The history of busing and school integration is not over. In fact, in my hometown in North Carolina, the issue is still very much alive -- something I was reminded of watching the documentary today. Over the last few years, my local school district has started to implement policies that support busing inner-city students into more affluent neighborhood schools (my own alma mater included). To this day, I hear comments from neighbors and friends that "the school really has gone downhill since they started busing those kids in." I just keep thinking to myself, "Oh really, which kids?" ... not to mention that no one ever speaks openly about how the bused-in students (predominantly students of color and lesser financial means than the previous demographic) or their parents feel about it. Additionally, when I picked my sister up from high school a few months ago, I couldn't help but notice how uncomfortable everyone - parents, students and teachers -looked. Was it fear or anger? It definitely wasn't complacency, but it certainly wasn't good.
Deja vu like this ultimately fuels my passion for education. As one of the quotes Prof. Grandson shared states: "History does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it with us, are consciously controlled by it in may ways, and history is literally present in all that we do" - James Baldwin.
How far have we come? Does history repeat itself or do we? Either way, the battle for equity - educational or otherwise - is far from over, and I question how many people want to let it really begin.
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