Editing Wilkinson County, Mississippi (section)

==Education==
[[File:WilkinsonCountyHSMS1.JPG|thumb|Wilkinson County High School]]
[[Wilkinson County School District (Mississippi)|Wilkinson County School District]] serves the county.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st28_ms/schooldistrict_maps/c28157_wilkinson/DC20SD_C28157.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202162213/https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st28_ms/schooldistrict_maps/c28157_wilkinson/DC20SD_C28157.pdf |archive-date=December 2, 2022 |url-status=live|title=2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Wilkinson County, MS
|publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]]|accessdate=July 31, 2022}} - [https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st28_ms/schooldistrict_maps/c28157_wilkinson/DC20SD_C28157_SD2MS.txt Text list]</ref> Prior to 1970, when a [[Alexander v Holmes|federal court ruling]] forced the schools to integrate, the county maintained a separate and highly inferior educational system for Black students. When the schools were finally integrated, all but two white students initially chose to attend [[Wilkinson County Christian Academy]], which was established in 1969 as a [[segregation academy]],<ref name=Dangerfield>{{cite journal| last1=Dangerfileld| first1=Celnisha| title=Mapping Race, School Segregation, and Black Identities in Woodville, Mississippi: A Case Study of a Rural Community| journal=Journal of Rural Community Psychology - Mapping Race|url-status=dead| archive-date=January 23, 2009| url= http://www.marshall.edu/jrcp/dangerfieldSI.htm  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123161529/http://www.marshall.edu/jrcp/dangerfieldSI.htm}}</ref> or other private schools rather than attend school with Black students.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114725008/school-desegregation-in-woodville-missi/ | title=School desegregation in Woodville, Mississippi | newspaper=Globe-Gazette | date=January 6, 1970 | page=1 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114724852/integration-in-woodville-schools-cont/ | title=Integration in Woodville Schools cont | newspaper=Globe-Gazette | date=January 6, 1970 | page=2 }}</ref> Barnard Waites, the superintendent of the public school system sent his own child to Wilkinson County Christian Academy, and harshly criticized the white parents who exposed their children to the "all negro environment" of Wilkinson County Training School.<ref name="Wooten">{{cite news |last1=Wooten |first1=James T |title=A new day ends public segregated schools in Mississippi |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114726258/a-new-day-ends-public-segregated-schools/ |access-date=December 16, 2022 |work=New York Times |date=January 12, 1970}}</ref>

Wilkinson County is in the district of [[Southwest Mississippi Community College]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smcc.edu/about/welcome-from-the-president/|title=Welcome from the President|publisher=[[Southwest Mississippi Community College]]|access-date=2024-09-27}}</ref>