Anyone here familiar with Boston, esp South Boston?

[hedgehog]

Today is the 60th Anniversary of Brown v Board of Education, which led to forced busing in South Boston in the 70's (IIRC). It was bitterly opposed by many Southies. My impression is that they had a point; that it was the busing of poor whites and poor blacks into each others' neighborhoods and that it ignored middle class and wealthy white neighborhoods.

1. Do you have any corrections on the above?

and, more importantly:

2. Did the busing mean that the Southies were forced out of a small community into contact with the outside community, and if so, what were the results?

[hack89]

1. The ruling was a disaster for public education in Boston.

The ruling applied only to Boston metropolitan area which is comprised of predominately Irish American, Italian and African-American neighborhoods. The "middle class and wealthy white neighborhoods" were not impacted by the ruling because they are not served by the Boston public school district - they are part of "Greater Boston" which is comprised of a multitude of independent towns and cities.

The results were a disaster for public education - student enrollment plummeted as those parents who could afford it sent their kids to private schools. The Boston public school system now services a poor non-white student body with horrible results, thus perpetuating the flight to private schools or better school districts.

[Marrah_G]

2. I agree with the above

It was a horrible experiment.

[pinto]

3. And a disaster for social relations in the city, already strained.

I remember it well.