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The Crucible of Desegregation: The Uncertain Search for Educational Equality

Online ISBN:
9780226825519
Print ISBN:
9780226824710
Publisher:
University of Chicago Press
Book

The Crucible of Desegregation: The Uncertain Search for Educational Equality

R. Shep Melnick
R. Shep Melnick
Boston College
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Published online:
18 January 2024
Published in print:
10 May 2023
Online ISBN:
9780226825519
Print ISBN:
9780226824710
Publisher:
University of Chicago Press

Abstract

Although Brown v. Board was the most important Supreme Court decision of the twentieth century, the Court has never squarely faced the question, What does “desegregation” mean? For years it oscillated between two competing understandings: a “color-blindness” standard that emphasizes the pernicious nature of racial classifications; and an equal educational opportunity approach that requires the use of racial assignments to reduce what came to be known as “racial isolation.” The Crucible of Desegregation examines the evolution of school desegregation policy from 1954 through the termination of desegregation orders in the first decades of the twenty-first century. Combing legal analysis with a focus on institutional relations--particularly the interactions between judges and administrators—it explores desegregation’s role in the creation of the extensive American civil rights state. It describes how the lower courts applied contradictory Supreme Court precedents in a variety of highly charged political and educational contexts, creating a policy patchwork that offered little opportunity to analyze what worked and what didn’t. The book also shows how the issues that roiled the courts in the 1960s and 1970s continue to confront Congress, the federal Office for Civil Rights, and local education officials. Too often the misleading term “resegregation” has replaced the profoundly ambiguous “desegregation,” once again obscuring central educational issues. As we search for ways to improve opportunities for minority children, we should learn the lessons of the desegregation saga, recognizing the hazard of relying upon ambiguous slogans and of expecting major educational change through mandates issued from the center.

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