Letters

To the Editor:

Richard M. Merelman's Commentary on "Dis-Integrating American Public Schools" (Feb. 6, 2002) is right on the mark. With the 50th anniversary of the Brown decision nearly upon us, this telling essay lays out the key steps that helped undo desegregation plans, and aptly describes the social myths that have developed as a result.

How well I remember the Reagan administration's rejection of the Emergency School Aid Act, and the U.S. Supreme Court's Milliken I decision exempting suburban districts from enforcing desegregation orders. My work for desegregation efforts in Pittsburgh, Boston, Stamford, Conn., and Alexandria, Va., was seriously hampered by such actions, as were...