Charlotte’s Integration Era: The Life and Death of Court-Mandated Busing, 1971-1999

Abstract

In 1971, Charlotte, North Carolina confronted the problem of desegregating its education system, becoming a pioneer among the de-facto segregated Southern cities of that time. It did so through the creation of a groundbreaking busing program, per the order of Swann v. Charlotte- Mecklenburg Board of Education. However, economic growth shortly followed and with this growth came demographic change that profoundly entrenched the residential segregation of Charlotte. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a movement grew in the newly developed uppermiddle class communities of South Charlotte; a movement that advocated for a shift back to neighborhood schools. This grassroots effort was the driving force behind a lawsuit known as Capacchione v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, filed in 1997, which challenged the Charlotte Mecklenburg School Board on its practice of using race in pupil assignment for its new magnet school program. This thesis will investigate all aspects of this case, exploring the ways in which the jurisprudence of its verdict played a fundamental role in the resegregation of Charlotte’s public school system. To do so, it proceeds by detailing the business history of Charlotte from 1971 onward as it relates to Charlotte’s demographics. It then analyzes the actions of both the School Board and the neighborhood schools movement as they became opposing forces in the 1990s. Finally, it interprets the proceedings of the U.S District Court and Fourth Circuit U.S Appellate Court in hearing the case.