Busing and White Flight
Large-scale school integration was mandated by way of busing in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971), as active integration plans were put into effect within school districts. But in Milliken v. Bradley (1974), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that busing could not be used to cross district lines--giving Southern suburbs a massive population boost. White parents who could not afford public schools, but wanted children to socialize with others of their race and caste, could simply move across the district line to avoid desegregation. The effects of Milliken are still being felt today. In Mississippi, wealthy, 92.5% white Madison has the highest high school graduation rate in the state. Immediately across the district line is 81% black Canton, which has the lowest high school graduation rate in the state. Under the original Swann ruling, busing could have potentially been used to resolve these race-based disparities; under Milliken, school segregation remains unchallenged. To this day, 70% of African-American public school students are educated in predominantly black schools.
- Read more: School Integration
Equal Opportunity
Under the Johnson and Nixon administrations, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was created to investigate claims of job discrimination, and affirmative action initiatives began to be widely implemented.
- Read more: Affirmative Action: History and Rationale
Civil Rights in the Reagan-Bush Years
President Reagan announced his 1980 candidacy in Neshoba County, Mississippi, voting to fight federal encroachment on states' rights--an obvious euphemism, in that context, for the Civil Rights Acts. True to his word, President Reagan vetoed the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1988, which required government contractors to address racial employment disparities in their hiring practices; Congress overrode his veto with a two-thirds majority. His successor, President George Bush, would struggle with, but ultimately choose to sign, the Civil Rights Act of 1991.
- Read more: Top 10 Ronald Reagan Books and DVDs
Rodney King and the Los Angeles Riots
March 2nd was a night like many others in 1991 Los Angeles, as police severely beat a black motorist. What made March 2nd special was that a man named George Holliday happened to be standing nearby with a new videocamera, and soon the entire country would become aware of the reality of police brutality.
- Read more: The Rodney King Beating Trials