JPs to take up repeal of 'whites only' drinking fountain ordinance

Photo courtesy eclecticatbest.com
Photo courtesy eclecticatbest.com

The Pulaski County Quorum Court at its meeting Tuesday night will take up the repeal of a 64-year-old ordinance that allows businesses to designate "whites only" drinking fountains.

The repeal measure's sponsor, Justice of the Peace Donna Massey of Little Rock, said the long-forgotten ordinance was recently discovered to be still on the books. There's no indication anyone in the county abides or even knows about the pre-civil-rights era ordinance, but Massey said it's important to take action.

"This does not reflect the current realities of Pulaski County," she said. "However, symbolically it exists and it needs to be removed. It is, I guess you would say, an affront to the non-white citizens of the county."

Massey said she began investigating the ordinance's history after receiving a forwarded email in late September of an old photo of a drinking fountain with a "whites only" sign above it. The sign in the photo also included an ordinance number, she said.

With that, officials began researching its history. She said they initially believed ordinances older than 1977 were not considered active, but ultimately determined that wasn't the case and the one in question was still law.

So Massey sponsored a new ordinance to repeal it. It's the seventh item on the court's new business agenda Tuesday night.

"This is the only thing you can do, bring it before the Quorum Court and vote to repeal it," she said. "I trust that as a body we will definitely vote to get this repealed."

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