Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971)
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This event marked a major point in the line of Public School racial-desegregation cases. The case came up in the combined city county Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public School system that stretched more than 550 square miles in Southwestern North Carolina. In the late 1960s, the school systems were the nation's forty-third largest, serving around 84,500 students in 106 schools. Black parents, including James E. Swann, sued to desegregate the districts dual school system and in 1965 the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina approved a desegregation plan centered on allowing pupils to transfer freely between district zones.
In the 1969-70 school year, two thirds of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg district's 24,700 black students remained confined to twenty five schools where more that 98% of the students were black, although the district overall had 71% white students. The plan also called for desegregation of teachers. Swann and other black parents went to the U.S. Supreme Court in order to get a unitary nonracial system of public education.
U.S. District Court Judge James B. McMilan responded to continual complaints from blacks about the school board's failing in its affirmative obligations to eliminate racially segregated schools. McMilan ordered changes in school board policies and practices to create new attendance zones and substantially increase busing especially for elementary schools in the districts. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education rejected Judge McMilan's imposed numerical targets. The Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit affirmed McMilan's order to desegregate faculty and to rezone secondary schools with busing.
The school board refused to budge. They argued that neither the U.S. Constitution nor the U.S Supreme Court required the so called racial balance. Judge McMilan ordered the State law to declare that "no student shall be assigned or compelled to attend any school on account of race, creed, color, or national origin or for the purpose of creating a balance or ratio of race, religion or national origins."
The school board appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Argued on October 12, 1970, the case drew widespread attention because of its implications for busing as a remedy, in particular, and more generally for the limits or court ordered desegregation.
The Court divided sharply. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger and Justice Hugo Black opposed the sweep of Judge McMilan's order and favored limiting busing as a remedy. Chief Justice Burger assigned himself to write the opinion. He succeeded when he wrote the sixth draft to get a unanimous agreement on a set of school desegregation propositions.
Affirming Judge McMilan's order, the court upheld busing as a technique to provide equitable relief for purposes of racial desegregation within the capacity of the local school authority. The unanimous decision opened the way for federal judges to use busing widely to and racially segregated public schooling.
In the 1969-70 school year, two thirds of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg district's 24,700 black students remained confined to twenty five schools where more that 98% of the students were black, although the district overall had 71% white students. The plan also called for desegregation of teachers. Swann and other black parents went to the U.S. Supreme Court in order to get a unitary nonracial system of public education.
U.S. District Court Judge James B. McMilan responded to continual complaints from blacks about the school board's failing in its affirmative obligations to eliminate racially segregated schools. McMilan ordered changes in school board policies and practices to create new attendance zones and substantially increase busing especially for elementary schools in the districts. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education rejected Judge McMilan's imposed numerical targets. The Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit affirmed McMilan's order to desegregate faculty and to rezone secondary schools with busing.
The school board refused to budge. They argued that neither the U.S. Constitution nor the U.S Supreme Court required the so called racial balance. Judge McMilan ordered the State law to declare that "no student shall be assigned or compelled to attend any school on account of race, creed, color, or national origin or for the purpose of creating a balance or ratio of race, religion or national origins."
The school board appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Argued on October 12, 1970, the case drew widespread attention because of its implications for busing as a remedy, in particular, and more generally for the limits or court ordered desegregation.
The Court divided sharply. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger and Justice Hugo Black opposed the sweep of Judge McMilan's order and favored limiting busing as a remedy. Chief Justice Burger assigned himself to write the opinion. He succeeded when he wrote the sixth draft to get a unanimous agreement on a set of school desegregation propositions.
Affirming Judge McMilan's order, the court upheld busing as a technique to provide equitable relief for purposes of racial desegregation within the capacity of the local school authority. The unanimous decision opened the way for federal judges to use busing widely to and racially segregated public schooling.