Purpose: This article examines the relationship between educational and residential segregation in three school districts with differing approaches to student assignment. Racial and income segregation within school districts is often only examined at the school level, even as school patterns are often related to residential and attendance zone…

The Black Appalachian educational experience during the civil rights era has largely been obscured by mythologies of invisibility and regional racial innocence. The narrative in this article counters these myths through the stories of Black Appalachians who came of age during the 1950s and 1960s in Jenkins, a southeastern Kentucky coal town. It…

In this article, inspired by Toni Morrison's evocative description of places that are "never going away" and events that "will happen again," the author explores the historical legacies of racism, law enforcement, and educational inequality in Covington, Kentucky. The author argues that these legacies can best be understood by…

In this study, I employ geospatial techniques to assess the impact of school attendance zone "gerrymandering" on the racial/ethnic segregation of schools, using a large national sample of 15,290 attendance zones in 663 districts. I estimate the effect of gerrymandering on school diversity and school district segregation by comparing the…

The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decisions in cases involving school districts in Seattle, Washington, and Louisville, Kentucky, seem to indicate that the United States is moving away from diversity in its public schools. In "Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1" (2007) and "Meredith v. Jefferson…

Prior to the United States Supreme Court's decision in "Brown v. Board of Education" (1954), educational finance litigation focused almost entirely on the equitable distribution of state educational financing, ending preferential disbursement of state funds. This ended in 1973, with the United States Supreme Court's decision in "San…

This past June, a 5-4 majority of the U.S. Supreme Court declared integration plans in Louisville and Seattle unconstitutional because of their focus on race as one factor in assigning students to schools. The Court's ruling in the "Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1" and "Meredith v. Jefferson…

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, Kentucky, school districts violated the rights of the white petitioners whose children were denied…

This past June, a 5-4 majority of the U.S. Supreme Court declared integration plans in Louisville and Seattle unconstitutional because of their focus on race as one factor in assigning students to schools. The Court's ruling in the "Parents Involved in Community Schools" v. "Seattle School District No. 1" and…

"Summers To Step Down, Ending Tumult at Harvard" kicked off in 2006 as one of the most talked about news stories in higher education. Only a few months later, an event involving another elite institution would grab even more headlines, and with more serious ramifications. Three Duke University men's lacrosse players were indicted on rape…

Bernie Bickerstaff discusses how growing up as an African-American athlete in rural Kentucky prepared him to become the general manager of the Denver Nuggets. Triumphing over the area's racial segregation, poverty, and mining perils gave him a sense of strength that enabled him to overcome barriers in advancing his career. (LP)

It's a little-known fact, but, 50 years ago, the junior high and high schools of Topeka, Kan., were integrated--though in name only. Fear was the order of the day at the high school, where an African American assistant superintendent by the name of Harrison Caldwell roamed the halls as the "White folks' enforcer," ensuring that African…

Relatively few people, black or white, who know anything about the reality of race relations in America during the 1950s would contest the revolutionary nature of the Supreme Court's 1954 decision in "Brown v. Board of Education." However, 50 years later, scholars are asking whether "Brown" has done more harm than good. There…