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Kenneth ClarkKenneth Clark
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Session:         Page of 763

this one. Was it true, as sometimes reported, or I read such reports, that some black parents were not all that keen about their children-- I'll avoid use of the word long distance busing here-- but not all that keen about their children being bused out of their general neighborhood area for the purposes of placing them in white schools?

Clark:

I'm sure there were some black parents and some black parents who were disturbed-- I think justifiably so-- that busing generally was conducted in a way that put the greater burden on the black children, that there were disproportionately more black children being bused than white children being bused, and that did disturb them.

Q:

And then, of course, wasn't there also at least the potential of incidents at the other school? At least in the early days.

Clark:

I guess so. But there were potential incidents at Central High School in Little Rock too. You don't get these kinds of changes with peace and quiet and calm. If you could, you wouldn't have needed the court decisions, you wouldn't have needed all these problems that we had to face in order to try to change the course. I do believe that educational officials could have done a better job in preparing white and black children for the positives of integration, rather than remaining silent. This could have been an educational experience. This could have been part of what the





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