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Q&A: Florida woman reflects on her push to integrate Gainesville High School

LaVon Bracy endured ‘year of isolation’ in high school

ORLANDO, Fla. – LaVon Bracy, a native Floridian raised by parents who were active during the civil rights movement, became an activist herself in high school when she and three brave others fought to end segregation in the Jim Crow South.

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They were the first to integrate Gainesville High School in Alachua County. Of course, their achievements came at a price.

Bracy was a senior in high school when she endured what she called a year of isolation.

She said she was spit on, called the N-word and beaten by white students who did not want the class of 65 to be the first to graduate a black student.

It’s a story only she can tell, because she lived it.

Hear her reflect on it during a Q&A session in the the video player at the top of the story.


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