An End to 30 Years of Forced Busing in My Hometown

Yesterday the Palm Beach County School Board approved new boundaries for my high school alma mater that effectively ended 30 years of forced busing of African Americans in Delray Beach. Well. That only took 30 years. Amazing progress in our education system and our society.

I don't consider myself a geezer, but when I was in the classroom and would relate to my students the fact that I attended segregated schools right up through the 8th grade they found it all a little hard to believe. "You mean there were laws that said black kids and white kids couldn't go to school together?" Why yes there were, along with a long brick wall that separated the white side of town from what everyone then called Colored Town. There were laws that said black folks couldn't be downtown after a certain time each night. Granted, there was one girl in my elementary classes who had dark skin, but her name was Maria and she had a Spanish surname and processed hair. So, I guess it wasn't so much the skin color as it was the heritage. Or culture? It didn't make all that much sense back then as a kid, and makes even less now.

Florida in those days was a far different place than it is now. We were still part of the Deep South and had plenty of attitudes and laws that made us more akin to Alabama than the decidedly Northeast culture that exists here today. A huge influx of retirees and immigrants from New York and other states--Yankees all--have changed the culture of our area significantly in the last 20 years. but many of our Deep South roots and attitudes have persisted.

In the late 60's and early 70's this was still the South with a capital S. Our school board fought tooth and nail to keep the races segregated, but finally in my 8th grade year the federal courts had their way and the desegregation of Palm Beach County schools was forced on all of us.

And by all of us I don't just mean the white parents and politicians who opposed it, but also the black families who had fought so hard and for so long to develop and maintain their own communities. Part of the plan that was implemented saw an end to the black high schools in our county. Despite the history and pride that those schools felt they were closed down, torn down, or converted into something else altogether. In my hometown of Delray Beach, Carver High School--winner of the state football championship the year before and a center of the community it served--was converted to a middle school. Seacrest High School where my brothers attended, and where I was scheduled to go, was converted to Atlantic High School and accepted students from all over town, regardless of their color.

But there was another component to forced busing in Delray Beach. In order to comply with the court order the high school in Boca Raton also needed to be integrated. One small problem. Not enough African Americans actually lived in Boca back then, and so the black community in Delray Beach was split down the middle. Those of you who live south of this road? Sorry about this, but you're going to have to ride the bus for an hour or so each way so we can balance the racial population at this school. Oh, you don't like that plan? You think it will undermine your sense of community and be detrimental to your kids? Well gee, sorry about that, but look at the bright side. You get to go to school with white kids and learn in a building that's newer and nicer than the one you're in now.

It all seems silly looking back on it now. Was that really the best we could do? Or was it the politician's way for punishing those uppity black folks for agitating for change?

And now? Well, the new high school building has been built closer to the traditionally black community in Delray Beach and the new boundaries for the south end of the county will bring all of those kids back together at one school. A school that's closer to their parents' homes and work, and a location that won't make attending parent conferences and school events prohibitive for black parents. That's progress. It's a shame it took us 30 years to get here.