Why Busing Failed: Race, Media, and the National Resistance to School Desegregation

by Matthew F. Delmont

In the decades after the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision, busing to achieve school desegregation became one of the nation’s most controversial civil rights issues. Why Busing Failed is the first book to examine the pitched battles over busing on a national scale, focusing on cities such as Boston, Chicago, New York, and Pontiac, Michigan. This groundbreaking book shows how school officials, politicians, the courts, and the media gave precedence to the desires of white parents who opposed school desegregation over the civil rights of black students.   This broad and incisive history of busing features a cast of characters that includes national political figures such as then-president Richard Nixon, Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley, and antibusing advocate Louise Day Hicks, as well as some lesser-known activists on both sides of the issue—Boston civil rights leaders Ruth Batson and Ellen Jackson, who opposed segregated schools, and Pontiac housewife and antibusing activist Irene McCabe, black conservative Clay Smothers, and Florida governor Claude Kirk, all supporters of school segregation. Why Busing Failed shows how antibusing parents and politicians ultimately succeeded in preventing full public school desegregation.

Genres: History, Education, Nonfiction, Race, Social Justice, Politics, American History

299 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2016

Reviews

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 2.5 stars. Respect the commitment to the bit, putting “busing” in quotes throughout however many hundred pages, since needless to say much of the opposition to busing was not about busing.

We are in year seven choosing a Title 1 school for our kids over our more privileged zoned school, and you’ll find no one more sympathetic than I to the argument that people are more racist, and more comfortable with very thinly veiled dog whistles, about their kids’ schools than in any other walk of life. And yes, this book is convincing on that point, if anyone needed to be convinced. But it leaves much to be desired as far as examining why, and what that might mean about how school districts should be run. Or moreover, what it means to do the right thing in a democracy when people are indeed at least a little bit racist. If you shove busing down people’s throats and then they vote you out of office (and indeed any judges backing you out of office too), have you really advanced the cause of desegregation? At some point you have to win hearts and minds, and this book doesn’t really engage with that at all.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book that tells the story of the role "busing" played as a framework in politics and media to thwart school desegregation, with a special focus on Northern cities and suburbs, starting ten years earlier than Boston's infamous anti-busing protests. While it may be about one specific issue, it shows the importance of "busing" and the framing of de facto vs. de jure segregation as concepts that undermined desegregation efforts, including in the 1964 Civil Rights Act itself. Very worth reading, and also seems very teachable. I'm trying to figure out a new upper-level undergrad course that would include it.

[Kimberly Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book wanting to learn more about the history of the busing controversies, and I did learn a lot from this book, but the focus was more how busing was portrayed in the media, particularly TV news. Much of his critique applies to TV news today- the collapsing of complex issues into immediate crises, the lack of historical context and nuance. I enjoyed this book, but was left wanting more detail about the specifics of the desegregation plans.

[Brittany Duffy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great history of how “busing” became the enemy for school desegregation that holds White people in the North accountable for their hypocrisy. It reads very academically at times and has some confusing typos, but it is an important history of an often misunderstood or ignored subject. The book may have benefited from some more thorough explanation of “busing” rather than jumping into what happened in various cities — it has certainly left me with a curiosity to continue diving deeply into this subject.

[Collin Perryman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A MASTERPIECE!🔥🔥 I love how Dr. Delmont encourages us to center Black students voices, and seeing 'school busing' as a legacy of Brown v. Board - instead of media who frames these issues from flashy sound bites of a few loud White people. In a time of anti-DEI and book bans, we could learn a lot from this book!🙏

[Lindsay Vlasak · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really informative and eye opening. I learned so much about a subject and history I did not previously know enough about. Great read if you care about educational equality.

[Cayla Wolf · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very informative but so repetitive.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a well researched review of the historical context leading up to and surrounding the nationally publicized "busing" protests in US cities in the 60s and 70s, with a specific focus on Boston, where busing received more media attention than anywhere else.

The book helps the reader understand the parts of the issue that were not well publicized, including the specific policy decisions as well as the role of network media in shaping the public's response to various desegregation orders.

I found Delmont's writing style to be at times unclear or repetitive. However, I found the content to be interesting enough such that I was able to overlook some things that the copy editor apparently overlooked as well.

This book is really relevant in the current social and political climate, especially with regards to the way that "dog whistle" racism continues to find new coded language in how white people resist justice for black folks and people of color out of fear of inconvenience to themselves.

[Andrew Figueiredo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Relatively good analysis of the "busing" issue and its failure in the US. However, it just felt like a chronicling of experiences in different cities at times.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times, the writing is quite dense, but this is a much-needed book that rewards careful reading. Delmont has produced an excellent contribution to our understanding of the school desegregation struggles that continue to affect children and families all over the United States.