Desegregation of Detroit
Public Schools
Milliken v. Bradley
LaVonne Meyer, Mary Neal, and Michael Hoffman
Racial Tension and White
Flight
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In ‘40, 90.8% of Detroit
residents were White
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By ‘74, 71.5% of Detroit’s
student population was
African American.
Between 1950 and
1970, the city lost
338,000 residents
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metropolitan region
gained almost 1.4 million
residents.
12th Street Riot of 1967
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Riot started on July
23, 2007 and lasted
for five days
National guard made
7,200 arrests, left 43
dead, and 467 injured.
Over 2000 buildings
burned down
12th Street later
becomes Rosa Parks
Blvd.
Mayor Coleman Young
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Racism is like high blood pressure – the person who
has it doesn’t know he has it until he drops over with
a goddamn stroke. There are no symptoms of racism.
The victim of racism is in a much better position to
tell you whether or not you’re racist than you are.
I issue a warning to all those pushers, to all rip-off
artists, to all muggers: It’s time to leave Detroit; hit
Eight Mile Road! And I don’t give a damn if they are
black or white, of if they where Superfly suits of blue
uniforms with silver badges. Hit the road.
School Desegregation Through
2nd Half of 20th Century
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June ’50 Heman Sweatt admitted to
UofT Law School.
May ’54 Brown v. Board of Ed.
Decided
Sept. ’57 Little Rock Central High
School
Sept. ’61 District court dismisses
Highland Park desegregation case
Oct. ’62 Riots at University of
Mississippi over first black student
July ’64 Johnson signs Civil Rights Act
Early ’69 Oakland County NAACP files
suit complaining that Pontiac schools
are deliberately segregated
School Desegregation Through
2nd Half of 20th Century (cont.)
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Feb. ’70 Court finds Pontiac intentionally
violated 14th amendment but school
officials appeal and delay busing order.
April ’70 Detroit school board alters
attendance boundaries of 12 high schools
Aug. ’70 Bradley v. Milliken challenges
April ’70 plan
April ’71 busing authorized to
desegregate public schools in North
Carolina
July ’71 85 school districts added as
defendants in Milliken I
Aug. ’71 Pontiac ordered to desegregate
and the KKK blows up the buses that
Pontiac needs to integrate.
Sept. ’71 Dist. Ct. rules on Milliken I
School Desegregation Through
2nd Half of 20th Century (cont.)
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June ’74 School
desegregation in Boston
triggers rioting
July ’74 Milliken I reversed in
Sup. Ct.
Nov. ’75 DeMascio orders
“modest” desegregation plan
Jan. ’76 22,000 children
board buses and
desegregation of Detroit
begins
June ’78 Sup. Ct. declares
colleges can use race as a
factor in admissions
School Desegregation Through
2nd Half of 20th Century (cont.)
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Aug. ’81 Congress repeals
the federal law that funded
school desegregation efforts
1981 Detroit expands busing
and Ferndale begins it.
1988 Fed. Dist. Ct.
relinquishes oversight of city
schools desegregation
June ’95 Sup. Ct. ends a
desegregation program in
Kansas City, Missouri
June ’03 Sup. Ct. rules that
UofM can favor minorities in
admissions.
April 17th Plan
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In 1970, DBE voluntarily began implementing
desegregation plan
Michigan legislature blocked integration
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Act 48 of Public Acts of 197 Prescribed “free
choice” and “neighborhood schools
Delayed transportation funding for blacks but not
for whites
State Transportation Aid Act expressly prohibited
allocation of funds for racial balancing
DBE’s “optional attendance zones”
Nathanial R. Jones
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1956-1959 Executive Director, Fair
Employment Practices Commission, City
of Youngstown, Ohio
1960-1967 Assistant United States
Attorney, Northern District of Ohio at
Cleveland
1967-1968 Assistant General Counsel,
National Advisory Commission on Civil
Disorders (Kerner Commission)
1969-1979 General Counsel, NAACP
Paul R. Dimond
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With Jones on the brief for Bradley
1975-1976 Director, Lawyer's
Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Published “Beyond Busing” in 1985
Now works for Miller Canfield in Ann
Arbor and does mainly real estate.
Response to Ineffective Plan:
Milliken begins
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Class action suit, named for Ronald and Richard Bradley, brought by
their mother, Verda Bradley against defendants including:
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for their
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Mich. Governer (Milliken)
Mich. Attorney General
Superintendent of Public Instruction
State Treasurer
Mich. Board of Educ.
Det. Board of Educ.
Det.’s current and former Superintendents
policies,
actions, and
inactions
contributing to de jure segregation
De Facto v De Jure
Segregation
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De facto segregation due to factors
other than official policies and decisions
De jure segregation is triggered by
officials’ policies or decisions that either
create or maintain racial segregation.
School Desegregation
Caselaw: Pre-Milliken
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Time for “Deliberate Speed” has
passed, Immediate Remedies Needed
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“The burden on a school board today is to
come forward with a plan that promises
realistically to work, and promises
realistically to work now.” Green v. County
School Board, 391 U.S. 430 (U.S. 1968)
Prior Caselaw (cont.)
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Remedy Based on Equitable Principles
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“In fashioning and effectuating the decrees, the courts will be
guided by equitable principles. ... At stake is the personal interest
of the plaintiffs in admission to public schools as soon as
practicable on a nondiscriminatory basis. To effectuate this interest
may call for elimination of a variety of obstacles in making the
transition to school systems operated in accordance with the
constitutional principles” Brown v. Board of Education II, 349 U.S.
294, 299-300 (1955)
“[A] school desegregation case does not differ fundamentally from
other cases involving the framing of equitable remedies to repair
the denial of a constitutional right. The task is to correct, by a
balancing of the individual and collective interests, the condition
that offends the Constitution.” Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Bd.
of Educ., 402 U.S. 1, 16 (1971)
Prior Caselaw (cont.)
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Appropriate for District Court to Prescribe, Oversee
Desegregation Plan, no Clear Limit on this Power
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“Once a right and a violation have been shown, the scope of a district
court's equitable powers to remedy past wrongs is broad, for breadth and
flexibility are inherent in equitable remedies.” Swann v. CharlotteMecklenburg Bd. of Educ., 402 U.S. 1, 16 (U.S. 1971)
“The remedy for such segregation may be administratively awkward,
inconvenient, and even bizarre in some situations and may impose burdens
on some...No fixed or even substantially fixed guidelines can be established
as to how far a court can go, but it must be recognized that there are
limits.” Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Bd. of Educ., 402 U.S. 1 (U.S.
1971)
“The scope of permissible transportation of students as an implement of a
remedial decree has never been defined by this Court and by the very
nature of the problem it cannot be defined with precision.” Swann v.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Bd. of Educ., 402 U.S. 1 (U.S. 1971)
Prior Caselaw (cont.)
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Scope of Desegregation Plan may Include such Measures as Teacher
Reassigmnet, Re-districting of Re-zoning, Transportation of Students, Remedial
Coursework
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“[District Courts may] consider problems related to administration, arising from the
physical condition of the school plant, the school transportation system, personnel,
revision of school districts and attendance areas into compact units to achieve a
system of determining admission to the public schools on a nonracial basis, and
revision of local laws and regulations which may be necessary[.]” Brown v. Board of
Education II, 349 U.S. 294, 300-301 (1955)
“[Defendant School Board] argues that the Constitution prohibits district courts from
using their equity power to order assignment of teachers to achieve a particular
degree of faculty desegregation. We reject that contention. Swann v. CharlotteMecklenburg Bd. of Educ., 402 U.S. 1 (U.S. 1971)
“[O]ne of the principal tools employed by school planners and by courts to break up
the dual school system has been a frank -- and sometimes drastic -- gerrymandering
of school districts and attendance zones. More often than not, these zones are neither
compact nor contiguous; indeed they may be on opposite ends of the city. As an
interim corrective measure, this cannot be said to be beyond the broad remedial
powers of a court. Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Bd. of Educ., 402 U.S. 1 (U.S.
1971)
Prior Caselaw (cont.)
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No Requirement for Specific Racial Balance in each School, but
Single-race School raises Presumption of Discrimination
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“Where the school authority's proposed plan for conversion from a
dual to a unitary system contemplates the continued existence of
some schools that are all or predominately of one race, they have
the burden of showing that such school assignments are genuinely
nondiscriminatory. The court should scrutinize such schools, and
the burden upon the school authorities will be to satisfy the court
that their racial composition is not the result of present or past
discriminatory action on their part.” Swann v. CharlotteMecklenburg Bd. of Educ., 402 U.S. 1 (U.S. 1971)
“The constitutional command to desegregate schools does not
mean that every school in every community must always reflect the
racial composition of the school system as a whole.” Swann v.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Bd. of Educ., 402 U.S. 1 (U.S. 1971)
Judicial Involvement
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Risk of High Profile Desegregation Case
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Judge in similar case in Richmond, VA house was
bombed
Special master in Dayton, OH case shot
In Detroit
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Rioting, block busting, and public scorn of judges
Heightened security
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Special entrance for judges and clerks
Federal Marshal protection for judges and families
Colleagues believe stress of case killed Roth
Judicial Involvement (cont.)
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High Maintenance of Milliken Case
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DeMascio employed two clerks for two-year terms at any given time. One
was assigned full time to Milliken throughout course of case
DeMascio calls School Board and Teachers' Union into quarters for status
hearing on contract negotiations out of concern that imminent strike could
scuttle portions of proposed remedy, orders them to meet daily to resolve
issue
Liaison appointed to meet with heads of local colleges and universities to
solicit their involvement in remedy for public schools
Court staff met with business and community leaders to encourage their
support of desegregation efforts
Three desegregation experts appointed to serve as officers of the court
DeMascio denies plaintiff's motion that he recuse self after remand from 6th
Cir., citing both difficulty of transfer such a labor intensive case to a new
judge, and lack of bias or inappropriate actions on his part.
Surpreme Court Composition
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Chief Justice Burger: Majority
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Stewart: Concurring Opinion
Douglas: Dissent
White: Dissent
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Joined by Stewart, Blackmun,
Powell, and Renquist
Joined by Douglas, Brennan,
Marshall
Marshall: Dissent
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Joined by Douglass, Brennan,
White
Constitutional Issue of Milliken
I
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Milliken and the 14th Amendment, § 1
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The 14th Amendment to the United States
Constitution, § 1, reads in part: “No State
shall make or enforce any law which shall
abridge the privileges or immunities of
citizens of the United States; nor shall any
State deprive any person of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law; nor
deny to any person within its jurisdiction
the equal protection of the laws.”
Burger on Constitutional
Issues
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Majority found no violations of 14th amendment in outlying
districts
“[N]o state law is above the Constitution. School district lines
and the present laws with respect to local control are not
sacrosanct, and if they conflict with the Fourteenth Amendment,
federal courts have a duty to prescribe appropriate remedies.”
Although record contained evidence of de jure segregation, an
intradistrict remedy would be “wholly impermissible [and] based
on a standard not hinted at in Brown I and II or any holding of
this Court.”
Stewart on Constitutional
Issues
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Upheld Sixth Circuit’s finding of Equal Protection
Clause violation.
However, Stewart did not believe issue was of
substantial constitutional law as much as appropriate
exercise of federal equity jurisdiction.
“the mere fact of different racial compositions in
contiguous districts does not itself imply or constitute
a violation of the Equal Protection Clause in the
absence of a showing that such disparity was
imposed, fostered, or encouraged by the state or its
political subdivisions…”
Douglas on Constitutional
Issues
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Central issue is “whether the State’s use
of various devices that end up with
black schools and white schools brought
the Equal Protection Clause into effect”
Can State “… wash its hands of its own
creations”?
White on Constitutional Issues
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Invokes concern of a return to pre-Plessy
acceptance of separate and inferior black
schools and potential nullification of Brown
Believes the majority opinion allows “the
state of Michigan, the entity at which the
Fourteenth Amendment is directed, [to]
successfully insulate itself from its duty to
provide effective desegregation remedies by
vesting sufficient power over its public
schools to the local school districts.”
Marshall on Constitutional
Issues
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“[H]owever imbedded old ways, however ingrained
old prejudices, this Court has not been diverted from
its appointed task of making a ‘living truth’ of our
constitutional idea of equal justice under law.” –
quoting Cooper
Actions by State agency are actions by the State.
System deliberately constructed to maintain
segregation
Admits desegregation poses challenge, but insists
upholding equal protection is of prime importance.
Local Control: Burger
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“No single tradition in public education
is more deeply rooted than local control
over the operation of schools; local
autonomy has long been thought
essential both to the maintenance of
community concern and support for
public schools and to quality of the
educational process.”
Local Control: Dissents
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Douglas notes that Michigan’s education system is
actually a unitary one
White argued that the state’s attempt to dismantle
the April 7 Plan in 1971 proved the state maintained
control
Marshall: “Michigan, unlike some other States,
operates a single statewide system of education… the
majority’s emphasis on local government control and
local autonomy of school districts in Michigan will
come as a surprise to those with any familiarity with
that State’s system of education.”
Limitations on Milliken I
Remedies
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Flaws of Metropolitan Remedy
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Sole purpose of interdistrict as opposed to single-district
remedy was to achieve particular racial balance, however
such balance not required
Interdistrict remedy “could disrupt and alter the structure of
public education”
Oversight of interdistrict remedy would make District Court
into “a de facto 'legislative authority'” and a “'school
superintendent' for the entire area”
Burden of remedy shall not be imposed on jurisdictions not
shown to have contributed to constitutional violation
Remedy should be limited to that necessary to restore
victims to position they would have enjoyed absent
demonstrated constitutional violation.
Milliken I Remedy Limitations
(cont.)
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Prospective Limitations on Remedies by
District Courts
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To include multiple districts in a remedy,
plaintiffs must show
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Constitutional violation by each of the districts
to be included in remedy
or discriminatory intent in drawing district
boundaries
Milliken I Remedy Limitations
(cont.)
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Limits on the Limitations
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Only limits judicial remedies, not acts by
legislature, school boards, or other
government bodies
Does not preclude interdistrict remedy, but
puts higher burden on plaintiffs to show
such remedy appropriate
Constitutional Issues in
Milliken II
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Court rejects claims that sharing cost of
programs between local school boards
and State does not violate Amendments
X or XI
Single-District Remedy on
Remand
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Plaintiffs and Board of Education both Submit
Plans
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Plaintiffs' plan rejected by District Court
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relies almost solely on transportation, would require
some 900 buses
geared towards achieving most even distribution of
white/black students
transports children even from desegregated schools to
achieve racial balance elsewhere, transports from
majority black school to majority black to achieve
marginal change in racial balance
Most schools will remain more than 80% black
Single-District Remedy (cont.)
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Board’s plan more comprehensive, forms basis for
District Court remedy with alterations
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Transportation lesser component
Some 300 buses would still be required
three inner-city regions which are more than 90% black not
included in transportation plan
Additional components of Board plan include
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Teacher reassignment
Training of teachers, counselors
Redrawing school zones, redesigning “feeder” system for
middle schools and high schools
Single-District Remedy (cont.)
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Detailed, Comprehensive Remedy from District Court Designed to Preserve
Educational Integrity
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Transportation disfavored means of achieving desegregation, but included with
limitations
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re-zoning should be exhausted before resorting to busing, “region” lines should not hinder rezoning
no students should be bused to/from already desegregated schools, students should not be
bused from one majority black school to another
when pairing schools for desegregation, distances should be minimized; already desegregated
schools should not be paired
grade structure should be uniform across district
30-55% black considered integrated; no school should be more than 70% white, but majority
black school OK where further desegregation impractical
If school nearly integrated, “satellite zones” preferred over busing, where students must be
bused to elementary school, those students should be able to go to neighborhood middle
school. Transportation burden between adjacent regions should be equalized
No middle school shall be more than 50% white, middle schools may be either zoned, open, or
magnet
Single-District Remedy (cont.)
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Remedial skills program instituted to boost achievement
In-service training for teachers, administrators through Wayne State
University
Vo-Tech High Schools assimilated into magnet program, will expand
opportunities, open skilled trades to blacks, new sites for Vo-Tech HS
will be chosen to achieve maximum integration
Race-blind testing
Establish clear student rights and responsibilities for prevention of
violence, discrimination by staff or students
Outreach to parents, focus on school-community relations
Counseling and career guidance
Integration of Co-Curricular activities
Bilingual/Multiethnic studies programs
Faculty reassignment
Single District Remedy (cont.)
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Does this remedy
make the District
Court any less of “a
de facto ‘legislative
authority’” and a
“’school
superintendent’ for
the entire area?”
School Desegregation
Caselaw: Post-Milliken
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Surpreme Court has not Considered a Metropolitan
Desegregation case
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Plaintiffs in Milliken I given leave to amend complaint to
show evidence of constitutional violation by suburban
districts but never did so
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Any further actions against the districts conditioned on Plaintiffs
(really NAACP) paying cost of initial appeal for those districts.
NAACP chose to focus efforts elsewhere, never paid costs of
amended complaint.
Suburban districts did not press for payment, probably content
to forgo money and escape further litigation.
Subsequent cases involving interdistrict desegregation
denied certiorari or affirmed without opinion
Subsequent Caselaw (cont.)
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Lower Courts have Approved Interdistrict Remedies which meet
the Milliken I Burden of Showing Interdistrict Constitutional
Violations
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Newburg Area Council, Inc. v. Board of Education, 510 F.2d 1358
(6th Cir. 1974) “A vital distinction between Milliken and the present
cases is that in the former there was no evidence that the outlying
school districts had committed acts of de jure segregation or that
they were operation dual school systems. Exactly the opposite is
true here”
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A crucial difference between the present cases and Milliken is that school district
lines in Kentucky have been ignored in the past for the purpose of aiding and
implementing continued segregation.”
Also, interdistrict remedy simpler because region at issue smaller, less populous.
“In Kentucky, the county is established as the basic educational unit of the state,
… the state legislature has referred to the boundaries of school districts as
“artificially drawn school district lines.” …[and T]he merger or consolidation in
that state could be effectuated under the express provisions of a Kentucky
statute.”
Subsequent Caselaw (cont.)
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Evans v. Buchanan, 393 F. Supp. 428 (D. Del. 1975) aff’d per curiam 423 U.S.
963 (1975) “The record in this case is replete with evidence that racial balance
in housing is integrally related to racial balance in the public schools”
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Evidence of interdistrict violations in 1950s when “black schools in Wilmington under
the de jure system were schools for black children from throughout New Castle
County” and also “suburban white children crossed district lines to attend “white”
school sin Wilmington”
Post-Brown, white families left Wilmington for suburban New Castle County and the
Wilmington City schools were left predominantly black
“Governmental authorities condoned and encouraged discrimination in the private
housing market and provided public housing almost exclusively within… Wilmington.
The specific effect of these policies was to restrict the availability of… housing to
blacks in suburban New Castle County… This conduct constitutes segregation action
with inter-district effects under Milliken.”
Enrollment policies in Wilmington led to disproportionate number of black students in
schools in majority white neighborhoods, exacerbating “white flight.”
Exclusion of City of Wilmington from legislative act permitting consolidation of districts
by State School Board violated Equal Protection Clause
Detroit Recently: Oft-Cited Model
of Urban Decay
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2000 population is 951,270
compared to 1,849,568 in 1950
220 Detroit Public Schools with
116,000 students
In 2000, just under 83% of
Detroit residents were African
American
70% of Metro Detroit’s African
Americans live in Detroit
34.5% of Detroiters under the
age of 18 live below the poverty
line
In contrast, Neighboring
Oakland County is the 4th
wealthiest county in the nation.