RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Winson and Dovie Hudson's Dream
JF Harvard Educational Review
JO herp
FD Harvard Educational Press
SP 417
OP 450
DO 10.17763/haer.45.4.l9628m38121k8632
VO 45
IS 4
A1 Edelman, Marian Wright
YR 1975
UL http://harvardeducationalreview.org/content/45/4/417.abstract
AB Desegregation of the nation's public schools was mandated by the Supreme Court twenty-one years ago, yet today it meets with continuing resistance. In this essay,the author asserts that the goal of desegregated education must remain uncompromised. She examines the progress in the South since Brown due to federal compliance efforts and looks at the political obstacles put in place by the Nixon Administration to halt that progress. Turning to the North, where desegregation may depend more on the possibility of metropolitan remedies, relevant demographic data, court cases, and their implications are discussed. Finally, the evidence offered about three commonly used arguments against desegregation—(1) that de facto segregation is beyond the purview of the courts, (2) that neighborhood schools are a sacrosanct American tradition, and (3) that busing endangers children—shows that these are myths rather than facts. Edelman concludes that if the nation wants to renege on busing or desegregation, it should be honest about what it is doing: denying black children equal protection of the laws.