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NIMBY - Boston Style
Boston's neighborhoods are racially segregated and schools are assigned by neighborhood. Therefore, many students in Boston attend schools with mostly students of their own race. Is this an example of "de jure" or "de facto" segregation? -
Unequal Resources
Frustrated by the unequal resources provided to majority-black schools, in 1963 Ruth Batson, as chairperson of the Education Committe of Boston's NAACP, argues for the desegregation of Boston's public schools. Louise Day Hicks, Boston School Committee member states, "There is no de facto segregation in Boston." -
"Stay Out for Freedom"
In 1964, thousands of black students and hundreds of white students boycott schools for one day to protest the inequalities of segregated schools. The "Stay Out for Freedom" school boycott gets the attention of state edcation officials. They create a special committee, called the Kiernan Commission, to study the impact of racial imbalance in schools. -
Racial Imbalance is Harmful
The Kiernan Commission finds that racial imbalance is harmful to both African American and white students. Responding to the Kiernan Commission's suggestions, Massachusetts lawmakers pass the Racial Imbalance Act. This act stated that any school with over 50% non-whites students was racially imbalanced and could lose state funds if the issue was not solved. It required districts with racially imbalanced schools, like Boston, to desegregate. The Boston School Committee fought the new law. -
Operation Exodus Begins
In September, 1965, African American parents in Roxbury began Operation Exodus. More than 400 students were bused from overcrowded black schools to underenrolled schools in mostly white communities within the city of Boston. A year later, the METCO (Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity) program began to bus minority students in Boston to suburban schools. -
Success Breeds Success
Following the success of Operation Exodus and METCO, parents and community groups open their own "community" schools. With limited public funding, many of these schools struggle to pay teachers and buy supplies. -
Still Imbalanced?
6 yrs after the state passed the RIA, the # of racially imbalanced schools in Boston has INCREASED from 46 to 65. The Massachusetts Department of Education said it would not give Boston Public Schools state money if they did not begin to desegregate their schools. The state even gives Boston extra money to build new schools, with the promise that these schools will open with a mix of African American and white students. Still, in 1971, the new Lee Elementary School opens with little change. -
De Jure Segregation in Place
In 1972, African American parents file a lawsuit against the Boston School Committee. They argue that school committee policies have resulted in the de jure racial segregation of students in Boston Public Schools and have therefore violated the RIA and the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitutino. Judge W. Arthur Garrity presided over this case, which is called Morgan v. Hennigan. -
Suburbs Don't Count
Months before Judge Garrity issued his decision in the case of Morgan v. Hennigan, the Supreme Court ruled in a different case (Milliken v. Bradly) that suburban districts cannot be included in desegregation plans. -
Guilty!
Judge Garrity ruled that the Boston Public School Committee had deliberately maintained segregated schools.
