BOSTON
Right wing, gov't collude to end school desegregation
By Frank
Neisser
Boston
Acting with the stealth of a thief in the night, the
mayor-appointed Boston School Committee voted 5-2 on July 14 to
adopt a proposal by Superintendent Thomas Payzant to "eliminate
race as a factor in student assignments" beginning in September
2000.
Responding to a lawsuit brought by a right-wing group called
Boston Children First, the committee capitulated to the demand
to end 25 years of desegregation in Boston schools without
contesting it in court.
Payzant had declared Boston's student assignment plan
"constitutionally undefendable." The "liberal" Boston Globe
supported the move in its coverage and editorials, signaling
the collusion of Boston's business establishment.
The racist anti-busing forces in the city, from City
Councilors James Kelly and Peggy Davis-Mullen of South Boston
on down, heralded the decision as a final victory ending busing
and returning to "neighborhood schools."
But the right wing's hunger to roll back desegregation still
wasn't satisfied. Boston Children First went into court in
early August--with the 1999-2000 school year just a month
away--and demanded that students be reassigned immediately.
Federal Judge Nancy Gerstner's decision is due in
mid-August.
The Boston School Committee vote was taken at a hastily
organized meeting with almost no public notice. In spite of
this, many parents and community leaders spoke out for over
three hours at the meeting, denouncing the proposal and
demanding public hearings.
Speakers included State Rep. Gloria Fox; Paul Francis of the
Citywide Parents Advisory Council; Jean McGuire of Boston's
suburban voluntary busing program METCO; a representative of
the Black Educators Association; Steve Fernandez, who is a a
Puerto Rican science teacher at Boston Latin High School; a
representative of the National People's Campaign; and African
American, Latino, Asian and white parents from throughout the
city.
Members of Steel Workers Local 8751, representing Boston
school bus drivers, were also there. The union has been among
the most militant defenders of desegregation here over the last
quarter century.
Several white parents described how their children had
benefited from diversity in the classrooms under Boston's
desegregation plan. They testified that they had not been
adversely affected by the student assignment plan.
Other speakers pointed out that residential segregation
still exists in Boston. Without race as a factor in school
assignments, they said, resegregation will occur. The best
resources will go once again to white schools while African
American students are left to attend second-class schools.
Since desegregation began in 1974, almost all schools
located in African American neighborhoods have been closed,
leaving Black students to bear the greatest transportation
burden. The mayor promised to build new schools, but parents
are wary.
Speakers also criticized Boston Children First as speaking
for a small group of racist, dissatisfied whites, many of whom
removed their children from the Boston public schools rather
than be part of desegregation. For example, the children of the
group's leader all attend parochial schools.
The lawyer for the group has ties to right-wing foundations
and represented the anti-gay organizers of the South Boston St.
Patrick's Day Parade in their successful effort to get Supreme
Court support for their ban on lesbian and gay
participation.
The latest attack in Boston is part of a national campaign
against desegregation and affirmative action spearheaded by the
right-wing capitalist establishment, with liberal acquiescence
all around.
In 1974, images of school buses with African American
children being stoned by racist mobs made Boston an
international symbol of racism. But anti-racist forces
supporting the right of the African American community to equal
education by the means of their choice, whether through busing
or community control of schools, organized a massive march
against racism in Boston and turned the situation around.
These progressive anti-racist forces will fight to stop a
return to segregated, separate and unequal schools.
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
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