Biden's tough talk on 1970s school desegregation plan (bussing) could get new scrutiny

[madville]

49. In the 80s I was bussed from a white suburb into a majority black school in the city

For 6th and 7th grade. I don't know if it was "good" or "bad" at the time, the school was actually shut down a few times due to brawls involving whites vs. blacks, like 100+ people involved. We climbed on top of the roof of a walkway one day to escape the chaos.

Basically all the white families that could afford it pulled their kids from public school and fueled the push to private schools. My younger brother was sent to a private school for middle and high school grades. We moved before I went into 8th grade to a small rural county that only had one middle school and one high school (population was 55% white and 40% black) and I was in public school through high school. Everyone got along much better out in the rural area because basically most people were poor.

I think the major underlying conflict in my 1980s bussing situation was more about economics, you had mostly middle class and rich white kids mixed in with mostly poor black kids, it was a huge clash. Out in the rural area, almost everyone was poor and mostly got along.