Every Stone Has a Song: The Story of Mansfield ISD from 1956 to 2026. Joshua 4:21–22. By Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr. Publisher, Black Texans, Inc.

Every Stone Has a Song: The Story of Mansfield ISD from 1956 to 2026. Joshua 4:21–22. By Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr., Publisher, Black Texans, Inc., publisher of Before Little Rock: The Constitutional Crisis at Mansfield High School in 1956: https://youtu.be/Pa67cqHSa90

From Stones of Segregation to Stones of a Successful Superintendency

Pastor Kyev P. Tatum of the New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church of Fort Worth, Texas 76104.

MANSFIELD, TEXAS February 1, 2026 - In Selma, when you cross the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge, just to the left stands a memorial of twelve stones. They tell the story of Bloody Sunday — of brave souls who challenged segregation in 1965 and paid the price in blood, dignity, and determination.

Inscribed upon those stones are the words of Joshua 4:21–22:

“When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?

Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.”

Those stones are not silent.

They testify.

They remind every passerby that somebody sacrificed so others could pursue life, liberty, and happiness.

Selma’s stones sing.

But so do the stones in Mansfield.

In Every Community, There Are Stones

Some are heavy with pain.

Some are lifted in celebration.

The wisest communities keep both — not to relive division, but to understand destiny.

For the Mansfield Independent School District, the seventy-year journey from 1956 to 2026 is marked by names and decisions carved into history.

One name is R. L. Huffman.

Another is Dr. Tiffanie Spencer.

Between those two names lies a powerful arc of transformation.

Because every stone has a song.

1956: The Stone of Segregation

In 1956, under Superintendent R. L. Huffman, Mansfield became the first school district in Texas ordered by a federal court to desegregate.

Following Brown v. Board of Education, African American parents sought to enroll their children at Mansfield High School.

A federal district court ordered integration.

But Mansfield resisted.

Huffman worked with the school board to delay compliance. On August 30, 1956, as white segregationist mobs gathered outside the school, Black students were physically prevented from registering.

Huffman was named as a defendant in the federal case Jackson v. Rawdon.

Schools in Mansfield remained segregated until after the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

That is not a footnote.

That is a foundation stone.

It sings in a minor key — a song of resistance, tension, and denied opportunity.

And it must be told truthfully.

The Long Journey Forward

After 1964, federal enforcement required compliance.

But cultural transformation takes time.

Over decades, leadership evolved. The district expanded. Campuses grew. Mansfield became one of the fastest-growing school districts in North Texas.

Graduation ceremonies replaced courtroom battles.

Academic rankings replaced national controversy.

Opportunity widened.

Each superintendent after Huffman added a verse to the song — moving Mansfield from defiance toward development.

Seventy years is not just time passing.

It is a melody shifting.

2026: The Stone of a Successful Superintendency

In January 2026, the Board named Dr. Tiffanie Spencer as Lone Finalist for Superintendent — the first African American to lead Mansfield ISD.

This is not symbolic.

It is structural.

Dr. Spencer rose through the ranks of Mansfield ISD. She demonstrated instructional clarity, operational strength, and a deep commitment to student success. Her selection followed a nationwide search and a deliberate, thoughtful process.

From R. L. Huffman

to Dr. Tiffanie Spencer.

That is a seventy-year journey.

The same district that once blocked Black students from entering now entrusts Black leadership with guiding the entire system.

That stone sings in a major key.

It sings of preparation.

Of earned trust.

Of institutional maturity.

Of progress grounded in performance.

Harmony, Not Amnesia

Joshua did not command Israel to forget the river.

He commanded them to remember the crossing.

So Mansfield must tell both stories:

The resistance of 1956.

And the leadership of 2026.

One stone sings lament.

One stone sings stewardship.

Together, they form Mansfield’s civic testimony.

When the Children Ask

Joshua 4:21–22 reminds us:

“When your children shall ask… What mean these stones?”

Mansfield now has an answer.

These stones mean we struggled.

These stones mean we resisted.

These stones mean we changed.

These stones mean we grew.

These stones mean we entrusted leadership to those once excluded.

History cannot stop at “first.”

It must move toward “faithful.”

The Responsibility of the New Song

Dr. Tiffanie Spencer inherits not only a district — but a seventy-year narrative.

Her leadership will be measured by outcomes:

Academic excellence.

Operational integrity.

Unity across communities.

Preparation for the future.

And the citizens of Mansfield must do their part:

Support wisely.

Hold accountable fairly.

Remember honestly.

Build courageously.

Because stones are not meant to be stumbling blocks.

They are stepping stones.

The Final Verse

From 1956 to 2026.

From segregation to successful superintendency.

From R. L. Huffman to Dr. Tiffanie Spencer.

Every stone has a song.

And Mansfield’s song is still rising.