The year was 1966, the year after I graduated from the last all-white high school in my home town. I was home from college and I saw an article in the newspaper about busing. The writer, a local parent, was objecting to busing because, the writer claimed, that busing the black kids across town to attend the formerly all white school was a dangerous thing to do. The kids got less sleep, might not have time for breakfast, and all the miles spent on the road in a bus increased the changes of them being in an accident. In response I wrote the following article which was read on WBTV Charlotte.
"I don't know if busing is a good thing or a bad thing and I'm not for nor against it. I do know that the writer of the article against busing is blowing smoke. While on the surface it may seem like he has legitimate concerns, the truth is he isn't concerned with the safety and welfare of the black students. He just doesn't want his white kids to go to school with them. If the writer and his friends were really concerned about the safety of the children then where were they six years ago? I lived just a few blocks from the black high school yet I had to walk almost two miles to school every day for three years then walk the same two miles for another three years to catch a bus to the white high school yet no one was concerned about me. Is the writer now claiming he cares more about the black kids then he did the white kids that had to be bused across town so they didn't have to go to school with the black children? I think he needs to be honest about the real reason he objects to busing.
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