989, EHA received national attention after two incidents involving alleged racial discrimination. History Foundin ...

, claimed that injuries, not race, were the reason for forfeiting the games. Heritage Academy headmaster and head coach Ray Wooten rejected the other schools' denials, calling them "a bunch of bull." After seven players and two school board members resigned, East Holmes Academy reconsidered its decision to forfeit. The black player, sophomore running back Scott Fuller, offered to quit the Heritage Academy team so the game could be played, but coach Ray Wooten insisted that Fuller remain on the team. In 1991, the student body elected Jabari O. Dunbar the first, and to date (as of 2019) only, African-American president of Heritage Academy's Student Government Association. The following year, Jabari graduated with honors, the school's first African-American graduate. His sister Jasa'da Dunbar became the second in 1998.

Athletics and extracurricular activities

Heritage Academy's first athletic director was

Billy Brewer Homer Ervin "Billy" Brewer (October 8, 1934 – May 12, 2018) was an American football player and head coach. He served as the head football coach at Southeastern Louisiana University from 1974 to 1979, Louisiana Tech University from 1980 to 1 ...

. When Brewer later accepted a coaching position at Ole Miss, he told the ''

Clarion-Ledger ''The Clarion Ledger'' is an American daily newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi. It is the second-oldest company in the state of Mississippi, and is one of the few newspapers in the nation that continues to circulate statewide. It is an operating d ...

'' that his involvement with the all-white academy was his "own business" and that it would not affect Ole Miss's efforts to recruit black players. The Heritage Academy football team won the MPSA AAA championship in 1986 and the MAIS championship in 2012 and 2019. The Heritage Academy basketball team won MPSA titles in 1992 (2A), 2018 (3A), and 2019(3A). The 2019 basketball team also went on to win the MAIS Overall Championship that year. Heritage Academy golf won the MAIS 3A Championship in 2012, 2016, and 2017. In addition to these sports, Heritage Academy also offers baseball, soccer, softball, volleyball, tennis, track and field, and cross country. Non-athletic extracurricular opportunities include cheerleading, competitive dance, robotics, quiz bowl, various school clubs, and the spirit store.

References

External links

Heritage Academy Website
{{authority control Private high schools in Mississippi Schools in Lowndes County, Mississippi Private middle schools in Mississippi Private elementary schools in Mississippi Preparatory schools in Mississippi Educational institutions established in 1964 1964 establishments in Mississippi Segregation academies in Mississippi