The Supreme Court and Racially Imbalanced Public Schools in 1967

It is a central fact of recent history that in 1954 the Supreme Court of the United States declared legally required (de jure) public school racial segregation contrary to the Constitution.1 But the Court also said in the same opinion that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.2 Was the Court saying that persons attending schools which were all-Negro or predominantly Negro as a result of housing patterns and attendance zones (racially imbalanced or de facto segregated) in the non-South had a constitutional right to attend school with whites? Since 1954 the Court has written a number of opinions clarifying its views on the composition of pupil populations in Southern schools,3 but it has failed to enlighten us as to its position on racial imbalance. It is proper to call this a failure, because the Court has had ample opportunity. Beginning in 1956 the Court has refused to review a number of lower court decisions dealing with racially imbalanced schools in non-Soutlern states.4 Such a refusal theoretically

Political science · Supreme court · Diverse Education Studies and Reforms · Law · Psychology · School Choice and Performance