re: Older Baton Rouge residents. What lead to the decline of NBR?

The explanation I have heard is forced busing and white flight.

For the ban police, I am not advocating a particular view, and I think it is a damn shame that de facto segregation exists. I am just repeating what I have heard from people who lived there at the time.

Here is a Washington Post article that addresses some of it.

Washington Post Article on Judge Parker