Education and Civil Rights

This unit is part of the Boston Public Schools Civil Rights Curriculum

The civil rights movement is often taught as a Southern phenomenon. Yet, the struggle for racial justice occurred all over the country, especially in Northern cities. In this unit, students learn about one episode in the civil rights movement in the North: the conflict over how to resolve racial segregation in Boston's public schools in the 1960s and 1970s. These lessons focus on the context and decisions that resulted in court-ordered busing, rather than on the violence and tension that followed busing. Investigating the years prior to court-ordered busing helps students better understand current debates about segregation in public schools. Nearly 50 years later, the same conditions that led to racially imbalanced schools in the 1960s and 1970s, namely residential segregation, exist in most American cities and suburbs. Furthermore, many of the strategies suggested by educators, parents, and activists in the 1960s are being proposed today. The lessons in this unit also provide students with the opportunity to reflect on their educational experiences and develop their opinion about school segregation. As the United States becomes an increasingly racially diverse nation, it is particularly relevant for students to think about how people from different backgrounds build relationships based on mutual respect and shared understandings, and the role of schools in this endeavor.