Busing v. Neighborhood Schools

[StarfishSaver]

8. Dayton was an interesting situation

After it was determined that Dayton Public Schools had been grossly segregated due to government policy, black parents and NAACP lawyers tried for years - more than a decade - to work with the Dayton schools to integrate on a voluntary basis and develop a desegregation plan that worked for everyone with a minimum of disruption. But there was so much opposition in the white community and on the Dayton School Board to every effort to compromise and work together that these efforts were rebuffed and desegregation went nowhere. There was much litigation over it and Judge Rice, a very decent and fair federal judge presiding over the case, ordered the school district to come up with a workable plan. They didn't. So having no other alternative, Judge Rice ordered the school reassignments that would require many children to attend school far away.

This was a very difficult situation and required hardship on some people. But what other alternatives are there? Change is hard. Progress often involves sacrifices. And, sadly, too many black children and families were told "we believe in integration and justice. But we don't want to be inconvenienced or make any sacrifices to make it happen so, you should continue bearing the burden of centuries of racism and discrimination, your children should continue to languish in inferior, segregated schools because it would be too much of a hardship for our children not to be able to go to school around the corner."

I'm not saying that's how your family thought, but do you understand my point? Integration and change is hard, but whenever the hard work has to be done, no one wants to do it. And while your family rightly and justly concerned about your well being and educational opportunities, the black families in Dayton were just as concerned about their children.

And please remember that when your family bought into your neighborhood to be near a quality school, it's more likely than not that black families didn't have that option. The evidence in the Dayton School case showed that, although the communities weren't segregated by law (de jure), they were strictly and rampantly segregated in practice (de facto) through federal and local government housing policy, lending practices, realtor steering, etc. Black families were trapped and the only way to deal with this was to disrupt the processes. But that disruption was met with fierce opposition and white flight and often violence and racial terrorism.

So, you're right. It was and is very complicated. And it goes well beyond simple labels like "forced busing."

I appreciate you and am glad you shared your story.