Oct. 29, 2010
What if a lawyer went to court – N.C. Superior Court Howard Manning’s court, say – and said:
Your Honor:
CMS is under court order not to use race in assignment of children.
In most of its school assignment decisions, CMS uses commonly acknowledged boundaries like major streets, highways, creeks and such that define its neighborhoods.
The vast majority of the neighborhoods defined by this method are racially identifiable.
When CMS creates neighborhood assignments, it has used neighborhoods as a proxy for race and ends up using state power to revive Jim Crow.
Citizens need immediate relief from this violation of the court order.
Please issue an order barring further assignment of children based on neighborhood boundaries, and order CMS to file with the court within 90 days for court approval a new method of assignment of children to its schools that will ensure that no child’s assignment is determined solely by her or his place of residence.