AP+National+Boycott+Day

=Aim - Lauren Rosen= National Boycott Day was established to formally demonstrate opposition to busing for integration in the Boston public school system. A newspaper article from a month before the boycott explains that "Court ordered busing to integrate the oldest public school system in America begins Thursday in Boston...Busing opposition has fluorished in the city's close-knit, white neighborhoods" (Ryan). National Boycott Day was formed as a response to the "court ordered busing." The opposition was mostly among the white neighborhoods that were described as "close-knit" because they did not want to be intruded upon. In fact, "the major target of the mob was the assignment of black students to South Boston High School" (Cronin 99). The opponents of busing aimed their protests at "black students" who had no choice as to where they went to school. The black students were included in the "assignment" to go to the South Boston High School. However, this fact did not stop the "mob" from protesting with their National Boycott Day.

Works Cited Cronin, Joseph M. //Reforming Boston Schools: 1930-2006 : Overcoming Corruption and Racial Segregation//. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. //Google Books//. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. Ryan, Terry. "Boston School Boycott Expected Over Busing." //Observer-Reporter// [Washington, PA] 12 Sept. 1974: D2. //Google News Archive//. Web. 27 Mar. 2012.

=Audience - Kayla Wright=



National Boycott Day was on October 4, 1974 and was planned by white parents of students when, "court-ordered busing to integrate the oldest public school system in America.." (Ryan). The parents of the white students attending this school were extremely upset and did not approve of the "integration". The goal behind this boycott was to show their resistance and disapproval of having the black students integrated with their children. It even went as far as the white parents, "sending their children to tutoring sessions at night..." ("School Integration in Boston"). By not sending their "children" to school and instead "tutors" they were further trying to prove their point to the courts and school district, their audience, that this would not be easily accepted.

Works Cited Ryan, Terry. "Boston School Boycott Expected Over Busing." //Observer-Reporter// [Washington, PA] 12 Sept. 1974: D2. //Google News Archive//. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. "School Integration in Boston." The 1963 Birmingham Church Bombing. Web. 28 Mar. 2012.

=Historical - Jeanne Torres= Many supreme court cases lead up to the boycott in Boston over African American students being integrated into the schools, the most famous probably being Brown v. The Board of Education. This case stated that it was unconstitutional for schools to be separated by race and there was no way for that method to implement equality (Cronin). In the article titled School Integration In Boston it is stated that, “A year after //Swann//, //Morgan v. Hennigan// was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, charging that Boston's public schools were unconstitutionally segregated”. It is this “unconstitutional segregation” that finally pushed Boston to have to integrate their schools like most other states. Not all citizens appreciated this mandate and one group took action, “ROAR [Restore Our Alienated Rights] called for a school boycott the first two weeks of school that September. Most South Boston, East Boston, and Hyde Park parents kept their children at home that much, partly in protest, partly fearing violence” (Cronin). It was this “boycott” of parents making their children stay at home that stunted the spread of civil rights in Boston. If “parents” were treating integration in school as poorly as their children, the equality that they were attempting to reach would be extremely difficult, and it proved to be.

Works Cited Cronin, Joseph M. //Reforming Boston Schools: 1930-2006 : Overcoming Corruption and Racial Segregation//. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. //Google Books//. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. "School Integration in Boston." The 1963 Birmingham Church Bombing. Web. 28 Mar. 2012.

=Cultural - Karen Cooper=

For years the segregation between Blacks and whites was a problem. Many believed it to be mainly a thing of the South however in the article "School Integration in Boston" there is a scene in which occurred at a school in Boston, MA. ". . . [Assistant principal] Bob Jarvis [knocked] at the door to report that police had isolated the whites on the staircase, freeing the fire stairs on either side. Buses were drawn up in the adjacent alley, ready to receive the minority students. Detectives would lead them to safety. . . . Just then, the whites got wind of what was happening. 'They're getting away!' they shouted. 'They're going out the side!' Around the corner raced a dozen white boys, heaving stones at the buses as they rumbled down the alleys." Although the South had de jure segregation with previous laws like the Jim Crow Laws in place, it seemed the North was just as segregated. De facto segregation was occurring due to the living situations of blacks and whites. Many school took in the students that were in their "district", however many whites lived close together as well as blacks living close together. Therefore, even though there were no laws in place in which forbade blacks to attend white schools, blacks were still segregated subconsciously. So the school board decided to move around students to desegregate schools. Blacks were bused all over the city to white schools. This lead to a Boycott. "Busing opposition had flourished in the city's close-knit, white neighborhoods, South Boston, Hyde Park, and Dorchester. Boycott Leaders predict 40 percent of the school systems pupils will stay out Thursday." Many white students did not attend school for awhile in protest, even some blacks did not attend school! This was such a culture shock for everybody because in the North no one realized the segregation because it was not de jure segregation. In fact, many were ignorant to the fact the segregation could also take place if it is de facto. Many whites were mad, blacks were mad and scared; some even believed that it was a terrible idea. However, in the long run, it seemed to do a lot of good things for the country. Works Cited Cozzens, Lisa. "School Integration (1955-1975)" //African American// //History//. Web. 28 March 2012.

Ryan, Terry. "Boston School Boycott Expected Over Busing." //Observer-Reporter// [Washington, PA] 12 Sept. 1974: D2. //Google News Archive//. Web. 28 Mar. 2012.