Harvard Law Review Vol 78, No 3: Racial Imbalance in the Public Schools (Pgs 566-567)

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1 RACIAL IMBALANCE IN SCHOOLS 567 
78:56. 305 

.oria furthers the associational interests of only those who can 

«reise a relatively free choice over residence. For most Ne- 

oes this choice is virtually meaningless. Although some Negroes 

ad prefer the emotional security of living in a ghetto, ghet- 

h, ation is forced upon most Negroes by racial discrimination 

e. nd . housing, the invasion-succession sequence that occurs when 

z \ecroes move into a white neighborhood, and the Negro’s present 

irthe comic disabilities, which to a large measure are inflicted by 

cially cial discrimination in employment. 

th The basic associational preference promoted by the use of and 

I erence to geographic criteria is the desire of the white parent 

j keep his child out of the racially imbalanced schools and to 

ep the children originally assigned to the imbalanced school out 

«chools attended by whites. Although this preference may be 

«ed on pure dislike of Negroes, it may also reflect a more compli- 

od set of desires and interests — for example, the desire to keep 

child out of schools in neighborhoods where the crime and 

nile delinquency rate is high, the interest in preventing his 

Id from learning the mores and customs imparted by children 

lower class families, the wish to have his child attend school 

th culturally enriched children, and the desire to have his child 

v the security of going to school with children who come from 

imilar background. In a sense these associational objections 

based on socioeconomic class rather than color. Yet, this fine 

¢ may be meaningless in reality, for almost all Negroes who are 

ttoized. and hence attend imbalanced schools, are from the 

«t socioeconomic class, and there is a correlation in the eyes 

many whites between race and class. Although the white may 

illing to acknowledge that none of the offensive traits of the 

er classes are innate and that the Negro child possesses them 

ecause of the classic “vicious circle,” each parent naturally 

the situation in the short run and from a selfish point of 

He resents sacrificing his parental concerns in order to make 

ill and long-range contribution to a solution of the problem. 

B. Evils of the Racially Imbalanced Schools 

he underlying premise of the protest against racially imbal- 

chools is that the public school system is the most general 

nism of social mobility in American society and the insti- 

n of local government that plays the most prominent role in 

life of the community. It is important to isolate the evils