Escambia High School riots

Students at Escambia High School flee from a tear gas cannister

The Escambia High School riots were racially motivated nonviolent and violent demonstrations which occurred in varying forms between 1972 and 1977 at the then-newly desegregated Escambia High School. The centerpiece riot, which received the most publicity and was the most violent demonstration, occurred on February 5, 1976.

Background & early violence

Escambia High School, formerly an all-white school, was forcibly desegregated in 1969. In the fall of 1972, black students rioted at a home football game for their team, whose mascot was a "Rebel," modelled in appearance after the Colonel Reb of the University of Mississippi. The school band played the official school song, "Dixie," and it was from there that the violence ensued.

Continuing until the end of the 1972–73 academic year, blacks and other students protested the mascot, school song and use of the Confederate Flag, which was flown at school events and games, on the grounds that the imagery the items brought up were insensitive to black people. On July 24, 1973, a United States District Court ruling deemed all of the aforementioned symbols as "racially irritating" and barred their use at the school level (Augustus v. School Board of Escambia County, 361 F. Supp. 383, 1973). At the beginning of the next school year, the name "Raiders" was picked to be the new name for all of Escambia High's athletic teams.

Throughout 1974, the Escambia County School District appealed the decision, and on January 25, 1975, the United States Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the school board, overturning the injunction and decreeing that the school board should be in charge of the matter.

Election & main riot

Non-student Raymond Lindsay is arrested for aggravated assaulted

On February 4, 1976, an impromptu school election was held in which students were allowed to vote to either keep the name as "Raiders" or change the name back to "Rebels." The students who preferred "Rebels" failed to secure a supermajority needed to win the ballot. White students complained the vote was "unfair" because there had not been enough advance notice.

The next day, hundreds of white students gathered outside the school and attempted to hoist a Confederate flag on the flagpole. After black students in the school lobby saw the display, a riot erupted. In the ensuing violence, which lasted for four hours, around 30 students were injured and four were shot, including football team quarterback Keith Hughes.

The school suffered extensive damage from the event, with nearly a hundred windows smashed, as well as trophy cases, clocks, water fountains and a water pipe that flooded the building's north wing. Principal Chris Banakas estimated that three-quarters of the 2,523 students who attended Escambia High were involved in the riot. "We ended up with a bunch of whites outside throwing rocks and breaking windows, and a bunch of blacks inside breaking windows," he said.

Several non-student adults were arrested at the scene by Escambia Sheriff's deputies. One 18-year-old student and three juveniles were also arrested, and 17 others detained. Many of the students involved later faced disciplinary actions.

State Representative R. W. "Smokey" Peaden arrived at the school during the riot and promised the white students he would demand a new vote on the nickname. "If you want our help, act as adults," he said. "If you act as you've acted this morning, you're liable to not get any help at all." Escambia County Superintendent J. E. Hall cancelled Friday's classes at the school.

The next week, attendance at the school dropped dramatically, especially among black students. There were reports of white students jeering at blacks on the nearly empty buses, and a white youth was found loitering near the school with a length of chain, but no incidents of violence occurred.

Aftermath

In the weeks that followed, however, crosses were burned on many school board members' yards, with one member, who was black, specifically targeted with a gunshot which went through his window. A human relations board member as well as a state legislator also had their homes torched. After all the retaliatory violence both at the school and in the community, the Florida National Guard was called in to patrol the school until the end of the year.

In the fall of 1976, students chose the name "Gators" after a second ballot was deemed necessary. On July 26, 1977, the Ku Klux Klan held a rally on the school grounds with regards to the issue, which necessitated a reorganization of the school board. The name "Gators" has been used for Escambia High's athletic teams since, without incident.