School Desegregation In Ten Communities

The Commission on Civil Rights conducted its current study of ten school districts during the late fall and winter of the 1972-73 school year. The purpose of this study is to reexamine earlier findings and explore more deeply the dynamics of school desegregation and community reaction. In brief, the Commission found that one reason why many people are uneasy about desegregation is their fear that it will result in a poorer quality of education for their children. It is necessary to prepare carefully and sensitively for desegregation. The technical problems of achieving desegregation, such as determining the most appropriate desegregation technique and dealing with the problems incident to increased busing, have proven to be far less formidable than previously believed. Many school officials, in their concern to facilitate a successful transition to desegregation, have tended to consider the needs and desires of the white community alone, sometimes assuming that minority parents will welcome desegregation on almost any terms. The way in which school officials, civic leaders, and the news media respond to disruptive incidents can serve either to preserve an atmosphere of calm or heighten tension even more. There is a sharp contrast between the reaction of communities to their own experience in desegregation and their expressed feelings concerning desegregation as a general proposition. Finally, the effects of the controversy at the national level concerning busing and school desegregation have been felt in a number of communities visited by Commission staff. (Author/JM).