I just got home from class and I was thinking about the Boston School District video the whole way home. I went to school in Charlotte from 5th grade until I graduated high school. Charlotte went through a very similar process as the Boston schools went through, but my family and I never had to witness the violence. Even though I went to school in a school district that at one time dealt with the concepts that the Boston district dealt with, I was still shocked to see the footage that the video offered. My question is this: Do ya'll think that the schools should have stayed segregated where there was a black school and a white school or do ya'll think the desegregated schools were better with both races together with all the violence?

I kept thinking of Charlotte during that video because I did a project on desegregation this past summer, and there were a lot of parallels to the Boston footage. I think we do ourselves as a society a disservice when we don't expose each other to the incredible gifts and insights that all cultures hold. I absolutely believe in desegregation, but I hate the thought of the sacrificial lamb which many black students because after Brown v. Board in 1954. I hate that busing had to be used, though I wonder if there really is/was any other way. I think it is horrible to send a child on a bus early in the morning to a school far away. But I think the multicultural experience is so important to me. It's a double edged sword I think. Though it was a terrible part of our history, I feel that the outcome was necessary.

I think that there was a problem with the white kids getting a better education and the school board not recognizing that the black school did not have enough textbooks. I sometimes feel that desegregation is seen as equaling out the numbers and ratios and i think it should be viewed more as all people getting excellent and top-of-the-line educations. I hated to see the students bused for more than 30 minutes and all the violence and yelling, with people just wanting an equal education. Like the little girl mentioned in the movie that the white neighborhood was so mean, and that her neighborhood was not mean towards the white students. That just broke my heart. I feel that getting ratios balanced is favored too much and that equal education for all should be the top priority. I think that putting students on a bus 2 hours before school starts is CRAZY!!!

I think that what happened was horrible and that the parents acted in a unacceptable manner. I think that for things to change it means that people are going to get angry but we have to do these things to move forward and to provide equality for everyone and give them the same type of education and opportunities in their life. I think that even though all those people got hurt and people got angry it showed that it needed to happen.