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Boston Against Busing: Race, Class, and Ethnicity in the 1960s and 1970s

Online ISBN:
9781469602325
Print ISBN:
9780807855263
Publisher:
University of North Carolina Press
Book

Boston Against Busing: Race, Class, and Ethnicity in the 1960s and 1970s

Ronald P. Formisano
Ronald P. Formisano
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Published online:
24 July 2014
Published in print:
28 February 2004
Online ISBN:
9781469602325
Print ISBN:
9780807855263
Publisher:
University of North Carolina Press

Abstract

Perhaps the most spectacular reaction to court-ordered busing in the 1970s occurred in Boston, where there was intense and protracted protest. This book explores the sources of white opposition to school desegregation. Racism was a key factor, it argues, but racial prejudice alone cannot explain the movement. Class resentment, ethnic rivalries, and the defense of neighborhood turf all played powerful roles in the protest. In a new epilogue, the author brings the story up to the present day, describing the end of desegregation orders in Boston and other cities. He also examines the nationwide trend toward the resegregation of schools, which he explains is the result of Supreme Court decisions, attacks on affirmative action, white flight, and other factors. The author closes with a brief look at the few school districts that have attempted to base school assignment policies on class or economic status.

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