Review of “The Battle Nearer to Home: The Persistence of School Segregation in New York City”

Abstract

In The Battle Nearer to Home: The Persistence of School Segregation in New York City, Christopher Bonastia provides a detailed analysis of the efforts to desegregate New York City schools during two periods: (a) the 1950s–1970s which span the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board through the district’s fiscal crisis of the 1970s and (b) the early 2010s to the present. In both periods, desegregation was at least nominally a focus of school district policy and a central concern of activist groups. In the intervening years, school desegregation was not “foregrounded in public discourse” (p. 3). As Bonastia observes, New York City’s reputation as a progressive city masks the deep and thus far intractable patterns of school segregation within the district. Bonastia refers to the policies he traces as integration rather than desegregation because it was the term which public officials used to describe policies aimed at ameliorating school segregation. As Bonastia documents, most public officials pursued statistical integration focused on the demographic balance in school enrollments. School and city officials’ efforts fell far short of a more expansive pursuit of integration aimed at creating inclusive school communities where all students feel welcomed and nurtured. Policies aimed at promoting statistical integration in the New York City public schools were implemented on a limited scale and were easily derailed by White parents who opposed integration and the inconsistent and tepid support of political elites.