Busing

Covers the political and social turmoil created as Mecklenburg County struggled with implementing the Swann desegregation order, which required extensive cross-town busing and which was unanimously upheld by the Supreme Court in 1971. Charts the devastating impact of the closing of African American schools, particularly Second Ward High School, in the wake of desegregation mandates. Details the challenges faced by African American teachers and students who were reassigned to historically white schools. Lays out the devastating effects of "urban renewal," which demolished the city's downtown black communities. Tells the story of the interracial, community-based coalition that solved the busing conflict by crafting a plan that ensured that students from all of the county's communities would fully participate, and assigned the children of politically powerful families to West Charlotte.