This paper reviews school desegregation issues since the 1974 Milliken v. Bradley case. The Milliken decision ruled that crossing of school district lines for desegregation was not permissible. Dissenters from this ruling predicted that the effects of the decision would be an acceleration of the national trend toward residential, political and economic apartheid, and a general regression in whatever progress had been made toward integration since the time of the "separate but equal" philosophy. In 1972-73, the lower courts dealing with the Milliken case had already determined that a metropolitan remedy to school desegregation was required. The Milliken decision constituted a "derailing" of the movement which had been underway toward the elimination of unconstitutional segregation. The author of this article believes that racism and a national anti-black strategy were responsible for this decision. In 1976, the Supreme Court was forced to retreat on its Milliken decision. Using the Detroit metropolitan area as an example, this author discusses the factors which led to the realization that constitutional rights of minority children would have to be restored through a metropolitan approach to school desegregation. (GC)