Anthony Busalacchi, who was part of that school board majority, said there was an unspoken agreement at the time that integration should be accomplished with the least disruption to whites. As a result, the burden of involuntary busing was intentionally placed on black children, he said. The confessions of Bennett and Busalacchi rank right up there with the shocking scientific discovery of the extreme wetness of water. Ironically, their revelations are being used as an excuse to justify re-creating the kind of racially segregated schools that fostered such attitudes. See, say die-hard racial separatists, integration was always a trick.
Black separatists say it was just another unfair system perpetrated by whites upon blacks.
The media make sweeping, shallow statements declaring school integration a massive, expensive failure. This conveniently comes at a time when state funds are being shifted from busing to construction and expansion of neighborhood schools. Before we merrily resegregate our schools, we should examine what was accomplished through school integration. I happen to know a little bit about this. Our family, along with many other white families, fought both Bennett and Busalacchi to achieve successful, integrated public schools for our children.