Boston desegregation busing crisis

326:, stated that "racial imbalance shall be deemed to exist when the percent of nonwhite students in any public school is in excess of fifty per cent of the total number of students in such school." These racially imbalanced schools were required to desegregate according to the law or risk losing their state educational funding. An initial report released in March 1965, "Because it is Right-Educationally," revealed that 55 schools in Massachusetts were racially imbalanced, 44 of which were in the 364:(1953–1969) declined to hear the School Committee's appeal in January 1968. On May 25, 1971, the Massachusetts State Board of Education voted unanimously to withhold state aid from the Boston Public Schools due to the School Committee's refusal to use the district's open enrollment policy to relieve the city's racial imbalance in enrollments, instead routinely granting white students transfers while doing nothing to assist black students attempting to transfer. 555:

day of the plan, only 100 of 1,300 students came to school at South Boston. Only 13 of the 550 South Boston juniors ordered to attend Roxbury showed up. Parents showed up every day to protest, and football season was cancelled. Whites and blacks began entering through different doors. An anti-busing mass movement developed, called

162:. The call for desegregation and the first years of its implementation led to a series of racial protests and riots that brought national attention, particularly from 1974 to 1976. In response to the Massachusetts legislature's enactment of the 1965 Racial Imbalance Act, which ordered the state's public schools to desegregate, 378:

classrooms to overcrowded white schools instead of assigning white students to nearby underutilized black schools, while simultaneously purchasing closed white schools and busing black students past open white schools with vacant seats. In accordance with the Racial Imbalance Act, the School Committee would be required to

436:. In December 1982, Judge Garrity transferred responsibility for monitoring of compliance to the State Board for the subsequent two years, and in September 1985, Judge Garrity issued his final orders returning jurisdiction of the schools to the School Committee. In May 1990, Judge Garrity delivered his final judgment in 871:, the most prestigious school in the system, the result of a lawsuit filed in 1995 by a white parent whose daughter was denied admission. On July 15, 1999, the Boston School Committee voted to drop racial make-up guidelines from its assignment plan for the entire system, but the busing system continued. 845:

In 1987, a federal appeals court ruled that Boston had successfully implemented its desegregation plan and was in compliance with civil rights law. Although 13 public schools were defined as "racially identifiable," with over 80 percent of the student population either White or Black, the court ruled

815:

In another instance, a white teenager was stabbed nearly to death by a Black teenager at South Boston High School. The community's white residents mobbed the school, trapping the Black students inside. There were dozens of other racial incidents at South Boston High that year, predominantly of racial

684:

with a black driver and three Hispanic passengers were subjected to projectiles from passerby as they drove past the beach. In response, on August 10, black community leaders organized a protest march and picnic at the beach where 800 police and a crowd of whites from South Boston were on hand. 2,000

310:

in Dorchester to relieve the overcrowding instead, could now be held by a court to be deliberate acts of segregation. Pursuant to the Racial Imbalance Act, the state conducted a racial census and found 55 imbalanced schools in the state with 46 in Boston, and in October 1965, the State Board required

621:

in 1974. Using tactics modeled on the civil rights movement, ROAR activists led marches in Charlestown and South Boston, public prayers, sit-ins of school buildings and government offices, protests at the homes of prominent Bostonians, mock funerals, and even a small march on Washington DC. By 1976,

554:

asserts that South Boston and Roxbury were "generally regarded as the two worst schools in Boston, and it was never clear what educational purpose was to be served by jumbling them." For three years after the plan commenced, Massachusetts state troopers were stationed at South Boston High. The first

382:

17,000 to 18,000 students the following September (Phase I) and to formulate a desegregation plan for the 1975–1976 school year by December 16 (Phase II). Twenty minutes after Judge Garrity's deadline for submitting the Phase II plan expired on December 16, 1974, the School Committee voted to reject

857:

altered the economic makeup of the city, and Jewish, Irish and Italian immigrant populations moved to the suburbs while black, Hispanic, and Asian populations moved to the city. Although the busing plan, by its very nature, shaped the enrollment at specific schools, it is unclear what effect it had

652:

made their way to the school, and Hicks spoke through a bullhorn to the crowd and urged them to allow the black students still in South Boston High to leave in peace, which they did, while the police made only 3 arrests, the injured numbered 25 (including 14 police), and the rioters badly damaged 6

807:

in 1977. In a retaliatory incident about two weeks later, Black teenagers in Roxbury threw rocks at auto mechanic Richard Poleet's car and caused him to crash. The youths dragged him out and crushed his skull with nearby paving stones. When police arrived, the man was surrounded by a crowd of 100

722:

stations which would meet and end at South Boston High. After confusion between the marchers and the police about the parade route led marchers to attempt to walk through a police line, the marchers began throwing projectiles at the police, the marchers regrouped, and migrated to South Boston High

377:

ruled that the open enrollment and controlled transfer policies that the School Committee created in 1961 and 1971 respectively were being used to effectively discriminate on the basis of race, and that the School Committee had maintained segregation in the Boston Public Schools by adding portable

355:

overturned a Suffolk Superior Court ruling that the State Board had improperly withdrawn the funds and ordered the School Committee to submit an acceptable plan to the State Board within 90 days or else permanently lose funding, which the School Committee did shortly thereafter and the State Board

576:

The integration plan aroused fierce criticism among some Boston residents. Of the 100,000 enrolled in Boston school districts, attendance fell from 60,000 to 40,000 during these years. Opponents personally attacked Judge Garrity, claiming that because he lived in a white suburb, his own children

866:

In 1983, oversight of the desegregation system was shifted from Garrity to the Massachusetts Board of Education. With his final ruling in 1985, Garrity began transfer of control of the desegregation system to the Boston School Committee. After a federal appeals court ruled in September 1987 that

350:

In April 1966, the State Board found the School Committee's plan to desegregate the Boston Public Schools in accordance with the Racial Imbalance Act of 1965 inadequate and voted to rescind state aid to the district, and in response, the School Committee filed a lawsuit against the State Board

174:

of students between predominantly white and black areas of the city. The hard control of the desegregation plan lasted for over a decade. It influenced Boston politics and contributed to demographic shifts of Boston's school-age population, leading to a decline of public-school enrollment and

874:

In 2013, the busing system was replaced by one which dramatically reduced busing. Beginning with school year 2014, they switched to a new policy that gives each family preference for schools near their home, while still ensuring that all students have access to quality high schools.

958:, United States politician best known as the Mayor of Boston, during the late 1960s and the 1970s. White won the mayoral office in the 1967 general election in a hard-fought campaign opposing the anti-busing and anti-desegregation Boston School Committee member Louise Day Hicks. 477:

in a 1974 ruling. His ruling found the schools were unconstitutionally segregated, and required the implementation the state's Racial Imbalance Act, requiring any Boston school with a student enrollment that was more than 50% nonwhite to be balanced according to race.

639:

led to a riot that injured 8, and at South Boston High on December 11, a non-fatal interracial stabbing led to a riotous crowd of 1,800 to 2,500 whites hurling projectiles at police while white students fled the facility and black students remained. State Senator

283:(1961–1963 & 1965–1969) filed a request for legislation from the state legislature that defined schools with nonwhite enrollments greater than 50 percent to be imbalanced and granted the State Board of Education the power to withhold state funds from any 680:, and in response, hundreds of white male and female bathers gathered with pipes and sticks and chased the bible salesmen from the beach on foot with the mob destroying their car and the police making two arrests. The following Sunday, August 3, a 688:

On September 8, 1975, the first day of school, while there was only one school bus stoning from Roxbury to South Boston, citywide attendance was only 58.6 percent, and in Charlestown (where only 314 of 883 students or 35.6 percent attended

347:, consistently disobeyed orders from the state Board of Education, first to develop a busing plan, and then to support its implementation. Hicks was adamant about her belief that this busing was not what communities and families wanted. 976:

was the site of many of the most vocal and violent protests of busing and desegregation. As a result of these protests, the school's community became unsafe for students; a federal court placed the school into receivership in December

775:

with a black driver, and the next day, youths in Hyde Park, Roxbury, and Dorchester stoned buses transporting outside students in. Incidents of interracial violence in Boston would continue from November 1977 through at least 1993.

952:, executive director of the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO, Inc.) and the first female African American to gain a seat on the Boston School Committee at Large right after the Boston busing desegregation 762:

at Hyde Park High emptied the building and resulted in a melee between black and white students that require police action to end. On the evening of September 7, the night before the first day of school, white youths in

836:

feared the show's setting of an urban high school with diverse characters would only lead to further unrest. However, as it became popular in the rest of the United States, WCVB would include the sitcom in its lineup.

634:

being the lone exception), and through October 10, there were 149 arrests (40 percent occurring at South Boston High alone), 129 injuries, and $ 50,000 in property damage. On October 15, an interracial stabbing at

593:

program that sought to assist in desegregating the Boston schools by offering places in suburban school districts to black students, but students from Wellesley were not forced to attend school elsewhere. Senator

867:

Boston's desegregation plan was successful, the Boston School Committee took full control of the plan in 1988. In November 1998, a federal appeals court struck down racial preference guidelines for assignment at

2756:

Photographs depicting anti-busing protests and marches, parents demonstrating around Boston, police, and students in class and outside Hyde Park, Charlestown, and South Boston High Schools are available in the

964:, an American politician and lawyer from Boston, Massachusetts, best known for her staunch opposition to desegregation in Boston Public Schools, and especially to court-ordered busing in the 1960s and 1970s 334:

needed to occur before September 1966 without the assurance of either significant financial aid or suburban cooperation in accepting African American students from Boston or the schools would lose funding.

656:

On February 12, 1975, interracial fighting broke out at Hyde Park High that would last for three days with police making 14 arrests, while no major disturbances occurred in March or April. On May 3, the

492:

The busing plan affected the entire city, though the working-class neighborhoods of the racially divided city—whose children went predominantly to public schools—were most affected: the predominantly

481:

As a remedy, Garrity used a busing plan developed by the Massachusetts State Board of Education, then oversaw its implementation for the next 13 years. Judge Garrity's ruling, upheld on appeal by the

990:

played an important role in the desegregation of the Boston Public Schools and advocated for school reform by providing parents with the skills necessary to participate in shaping education policy.

2936: 858:

on underlying demographic trends. By the time the court-controlled busing system ended in 1988, the Boston school district had shrunk from 100,000 students to 57,000, only 15% of whom were white.

3459: 3554: 179:

to the suburbs. Full control of the desegregation plan was transferred to the Boston School Committee in 1988; in 2013 the busing system was replaced by one with dramatically reduced busing.

846:"all these schools are in compliance with the district court's desegregation orders" because their make-up "is rooted not in discrimination but in more intractable demographic obstacles." 820:; with 400 students attending, it was guarded by 500 police officers every day. In December 1975, Judge Garrity turned out the principal of South Boston High and took control himself. 704:

On January 21, 1976, 1,300 black and white students fought each other at Hyde Park High, and at South Boston High on February 15, anti-busing activists organized marches under a

1398: 467: 395: 211: 167: 68: 462:

as the main plaintiff) against the Boston School Committee on behalf of 14 parents and 44 children alleging segregation in the Boston public schools. Two years later, Judge

399: 665:, where 250 PLP marchers attacked 20 to 30 South Boston youths and over 1,000 South Boston residents responded, with the police making 8 arrests (including 3 people from 4117: 3547: 3453: 391:

on December 27, and told the members on December 30 that he would purge their contempt holdings if they voted to authorize submission of a Phase II plan by January 7.

3098: 758:

On April 19, 1976, black youths in Roxbury assaulted a white motorist and beat him comatose, while numerous car stonings occurred through April, and on April 28, a

2740: 630:

From September 1974 through the fall of 1976, at least 40 riots occurred in the city. On September 12, 1974, 79 of 80 schools were bused without incident (with

3952: 3563: 3540: 993: 91: 3879: 30: 4097: 482: 3637: 4023: 3946: 3382: 2929: 693:) gangs of youths roamed the streets hurling projectiles at police, overturning cars, setting trash cans on fire, and stoning firemen. 75 youths stormed 3707: 816:

taunting of the Black students. The school closed for a month after the stabbing. When it opened again, it was one of the first high schools to install

617:

Restore Our Alienated Rights (ROAR) was an anti-desegregation busing organization formed in Boston, Massachusetts by Boston School Committee chairwoman

4153: 4029: 3434: 823:

Judge Garrity increased the plan down to first grade for the following school year. In October 1975, 6,000 marched against the busing in South Boston.

3056: 1197: 669:) and the injured numbered 10. From June 10 through July 7, police made no arrests in more than a dozen of what they described as "racial incidents." 2961: 685:

blacks and 4,000 whites fought and lobbed projectiles at each other for over 2 hours until police closed the beach after 40 injuries and 10 arrests.

394:

On January 7, 1975, the School Committee directed school department planners to file a voluntary-only busing proposal with the court. On May 10, the

4143: 4007: 1745: 3702: 3444: 3070: 2771: 4082: 3040: 3831: 1820: 984:, a Black lesbian feminist organization based across the river in Cambridge, included members who worked on school desegregation in Boston. 3841: 3836: 4158: 4148: 3663: 1376: 269:

in 1962 that required all federal agencies to prevent racial discrimination in federally-funded subsidized housing in the United States.

258: 1843: 970:, a Democratic congressman from the Ninth District of Massachusetts. He won the seat from incumbent Louise Day Hicks in a 1972 rematch. 849:

Before the desegregation plan went into effect, overall enrollment and white enrollment in Boston Public Schools was in decline as the

428:(1969–1986) unanimously declined to review the School Committee's appeal of the Phase II plan. In December 1975, Judge Garrity ordered 67:

ordered in accordance with the Massachusetts Racial Imbalance Act of 1965 in Phase I (June 1974) and Phase II (May 1975) rulings from

4122: 4072: 3928: 2252: 302:

several hundred blacks students from Roxbury and North Dorchester from three overcrowded schools to nearby schools in Dorchester and

284: 95: 4039: 2911: 550:, a black high school. Half the sophomores from each school would attend the other, and seniors could decide what school to attend. 398:

announced a Phase II plan requiring 24,000 students to be bused that was formulated by a four-member committee consisting of former

373:, against the Boston School Committee in federal district court. After being randomly assigned to the case, on June 21, 1974, Judge 287:

that was found to have racial imbalance, which Volpe would sign into law the following August. Also in August 1965, Governor Volpe,

3766: 804: 219: 3910: 3814: 3712: 3627: 658: 406: 254: 250: 242: 4077: 351:

challenging both the decision and the constitutionality of the Racial Imbalance Act the following August. In January 1967, the

205: 3809: 2230: 636: 3532: 1394: 3957: 3658: 413: 357: 1648: 547: 3674: 2892: 2829: 779:

There were a number of protest incidents that turned severely violent, even resulting in deaths. In one case, attorney

201: 3963: 3478: 3469: 2881:

Peggy Hernandez "Garrity Ends Role In Schools; After 11 Years, Boston Regains Control," Boston Globe. September 4, 1985

2737: 2698: 2663: 2628: 2593: 2558: 2523: 2485: 2450: 2415: 2407: 2382: 2347: 2127: 2119: 2094: 2086: 2061: 2053: 2025: 2017: 1992: 1984: 1959: 1951: 1926: 1918: 1893: 1885: 1726: 1718: 1693: 1685: 1652: 1632: 1624: 1599: 1570: 1537: 1503: 1469: 1461: 1436: 1356: 1318: 1310: 1282: 1274: 1246: 1177: 1137: 1099: 1091: 1063: 1055: 1030: 1022: 117: 113: 3289: 3268: 3226: 3207: 3186: 3165: 3141: 1797: 501: 474: 3868: 3797: 3652: 3008: 520: 276:

filed a lawsuit in federal district court against the city seeking the desegregation of the city's public schools.

1823:(Report). Advisory Committee on Racial Imbalance and Education, Massachusetts State Board of Education. April 1965 3940: 3934: 3600: 3474: 3465: 2686: 2651: 2616: 2581: 2546: 2511: 2473: 2438: 2370: 2335: 1344: 1234: 1165: 1125: 882:

program, which was established in 1966, remains in operation, as do other inter-district school choice programs.

3985: 3980: 3632: 3317:

Public Transportation as an Integrative Institution: Race and Quality of Experience on the Boston Subway System

3245: 2810: 2287: 987: 768: 231: 3393: 723:

where approximately 1,000 demonstrators engaged with police in a full riot that required the police to employ

4062: 3745: 946:, in her work with the Boston Branch of the NAACP, spearheaded the effort for school desegregation in Boston. 694: 3109: 2725: 311:

the School Committee to submit a desegregation plan, which the School Committee did the following December.

787:. One of the youths, Joseph Rakes, attacked Landsmark with an American flag. A photograph of the attack, 612: 556: 352: 223: 4045: 4002: 3874: 3792: 3723: 3504: 2775: 2403: 2115: 2082: 2049: 2013: 1980: 1947: 1914: 1881: 1714: 1681: 1620: 1457: 1306: 1270: 1087: 1051: 1018: 497: 383:

the desegregation plan proposed by the department's Educational Planning Center. On December 18, Garrity

315: 3156: 2278: 925: 568:

came in 1985, after which control of the desegregation plan was given to the School Committee in 1988.

542:

In one part of the plan, Judge Garrity decided that the entire junior class from the mostly poor white

509: 463: 1752: 981: 732: 536: 277: 343:

After the passage of the Racial Imbalance Act, the Boston School Committee, under the leadership of

3771: 3717: 2758: 1562: 1558: 973: 931: 789: 741: 631: 586: 582: 543: 505: 429: 246: 102: 3424: 298:

warned the Boston School Committee that a vote that they held that month to abandon a proposal to

4018: 3820: 3493: 3488: 3199:

The Education of a White Parent: Wrestling with Race and Opportunity in the Boston Public Schools

2986: 713: 690: 421: 214:

Owen Kiernan released its final report finding that more than half of black students enrolled in

3489:

Collisions of Church & State: Religious Perspectives on Boston's School Desegregation Crisis

2847: 197: 4092: 3974: 3922: 3697: 3498: 2761:

in the Archives and Special Collections at the Northeastern University Libraries in Boston, MA.

1591: 1428: 701:, overturning and burning cars. On October 24, 15 students at South Boston High were arrested. 524: 295: 193: 3826: 2690: 2655: 2620: 2585: 2550: 2515: 2477: 2442: 2374: 2339: 2222: 2216: 1789: 1783: 1348: 1238: 1169: 1129: 4056: 4050: 3562: 896: 471: 374: 331: 262: 227: 215: 163: 155: 127: 71: 3084: 3041:

Vognar, Chris. "Two Documentaries on School Integration Offer New Views of an Old Problem,"

2872:

Muriel Cohen "Hub schools' transition period runs to 1985," Boston Globe. December 24, 1982.

697:

after classes ended and assaulted a black student in the lobby, while 300 youths marched up

598:

was also criticized for supporting busing when he sent his own children to private schools.

4034: 3968: 3894: 3803: 3621: 3448: 828: 698: 379: 299: 171: 159: 64: 3466:

W. Arthur Garrity, Jr. chambers papers on the Boston Schools Desegregation Case, 1972-1997

3344:"Too Late for Pleading": Black Boston and the Struggle for School Desegregation, 1963-1976 218:(BPS) attended institutions with enrollments that were at least 80 percent black and that 8: 3594: 3508: 1529: 1495: 955: 912: 868: 764: 736: 727:. 80 police were injured and 13 rioters were arrested. On April 5, civil rights attorney 3335:

Great Expectations: The History of School Desegregation in Atlanta and Boston, 1954-1990

3326:

Analyzing the Failure of Integration in Education Through the Lens of Boston and Atlanta

622:

with the failure to block implementation of the busing plan, the organization declined.

3916: 3889: 3884: 3739: 3589: 2851: 1202: 780: 564: 454: 369: 235: 135: 76: 3483: 2738:

Contextualizing a Historical Photograph: Busing and the Anti-busing Movement in Boston

2144: 387:

all five Boston School Committee members to court, held three of the members to be in

3647: 3494:

An International and Domestic Response to Boston Busing directed at Mayor Kevin White

3285: 3264: 3257: 3241: 3222: 3203: 3182: 3161: 3137: 3016: 2694: 2680: 2659: 2645: 2624: 2610: 2589: 2575: 2554: 2540: 2519: 2505: 2481: 2467: 2446: 2432: 2411: 2378: 2364: 2343: 2329: 2283: 2226: 2123: 2090: 2057: 2021: 1988: 1955: 1922: 1889: 1851: 1793: 1722: 1689: 1628: 1595: 1566: 1533: 1519: 1499: 1485: 1465: 1432: 1352: 1338: 1314: 1278: 1242: 1228: 1173: 1159: 1133: 1119: 1095: 1059: 1026: 532: 417: 388: 253:

since at least 1941 and continued to do so despite the passage of legislation by the

3776: 3750: 3616: 3605: 3584: 3151: 2273: 1523: 1489: 961: 937: 904: 900:

uses the forced busing of Boston schoolchildren in 1974 as a backdrop to its plot.

784: 649: 618: 517: 344: 303: 120: 3611: 3438: 489:, required school children to be brought to different schools to end segregation. 384: 4012: 3642: 3499:

What About the Kids?: A Look into the Student Perspective on Boston Desegregation

3308:

Negro Protest and White Power Structure: The Boston School Controversy, 1963-1966

3279: 3197: 3176: 3131: 2744: 2713: 2162: 731:

was assaulted by a white teenager at City Hall Plaza with a flagpole bearing the

719: 459: 338: 291: 288: 266: 123:

unanimously declines to hear Boston School Committee's appeal of Phase II ruling.

3370:

Radical Routes: The Formation of the Boston School Bus Drivers Union Local 8751.

4067: 3668: 3324:

Klein, Rebecca H.; Brandeis University. Department of American Studies (2012).

2303: 854: 817: 794: 752: 709: 673: 641: 578: 493: 409: 3430:

Stark & Subtle Divisions: A Collaborative History of Segregation in Boston

3419: 3383:

Digitized primary sources related to busing for school desegregation in Boston

1746:

An Act providing for the elimination of racial imbalance in the public schools

1525:

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America

1491:

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America

4137: 4087: 3219:

The Racist Offensive Against Busing: The Lessons of Boston, How to Fight Back

3020: 2987:"Choosing a School: A Parent's Guide to Educational Choices in Massachusetts" 1855: 910:

which was directed by Sharon Grimberg and Cyndee Readdean and first aired on

891: 799: 747: 728: 666: 645: 486: 402: 323: 319: 307: 53: 3362:

Democracy on Trial: The Boston School Committee and Desegregation, 1963-1976

1785:

Northern schools and civil rights; the Racial imbalance act of Massachusetts

330:. The Boston School Committee was told that the complete integration of the 3413: 949: 677: 662: 513: 470:

found a recurring pattern of racial discrimination in the operation of the

433: 425: 361: 238: 176: 106: 3454:

School Committee Secretary Desegregation Files 1963-1984 (bulk: 1974–1976)

3477:, University Archives and Special Collections, Joseph P. Healey Library, 3468:, University Archives and Special Collections, Joseph P. Healey Library, 3157:

Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families

2279:

Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families

967: 943: 759: 716: 595: 222:

in the city had caused the racial imbalance. From its creation under the

3475:

Center for Law and Education: Morgan v. Hennigan case records, 1964-1994

3425:

How The Boston Busing Decision Still Affects City Schools 40 Years Later

3238:

The Boston School Integration Dispute: Social Change and Legal Maneuvers

3178:

The Soiling of Old Glory: The Story of a Photograph that Shocked America

3133: