July 13, 2007

Desegregation's Demise

By DERRICK BELL

After generating months of anxiety among both proponents and opponents of public-school integration, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a predictably close 5-4 decision, ruled that the use of race in student-assignment policies by the Seattle and Louisville, Ky., school districts violated the rights of the white petitioners whose children were denied admission to the schools of their choice. The decision covered Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 and Meredith v.

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