School Integration, 2006

Visit any cafeteria in the U.S. and you’ll find it segregated by race (Read Beverly Daniel Tatum's book "Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?"). According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the new question up for consideration is this: What can the government do when the last vestiges of state-sponsored segregation are erased and schools nevertheless remain racially isolated because of housing patterns, parental choice and perhaps societal discrimination?

In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education struck down the "separate but equal" doctrine of Plessy vs. Ferguson and called for the dismantling of segregation in schools. Since then (Visit the National Education Association's timeline), courts and schools across the nation have been painstakingly trying to diversify their student populations with practices such as busing.

Administrators quickly identified the many challenges presented by these changes, such as outspoken resistance by states such as Arkansas, Massachussetts, Washington D.C., and Maryland; increased violence; and increased disparity in the abilities of students in the same classroom. Busing, in particular, became a key source of racial tension. Yet despite the challenges, many Americans believed that integration of America's public schools served as an important step towards equality among all the races.

Those opposed to forced integration believe that "Racial balancing prefers one individual to another for no reason other than race,'' he said in a Supreme Court brief, "and thereby violates the heart of the equal protection clause -- the principle that our Constitution is color-blind.”

Those in favor of integration point to the many advances made by people of color in this country, and fear that a decision against integration will undermine, or even reverse, equal opportunity.

In 2003, a court decision on this issue ruled that an applicant's race was one of several criteria a public university could consider in the interest of promoting a diverse student body. But considering that Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has since been replaced by conservative Justice Samuel Alito, who has said he was particularly proud of his work against "racial and ethnic quotas,'' many Americans are wondering if the situation will be different this time.