The trouble with these bleeding heart liberals (especially those of color) is that they don't realize that there are a LOT of prominent white people who would prefer to see the institution of slavery re-established.

True Integration Is Difficult and Necessary

Donna Bivens is the project director of the Boston Busing/Desegregation Project at Union of Minority Neighborhoods in Boston.

UPDATED MAY 21, 2012, 11:25 AM

Getting this country to an integration that truly honors diversity is more difficult – and more necessary – than I ever imagined.

School integration can’t solve the larger problems of racial and socioeconomic inequity and if it is held to such a standard, it will always fall short.

My own journey is a microcosm of that complexity. I left my African-American high school in Dayton, Ohio, for Wellesley College in 1970, which only began significant integration in 1969 brought on by the pressure of social movements. When I left Dayton, I didn’t think I’d been personally affected by racism, which I thought of as bigoted acts associated with the South. It was only after graduating and moving to "liberal" Boston in 1974 (the year the desegregation crisis began), that I had my first experience with racial bigotry. Although I was spit at and once had a bottle thrown at me, I quickly came to understand that racism was more than such acts.

Like Boston with its de jure segregation, Dayton was ordered by the court in the late 70s to begin a desegregation plan. Today, both Boston and Dayton have public school systems that are overwhelmingly people of color. 

In our busing and desegregation project at the Union of Minority Neighborhoods, we are listening and learning from Boston’s crisis. We are trying to openly discuss how racism and class inequity thwart school integration and undermine the creation of high quality, equitable school systems.

School integration can’t solve the larger problems of racial and socioeconomic inequity or deliver equity in an increasingly inequitable nation. And if it is held to such a standard, it will always fall short.

Still, we must honestly grapple with our visions regarding racial and economic integration and quality education, paying careful attention to dynamics of race, class and power among individuals and among communities.

Our job is more important and more daunting than ever.