TEXARKANA MAGAZINE
Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, also known as the Dunbar Buffalos, was a high school in Texarkana, Texas, that served Black students from 1916 to 1968. The school closed in 1968 to integrate with Texas High School. The new state-of-the-art Dunbar Early Education Center will open in the Fall of 2025 and will offer an immersive and interactive learning environment. photo courtesy of TISD
Attending the small Catholic schools where most students were white helped with the transition to SMU, with the size of the student body being the only difference. She mentioned that most of the administrators and professors were welcoming or at least fair, but aside from a few friends she made, the white students treated the Black students as invisible. She recalls she never felt threatened or experienced hostility on campus but admitted that between her studies and a part-time job, she may not have had time to notice. McKee recalls the strong fraternity and sorority culture at SMU—organizations that made it clear they would not “desegregate.” Regarding this era, she said, “But remember, these were tumultuous years of public school integration, murder of Black leaders, the rise of hippie culture and Woodstock, protests against the war in Vietnam, and the murder of a Kent State student protester by a National Guardsman. At SMU, we had a lot more on our minds than joining folk parading around in Antebellum costumes and waving Confederate flags.” After graduating from SMU, McKee moved to Austin, where she built her career and life from 1971 to 2022. With her degree from a
respected university, she initially worked several jobs, garnering life experiences, such as a short-order cook, a secretary, a cashier at a cleaners, and a state employee. It was during this period that she pursued a law degree. She chose a law profession because “There is a saying (probably just among lawyers) that while lawyers were writing the Constitution, doctors were treating people with leeches. But the real deal is I had not taken enough undergraduate science to consider med school. Besides, Black lawyers were prominent in pushing for civil rights, and there was a law school right there in Austin.” Throughout her years of service in law, McKee held different positions within the profession. She began as an assistant county attorney, managing county contracts, and later opened her own private practice specializing in probate and family law. In 1989, she was appointed as a substitute judge on the Municipal Court, transitioning to a full-time judge in 1992. By 1999, McKee was appointed as Presiding Judge, a role in which she oversaw 20 judges and 150 clerks, demonstrating her leadership and organizational skills. “It was a pretty heavy responsibility, balancing the interests of the employees, the public, law enforcement, and the Bar. I like
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COMMUNITY & CULTURE
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