Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
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The origins of our racial divide
In today’s newspaper, we try to explore more deeply the racial divide in Dayton that was made clear by the school levy vote.
This brings me to a nagging issue that comes up a lot when we talk in this city about schools and race — busing for integration.
Many believe the divisive court decision which led to integration busing here is what caused “white flight” to the suburbs and ultimately “ruined” the city.
But I’m here to tell you two things: flight was occurring for years before integration began in Dayton and the exodus from the city was going to happen with or without busing.
You have to look at the history of demographic changes here.
After World War II, the U.S. economy exploded, adding jobs and increasing the affluence of average Americans. Industrial cities like Dayton thrived. Dayton’s population peaked in the early 1960s at more than 260,000 before the downward slide began.
The change was driven by economics. After the prosperity of the 1950s and early 1960s, new economic pressures came to industrial cities. Manufacturers began discovering the cheap labor south. It was original outsourcing — northern factories began shutting down and jobs headed south.
By that time, the federal government was two decades into an effort to encourage the notion that the “American Dream” meant moving to the “country” — what we now call the suburbs — and owning your own home. That program was born under the New Deal in the 1930s with the goal of sparking the economy by encouraging home building.
Dayton’s demographic shift toward the suburbs was more than a decade old by the advent of busing. With suburban communities booming here, the city had lost more than 20,000 residents by the start of integration busing in 1976 despite a black population that had almost doubled for the same period.
In his book about Dayton’s integration efforts, University of Dayton professor Joseph Watras found the pace of urban flight picked up as busing began, but that change was not dramatic and the small surge proved temporary.
From 1968 to 1975, the percentage of white students in Montgomery County enrolled in suburban school districts increased by about 1 percent per year. As busing was implemented from 1975 to 1977, that rate jumped to 3 percent. But the white suburban enrollment gain then quickly returned to 1 percent annually for the next four years.
However, blacks were prevented from participating in the shift to the suburbs. Watras showed in his book that Dayton area realtors were still being warned by the federal government to remove illegal language restricting the resale of homes to whites only from land purchasing contracts as late as 1969.
Dayton confined blacks through such rules and other discriminatory practices to a small section of west Dayton, which was made clear by the area’s demographics. In all of Montgomery County, a 1967 Dayton newspaper story listed just 49 black families living in suburban cities. Huber Heights was the most integrated suburb with 15 black families. At the same time, Dayton’s black population of more than 55,000 was growing rapidly.
“White flight” is more complicated than the the simple cause-and-effect that is legend in Dayton — the notion the whites suddenly moved out in huge numbers while blacks chose to stay still when busing began.
Busing absolutely created real fear in white parts of the city. It did accelerate flight. But it didn’t cause it. Flight was happening — and was going to happen — with or without integration.
Permalink | Comments (7) | Categories: My Favorite Posts, Urban School Issues
Comments
By Rich
May 24, 2007 7:10 AM | Link to this
to linda, i do believe that you are correct.By David
May 23, 2007 9:29 AM | Link to this
Rick: the schools responded to the high suspension rate back in the 80s by trying to make it difficult for the principals and teachers to actually do anything that might be viewed as properly disciplining black disrupters. One example was everything had to be turned in on a duplicate form. Apparently just turning in the form was enough discipline because it didn’t seem to increase the correction of the misbehaving students, many of whose parents would be right there, complaining on the always welcoming Channel 7 and 2 interviews about how their student was unfairly removed, etc., etc. Even the Salem Mall bowed to the children who rode the bus route and came from the local Trotwood area and made the mall unsafe and a place fo harrassment by youths at about the same time. The parents would show up complaining on TV, perhaps even in newspaper articles, about how their children were unfairly picked out, didn’t really do anything, etc. I recall one mother complaining in the late 90s when Trotwood had finally started trying to police the mall since the owners hadn’t. Her son had been a major problem and she was there making a fool of herself, aided by the local media. The schools inherited the problems they refused to handle within their buildings because of favoritism. If I had student in DPS or other like schools at the time I would have moved them out to schools with discipline and no favoratism too. Perhaps Scott needs to do an article about the percent of children born in the two sides of town to unmarried women. Or about the percent of residents receiving public aid of any type. Or those receiving it that are being deceptive to receive it as posters in various topics here have indicated. Or those with criminal records on each side of town.By Rick
May 22, 2007 7:17 PM | Link to this
Scott, can you handle the truth? A lot of the racial divide is caused by black racism. You have bloggers here discuss their own experiences. If DDN does any more articles on the racial divide, be sure to include this viewpoint. After all, that would be balanced. Take a look at Jim DeBrosse’s article, “Dayton tachers say chaos rules”, 19 Feb 1995. While race isn’t discussed, the failure of the administration to enforce disciplinary standards are. Jim discussed how the suspension rate for Dayton was vastly less than other big city schools. For a few years after that I tracked the suspension rates, and Dayton was still way too low. When I confronted the Board, their response was they weren’t in the business of suspending students. Apparently they weren’t in the business of enforcing the rules. Why don’t you do a follow-up article to see if the same problems exist? See if white students feel as marginalized as they did a decade ago.By Mary
May 20, 2007 7:38 PM | Link to this
Jeff, I think just this past week USA Today had a front section article about the impact of Detroit’s woes on its white suburbs, like Grosse Point. The article reminded me of the Dayton area. The gist of the article was that ultimately surrounding areas that thought they were insulated by flight suffer as well.By Jeff
May 20, 2007 5:01 PM | Link to this
Dayton had white flight, but to private schools. The 2000 census figures shows between 40% and 50% of white school-age students in Dayton attend private schools. This would be different from Detroit, where the whites just left the city. Or Louisville, where, unlike Dayton, there was countywide busing…the suburban schools were integrated as well as the city ones (which was a more equitable solution than what happened here).By Linda Schidecker
May 20, 2007 1:49 PM | Link to this
I was born in Dayton; & I have seen the changes that are happening; all of my life. The racial division is something more of an economical factor than race; in my opinion. People do not want their kids in a school where there is a lot of drugs, & violence going on. I know that this is happening everywhere now; but what I think is missing is the home element of the parents being truly interested, & involved in their kids lives; & not using the schools as a substitute parent figure for their children. Thus I mean; not blaming the schools for their childrens problems; & also working w/ the teachers in giving their children a good education. When I went to school; we were told that if we got in trouble @ school; then we would get it when we got home also. This tended to let us know that we had better mind our teachers or else we’d be in trouble w/ our parents; when we got home. I have heard from various teachers that parents do not share this view point any more; as is clearly shown when they try to talk to the parents about their children. “They just do not want to hear it; and so they blame the teachers for their child’s problem.” Why would anyone want to teach a child whose parent has this outlook on their child’s education?” I am sure that this is one of the underlying problems w/ our schools today. It is more of a moral failure than a racist problem in my book. I like all races of people; but I want to be treated the way they want to be treated by me, also.By deb
May 20, 2007 10:03 AM | Link to this
I think busing attributed to the downfall of the neighborhoods and maybe in a small way the family unit. Kids weren’t going to their neighborhood schools, maybe couldn’t participate in sports because they didn’t have a ride….Before they could walk…. You picked your home because of the neighborhood school. Busing took that away. We still are seeing the outcome of some of those decisions. Wright Dunbar is mixed, yes, but the residents are also of similar economic means. That means you’re dealing with 2 different issues - socioeconomic vs race. Aren’t they 2 different issues?