Explores the legacies of desegregation in cities that have a predominantly black municipal leadership. Focuses on policies in the District of Columbia and discovers a pattern relevant to similar cities. That pattern includes a tendency to isolate education issues from other municipal concerns and a reluctance to involve the courts. (MJP)

Examines school desegregation programs from an administrative point of view and notes those successes and failures. Argues that, although school desegregation may be poorly implemented and unpopular, it remains the best hope for removing racial barriers in this country. (MJP)

Provides a detailed look at the judicial and legal challenges that have plagued school desegregation since Brown v. Topeka. Maintains that from the moral high point of Little Rock, Arkansas, segregation rapidly descended into the swamp of defiance, evasion, avoidance, and delay. Concludes that very little real progress has been made. (MJP)