ISSUES: Mississippi School Desegregates Elections

After enduring a ruckus over its segregated student government elections, a Mississippi middle school has nixed rules it says were put into place some three decades ago in order to ensure minority representation. Under the rules, white students were allowed to run for class president one year, black students the next. Other positions were similarly segregated at Nettleton Middle School, reports AP.

The brouhaha began when a mother learned her white daughter could not run for the position of sixth-grade reporter. It spread to the blogosphere and ultimately led to the superintendent's reversal: "It is the belief of the current administration that these procedures were implemented to help ensure minority representation and involvement in the student body," the statement said. "It is our hope and desire that these practices and procedures are no longer needed."