Desegregating Mississippi's public schools was a long, hard fight. It took a Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965 before the state finally integrated public schools.
But some believe Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream has taken a step backward in the Magnolia State.
"He would be concerned about the education system here because he wanted integration -- black and white children going to school together," said Dr. Stephen Rozman, of Tougaloo College. "And what happened were, kind of things have opened up as far as public education, but we've kind of resegregated ourselves because whites tend to go to the academies and private schools."
Rozman said up until 1970, many white families in Mississippi resisted sending their children to schools where African-Americans would attend. Some moved out to segregated suburbs. Experts called the phenomenon "white flight."
"The feeling is the school system is overwhelmingly African-American, and there's a concern -- a belief -- that these public schools really aren't educating people well enough. There's a disruption of things that I think frighten white parents away. They don't want their children to be a tiny minority," Rozman said.
16 WAPT News checked the Mississippi Department of Education website for the public report on the metro area school districts. The latest numbers are for the 2011-2012 school year. The numbers that stand out -- Rankin County is 74 percent white and 22 percent black. Inversely, Hinds County is 74 percent black and 24 percent white. Jackson Public Schools is 97 percent black.
The school system that's most integrated in the metro area is Clinton Public Schools, which is 51 percent black and 41 percent white, according to the MDE data.
"You get out into Clinton where you've got more of a balance. Clinton has not become 80 percent African-American. You go out in Madison, Ridgeland and the southern part of Madison County and it's still predominantly white," Rozman said.
16 WAPT's Stephanie Maxwell spoke to Clinton schools superintendent Dr. Phil Burchfield and asked him if the school district's strong academics are creating diverse classrooms.
"We hope so," Burchfield said. "Like every other public school district in Mississippi, we have to educate anyone who lives in Clinton who is age appropriate and walks through the doors. We hope we're attracting those families whose parents are excited and serious about their kids' education."
Burchfield is proud to talk about the district's accomplishments, including being a Star district two years in a row and College Board AP Honor Roll. Five students in the district have received perfect ACT scores in the past four years. Every year, numerous Clinton High School students are recognized by the National Merit program and the National Achievement program, which recognizes outstanding black seniors.
Burchfield said "Excellence is the only option" is the motto for all Clinton students.
"Proof is in the pudding," Burchfield said. "I think we do a pretty good job here compared to other school districts in the state."
Nettie Winters works with Mission Mississippi and said the problem with education in the Magnolia State starts with the division between blacks and whites. He believes it's what King would be preaching in 2013.
"We have two cultures in Mississippi -- a black culture and a white culture -- and we come from two different worlds, and with Mission Mississippi, and what I think (King) would be thinking about, is how can we learn from each other and celebrate the differences and walk together to accomplish education, jobs," Winters said.