The difficulties of sorting out the various forces working toward accelerated suburbanization are first discussed in this paper. Secondly, it describes the very severe long term problem of flight not caused by desegregation plans but tending to undermine their viability. Thirdly, it suggests that not only central cities but some inner suburbs as well are vulnerable to ghettoization in the absence of policies to alter the basic demographic trends in urban areas. The analysis suggests that discussion of housing integration as an alternative to school integration is probably misleading. It discusses the policy implications of the imperfect information now available. Among the policy implications noted are that existing research on white flight and urban desegregation can support only limited policy recommendations. The current research findings suggest that the implementation of a desegregation plan, in itself, would have little or no impact on racial patterns in most communities where the issue is still open. The available research also suggests that the first year of desegregation is a critical period for decisions to leave the public schools or move to another school district. This problem might be moderated by expansion of the small federal program providing special assistance for the transition. (Author/AM)