L. Clifford Davis was born into segregation, so he never attended an integrated school. But he fought to ensure future generations could.
TARRANT COUNTY, Texas — L. Clifford Davis, a civil rights attorney who fought to desegregate North Texas schools, has died at 100 years old, his family confirmed to WFAA.
Davis was born on Oct. 12, 1924 and never attended an integrated school, something he fought to ensure future generations could. WFAA spoke with Davis in September 2024 as part of our 75th anniversary moments that shaped Dallas-Fort Worth news. We met him a law firm in Fort Worth where he still kept a small office.
Davis spoke about being a young attorney from Arkansas – where he also worked as a lawyer, filing some of the first lawsuits seeking to integrate Arkansas schools – who moved to Texas in the early 1950s.
He was among the first Black lawyers in the south to take on discrimination cases.
The 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision made public school segregation unconstitutional. But Davis told WFAA about how the new state he’d moved to didn’t seem to care.
“There was no integration anywhere I was aware of going on in Texas,” Davis said. “We were segregated throughout the state of Texas in those days.”
Davis represented five Black students who were barred from attending Mansfield High School, sued Mansfield ISD and won in 1956. He told us about receiving threatening letters and calls. The day his clients were supposed to enter the school, they were met with a mob. The crowd hung an effegy from a flag pole on campus.
The harassment was so constant, Davis had to stop answering his home phone at night.
But he didn’t give up the fight.
Eventually Mansfield ISD and Fort Worth ISD integrated – in large part because of lawsuits and pressure from Davis.
In Fort Worth, an elementary school now bears his name.
“Now let me be certain to mention – I don’t claim to be solely responsible for all this – I helped bring these changes,” Davis told WFAA.
But well into the 1970’s, Davis was still doing interviews with WFAA about districts ignoring court orders to integrate.
Davis opened one of the first Black law firms in Tarrant County and was one of the county’s first Black judges.
He funded scholarships and paid tuition bills and inspired countless young people to enter the field of law.
Davis was always modest and mindful.
He told WFAA he was faithful to this guiding principal: “treat all people with decency, courtesy, dignity and respect … without regard to that person’s race, his color, his culture, his education, his age, his sexual orientation, religion or non-religious experience, political affiliation, economic status, or any other socio-economic factor.”
