Busing for integration was maligned by some, ‘opened a whole new world’ for others
Special to The Daily Memphian
Kathryn Palmer
Kathryn Palmer is a graduate student at University of Missouri. Before becoming a journalist, she taught U.S. history at Tallahassee Comunity College. She is former historian for the State Archives of Florida.
By 1978, 40,000 white students had left Memphis City Schools, a move that contributed to Memphis’ distinction of having one of the largest private school systems in the country. Memphis schools remain starkly segregated, with 90 percent of students enrolled in 2018 identifying as black.
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