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The Dream Long Deferred: The Landmark Struggle for Desegregation in Charlotte, North Carolina
A fifty-year history of one community's battles with race in public education
The Dream Long Deferred tells the fifty-year story of the landmark struggle for desegregation in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the present state of the city's public school system. Award-winning writer Frye Gaillard, who covered school integration for the Charlotte Observer, updates his earlier 1988 and 1999 editions of this work to examine the difficult circumstances of the present day.
When the struggle to desegregate Charlotte began in the 1950s, the city was much like many other New South cities. But unlike peer communities that would resist federal rulings, Charlotte chose to begin voluntary desegregation of its schools in 1957. Over the next decade it made consistent, if slow, progress toward greater integration.
The glacial pace of change frustrated Charlotte's black citizens, prompting them to file lawsuits in federal court to seek nothing less than complete integration. When the U.S. District Court in 1969, and subsequently the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971, upheld that demand in the landmark Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg decision, Charlotte became the national test case for busing. Though the transition was not always peaceful, within five years Charlotte was a model of successful integration. North Carolinians of all races joined in public and private initiatives to make desegregation work and garnered national recognition for their achievement. Based on the favorable results, a powerful consensus developed in Charlotte that desegregation was morally right and educational beneficial. But that opinion was not to last.
Charlotte's population grew rapidly in the 1990s, and many new arrivals were weary of the status of the public school system. In 1999 a group of white citizens reopened the case to push for a return to neighborhood schools. A federal judge sided with them, finding that the plans initiated in the 1971 ruling were both unnecessary and unconstitutional because they were race-based. Charlotte's journey had come full circle.
Today, Gaillard explains, Charlotte's schools are becoming segregated once more―this time along both economic and racial lines. A growing number of white students are either leaving the public school system for private institutions or converging on a few exceptional schools in affluent communities. This exodus from neighborhood schools has put the future of the city's public school system in jeopardy once more.
In this new edition of The Dream Long Deferred, Gaillard chronicles the span of Charlotte's five-decade struggle with race in education to remind us that the national dilemma of equal educational opportunity remains unsettled. Balanced in his treatment of all sides, Gaillard gives the issue a human face so that historians, educators, and ordinary citizens can better glean understanding from the triumph and tragedy of one American community.
The Dream Long Deferred tells the fifty-year story of the landmark struggle for desegregation in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the present state of the city's public school system. Award-winning writer Frye Gaillard, who covered school integration for the Charlotte Observer, updates his earlier 1988 and 1999 editions of this work to examine the difficult circumstances of the present day.
When the struggle to desegregate Charlotte began in the 1950s, the city was much like many other New South cities. But unlike peer communities that would resist federal rulings, Charlotte chose to begin voluntary desegregation of its schools in 1957. Over the next decade it made consistent, if slow, progress toward greater integration.
The glacial pace of change frustrated Charlotte's black citizens, prompting them to file lawsuits in federal court to seek nothing less than complete integration. When the U.S. District Court in 1969, and subsequently the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971, upheld that demand in the landmark Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg decision, Charlotte became the national test case for busing. Though the transition was not always peaceful, within five years Charlotte was a model of successful integration. North Carolinians of all races joined in public and private initiatives to make desegregation work and garnered national recognition for their achievement. Based on the favorable results, a powerful consensus developed in Charlotte that desegregation was morally right and educational beneficial. But that opinion was not to last.
Charlotte's population grew rapidly in the 1990s, and many new arrivals were weary of the status of the public school system. In 1999 a group of white citizens reopened the case to push for a return to neighborhood schools. A federal judge sided with them, finding that the plans initiated in the 1971 ruling were both unnecessary and unconstitutional because they were race-based. Charlotte's journey had come full circle.
Today, Gaillard explains, Charlotte's schools are becoming segregated once more―this time along both economic and racial lines. A growing number of white students are either leaving the public school system for private institutions or converging on a few exceptional schools in affluent communities. This exodus from neighborhood schools has put the future of the city's public school system in jeopardy once more.
In this new edition of The Dream Long Deferred, Gaillard chronicles the span of Charlotte's five-decade struggle with race in education to remind us that the national dilemma of equal educational opportunity remains unsettled. Balanced in his treatment of all sides, Gaillard gives the issue a human face so that historians, educators, and ordinary citizens can better glean understanding from the triumph and tragedy of one American community.
215 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 7, 2023
Had to read this book for my class, but honestly thoroughly enjoyed it. It was definitely a very academic read, but the content was of interest to me which made it easier to get through.
April 1, 2020
Reads fast, like a novel. Filled with interesting characters, and insightful into CLT history
June 30, 2014
This was a really eye opening book for me to read since I grew up going to an inter-city magnet program in Charlotte in the 80's. It was amazing to see the big picture both before and after I was a student, and remember my small glimpses of this while I was going through the system. It was like finishing a jigsaw puzzle and standing back to admire it when I had started it 20 years ago only seeing 2 inches at a time. Well maybe not finishing the puzzle because the one disappointment for me was that the book somewhat glossed over the biggest question I had which was what was the story of West Charlotte high school after 1995 when I graduated. There was some information, but none of it addressed the rumors and politics which I only heard about second hand, where the academic and harmoniously integrated reputation of the school declined. Where white teachers left the school in frustration. Were they pushed out or was it some form of white flight? What was the role of the strong Black neighborhood and alumni association? Was there a hopeful trend toward making WC a strong Black school again in the face of white flight by parents when bussing was no longer mandatory? The book seemed to say that WC was already in decline when I attended, but I got the feeling that the decline started after the beloved principal Barbara Ledford left. Perhaps my perspective was distorted. Perhaps a later edition of the book address these things? I suppose I have more research to do to answer these questions.
The one thing that was great about this book was the way it captured the unique hopefulness and ability for Charlotte residents of diverse backgrounds to come to consensus and attempt to find solutions that would benefit as many school children as possible. This sediment resonated deeply with me and I knew that I had absorbed my share of it as I made my small path through the CSM school system. And today my pride and wisdom that comes from learning along side kids that were different from me was the most valuable thing that I gained from grade school.
The one thing that was great about this book was the way it captured the unique hopefulness and ability for Charlotte residents of diverse backgrounds to come to consensus and attempt to find solutions that would benefit as many school children as possible. This sediment resonated deeply with me and I knew that I had absorbed my share of it as I made my small path through the CSM school system. And today my pride and wisdom that comes from learning along side kids that were different from me was the most valuable thing that I gained from grade school.
July 17, 2014
As a resident of Charlotte since 1981 whose two children went through the Charlotte public schools, it was a good historical perspective the history of charlote education. Highly recommended. Especially the latest 3rd? edition that contain 2 updates from the initial publication
March 14, 2011
Very very interesting, but very dense.
September 14, 2016
A tough read because I lived through these times in Charlotte - but so well done & well researched. Frye is amazing
August 22, 2011
Great read for any Education/Charlotte-Meck person
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews