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Baddick 1
Pete Baddick
Anna Richardson
ENG 112
11 November 2015
The Fight for Integration
The terms “racism” and “segregation” are terms not long forgotten in the United States
over the years. Many people have been very dedicated in the fight against both of these stigmas.
The key to preventing these social travesties lies buried at the foundation of our society: the
children. By taking measures to ensure America’s youth is exposed to diverse cultures at the
crucial points of development, we can hopefully raise generations of peaceful, open minded
citizens. Enter race based integration, of assigning children to public schools based on their
ethnicity. This system was created and implemented in some of America’s larger cities in the
hopes of accomplishing these exact goals; however, it has been met with some serious resistance.
Race based integration in public schools, while it may have its flaws and opposition, can be very
useful if done correctly in the fight to combat segregation and, hopefully, racism in the United
States.
In 2013, the United States Supreme Court ruled that public schools in Louisville,
Kentucky and Seattle, Washington could not assign students to certain schools based on the color
of their skin (Savage). This essentially stated that the practice of race based integration was
unconstitutional. Even though the practice was done with the intent of fighting racism and
segregation, it was still deemed immoral. This lead to a massive split in opinion of a topic that
had already been very controversial for years. Some argue that the ruling promotes segregation
and counteracts all the hard work done thus far to prevent segregation. Those opposed to race
Baddick 2
based integration argue that the ruling is important, and that race based integration is nothing but
a vehicle to more racism.
Arguments against this ruling have been made across the country. Many people who are
very familiar with the way the process of race-based integration works argue that this ruling
unknowingly destroys the hard work that has been done to take steps towards an integrated,
racism-free society. Even though this ruling is being fought today, there has been a massive push
against similar rulings in the past. A 2007 JET Magazine article reaches out to many highly
respected African Americans and asks for their opinions of the rulings that race-based integration
is unconstitutional. Julian Bond, chairman of the NAACP Board of Directors, was quoted as
saying, “At a time when school segregation is increasing, in the half-century since the Brown
decision, a plurality of the current court has condemned minority children to a back seat in the
