On School Busing For Desegregation In Contemporary American Society

In the 1970's, the federal government of U.S., in order to eliminate the racial segregation in public school, implemented the school busing program. Discussing this legal program is helpful for us to observe thoroughly the racial problems in contemporary American society. This thesis is divided into five parts.Part one deals with the development of the school desegregation before 1971 in U.S..After the World War Two, the federal government of U.S. took some legal desegregation measures with the hope of eliminating the racial segregation in public schools. Although the racial relation between the blacks and whites in southern public schools gained somewhat improvement, it was still unsatisfactory in the south due to the resistance toward the measures. What's more, the federal legal desegregation measures were intended for the abolishment of the official racial discrimination, but the racial segregation in northern public schools was mainly the result of the individual action, therefore, the racial segregation in northern public schools was not shattered at all. In a word, the racial segregation in American public schools was still a serious social problem before 1971.The federal government of U.S., to solve this problem, had to take some further measures.Part two concerns about the establishment and implementation of the school busing.In the later 1960's, in order to revolt against racial discrimination, black Americans rose in organized rebellions in some cities, which exerted a tremendous pressure on the federal government and forced the government to take more effective measures to eradicate racial segregation in U.S.. Eliminating the racial segregation in public schools was one of the federal government's major concerns. Supreme Court of U.S., took the case of Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education as a turning point, approved the validity of school busing as a lawful means to eliminate the racial segregation in public schools. Hereafter, the school busing was carried out in the national scope.Part three discusses the social reaction toward the school busing in the initial period. After the establishment of the school busing, President Nixon, who was conservative in civil rights issues, together with some conservative congressmen, resisted this legal program. They attempted to limit the scope of the school busing, but didn't hold up the implementation of the busing. The school busing also faced certain resistance from the masses. In some areas, people's resisting behavior even developed into violence. But on the whole, the school busing was carried out peacefully all over the United States.Part four talks about the development of the school busing after the 1970's.After the 1970's, Supreme Court of U.S., accommodated itself to the social changes, gradually reduced the judicial intervention in the implementation of the school busing. In some areas, the racial composition changed greatly, and people's consciousness of racial equality was enhanced, thus school busing started to withdraw from historical arena.Part Five makes some evaluations of the school busing.School busing was helpful in eradicating the bad influence of de jure segregation. It created more chances of the social association between the black and white children. It also enabled the children, no matter the whites and blacks, to form the racial equality consciousness since childhood. All these were vital for America to guarantee a peaceful and stable society. Certainly, the school busing was not perfect, but compared with the great positive social effect it contributed to American society, the inevitable insufficiencies of it were secondary.