This fall, the public schools in Charlotte,
N.C., are more segregated than they have been in a quarter-century.
In a controversial decision, a federal judge,
Robert D. Potter, ruled that no present-day racial inequities were
the result of deliberate segregation and set into motion the end of
busing. The revamped neighborhood-school plan has produced many
schools notably more segregated by race and income.
The prospect of resegregation brought back
memories for the graduates of Charlotte's Second Ward High School,
which was one of the most beloved institutions in the black
community from the time it opened in 1923 to the day it was
bulldozed in 1970. Recently, former students held their annual
reunion; amid their celebration of their all-black alma mater, they
took time to discuss the achievements and shortcomings of
desegregation.
George H. Ray Jr., 1956: "When
schools were all black, we had nourishing and nurturing in the
classroom without the strife of racial overtones. The mixing of
races is an ideal. But in reality, it's not going to happen on a
mass scale."
Charles Redfern, 1956: "Everything
that you didn't get at home, you got at Second Ward. Teachers didn't
look for payback. It was love. Times have changed, but if it had to
go back the way it was, black on black, it would be better than what
it is now."
Beatrice Jones Williams, 1954: "The
decision to stop busing was terrible. We used to get old books, old
desks. My kids didn't get that in desegregated schools in Charlotte.
All schools got the same thing. And they had white friends. Why
change things now?"
Arthur Griffin Jr., 1966, school
board chair: "I don't advocate segregated schools today. But
there are attributes of that time that need to be in place today.
Our teachers, they'd look at you, almost as if they were wanting to
will a good education into your head."
Price F. Davis, 1939: "Back
then, Charlotte was like Mayberry with racism. When I walked into
school, I felt protected. It gave me hope. But today if you don't
have some kind of contact with other races, other cultures, you're
lost in this world."
Annie Belk Pegram, 1952: "There
is a great emphasis nowadays on self-esteem. That's something Second
Ward really pushed out front. Our teachers just insisted that we
know we were somebody. It didn't matter that we sat at the back of
the bus."
helped some people. But the black kid had the
burden of the whole situation. The newer schools were being built on
the perimeter. Poor black kids had to ride out into those areas to
get a good education."
Sam Brooks, 1956: "I'm
very proud of who I am and where I came from. If Charlotte's going
back to neighborhood schools, it probably would be great because a
lot of kids wouldn't have to travel so far. They'll have more energy
to do their work."
Bettye Golden Holloway, 1952: "I
see children now with all their opportunities; we didn't have those
resources. I don't mind resegregation if the schools are equal --
and children have the same opportunities. But I don't think that's
going to happen."
