On Thursday, The Park Church on Beatties Ford Road held a funeral for Charlotte civil rights attorney James Ferguson.
Ferguson was a key player in the 1971 Supreme Court case Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education. That case opened up the use of busing during the desegregation of schools across the country. Ferguson also opened the first integrated law firm in North Carolina.
People gathered at The Park Church on Thursday afternoon to honor the life and legacy of Ferguson. Following a musical selection of the Lord's Prayer and scriptures from the book of Micah and Galatians, there were remarks from family members, Gov. Josh Stein and former Federal Housing Finance Agency director Mel Watt. Former Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx reflected on Ferguson's civil rights work.
"He and the firm delivered blows to Jim Crow — fighting desegregation battles, attacking employment discrimination and voting inequities, seeking to reform a criminal justice system he believed to be deeply flawed," he said.
Ferguson was 82 years old.
