School Desegregation: 60 Years Later

In 1954, the US Supreme Court ruled that legally segregated public schools deprived African Americans of their 14th Amendment guarantee of an equal education. Today, after decades of controversy, school integration has not been achieved. Most black kids still go to mostly black schools. In some places, desegregation orders have been ignored — or even reversed — by school districts. In the meantime, America's racial make-up has radically changed. The Latino population has mushroomed. The proportion of white students is on the decline. Can students learn without diversity in their classrooms? Is school segregation a symptom of deeper issues: housing discrimination and economics?