At a time when race and inequality dominate national debates, the
story of West Charlotte High School illuminates the possibilities
and challenges of using racial and economic desegregation to foster
educational equality. West Charlotte opened in 1938 as a segregated
school that embodied the aspirations of the growing African
American population of Charlotte, North Carolina. In the 1970s,
when Charlotte began court-ordered busing, black and white families
made West Charlotte the celebrated flagship of the most integrated
major school system in the nation. But as the twentieth century
neared its close and a new court order eliminated race-based
busing, Charlotte schools resegregated along lines of class as well
as race. West Charlotte became the city's poorest,
lowest-performing high school—a striking reminder of the
people and places that Charlotte's rapid growth had left behind.
While dedicated teachers continue to educate children, the school's
challenges underscore the painful consequences of
resegregation.
Drawing on nearly two decades of interviews with students,
educators, and alumni, Pamela Grundy uses the history of a
community's beloved school to tell a broader American
story of education, community, democracy, and race—all while
raising questions about present-day strategies for school
reform.