The US Supreme Court’s Milliken ruling barred suburban-wide desegregation remedies

Evidence

In 1974, another important lawsuit—Milliken v. Bradley—was filed against the Governor of Michigan. The suit charged “that the Detroit, Michigan public school system was racially segregated as a result of official policies.” A district court reviewed the case finding that the system was in fact segregated, and ordered the adoption of a plan that would desegregate outlying school districts (U.S. Supreme Court Oyez; retrieved on July 24, 2010 from www.oyez.org/cases/1970-1979/1973/1973_73_ 434). The case was appealed and finally decided in the Supreme Court. In a 5–4 decision the Supreme Court stated that there was “no showing of significant violation by the 53 outlying school districts,” thus affirming segregation and dooming the Detroit school children and others in urban centers like it to inadequate education. — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education, 1186

Categorization

• XREF: Instrumental-instituions thread of the polyad; court ruling produced enduring segregated geography rather than undoing it. — connects to: Suburban segregation was reframed as de facto and thus survived legal challenge — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of…, 28; The 1974 Milliken ruling blocked metropolitan desegregation by barring interdistrict busing. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 3035; The Supreme Court obstructed Fourteenth Amendment rights for black Americans (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• The 1974 Milliken ruling blocked metropolitan desegregation by barring interdistrict busing. #corroborates (1.00) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 3035
• Suburban segregation was reframed as de facto and thus survived legal challenge #expands (0.85) — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight, 28
• Court-ordered desegregation of public spaces produced resegregation and private alternatives, not integration #expands (0.75) — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight, 250
• The Supreme Court obstructed Fourteenth Amendment rights for black Americans #complicates (0.72)