Another lawsuit, United States v. Haywood County Board of Education, filed in 1967,[2] ruled the plan invalid.

In defense of the choice plan, the Board of Education stated there had only been two Ku Klux Klan meetings in the county in recent years, and that no instance of bombing, arson, or cross-burning had been shown to be attributable to school desegregation.

They further argued that negative instances were brought on by two civil rights leaders, a white man and woman, were living, unmarried, in homes with Negroes, and that was the source of the violent reaction of Haywood County citizens.

In the early 1990s, it was noted in news reports that the school had a racially motivated selection system for homecoming queen, requiring alternating winners who were white, then black.

[7] On December 4, 2017, students walked out of class to do a peaceful protest for alleged racial remarks on social media about "stringing up" black people made by members of the school's baseball team.