By Marice Richter and Shevoyd Hamilton
On February 15, news of the passing of Judge L. Clifford Davis spread throughout the city, state, and nation. With heavy hearts and a deep sense of nostalgia, comments surfaced on social media, news organizations, and newsletters.
“He was a great man, and his life defined what the essence of legacy should be,” stated George Johnson, a friend and business partner.
Davis, who turned 100 years old in October, spent his lifetime advocating for fairness and civil rights, partly because he grew up in the South during the era of segregation and experienced racism firsthand. But mostly, he believed that equality in education, housing, and employment—and removing barriers to any bus seat or restroom—was best for everyone.
Bob Ray Sanders stated, “As one who lived under the Jim Crow laws as a child and was forced to attend segregated schools miles from my home, I am a direct beneficiary of Judge L. Clifford Davis’ labor. He was my hero, my role model, my strong leaning post, and, I am proud to say, my friend.
“No adjective can justly describe him, and no superlative is great enough to define this man who worked tirelessly for justice in North Texas. I thank God that He led Judge Davis to Fort Worth and allowed him to live 100 years, fighting hard on the battlefield against injustice until the very end,” said Sanders. “Our community will continue to feel the effects of his noble deeds for generations to come.”
In an interview with The Business Press a few years ago, Davis said, “All of this is good for the general public and benefits society as a whole.”
He experienced not only the inequity of segregation but also the physical pain of being stoned by white children on his way to school as a youngster in rural Arkansas.
As a young man, Davis was inspired to become a lawyer by the civil rights work of Scipio Jones, a Black attorney who led the successful appeals of 12 Black sharecroppers sentenced to death for participating in a race riot in the rural town of Elaine in the Arkansas Delta in 1919.
Davis graduated from historically Black Philander Smith College in Arkansas in 1945. He then began law school at historically Black Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Davis left law school to attend graduate school at Atlanta University but later decided to return to law school and took the bold step of seeking admission to the segregated University of Arkansas. In 1948, he became the first Black person to be admitted but ultimately chose to return to Howard, where he finished his degree in 1949.
However, his challenge to Arkansas’ admission policies opened the door for other Black students to attend professional schools.
Shortly after graduating, he moved to Texas to work in Fort Worth, which had a shortage of Black attorneys. He challenged segregation policies in the Mansfield and Fort Worth school districts and filed education equality lawsuits similar to Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.
Davis was involved in many civil rights cases challenging segregation policies in housing, employment, and education.
To read the full story, click on the cover of the March 2025 issue
