The Resegregation of Jefferson County
What one Alabama towns attempt to secede from its school district tells us about the fragile progress of racial integration in America.
In 2013, a flier began making the rounds in Gardendale, Ala., a suburb of Birmingham. On it, a blond white girl wearing a red backpack and knee-high socks peered innocently at a question hanging above her head: Which path will Gardendale choose? Beside her was a list of communities in Jefferson County Pleasant Grove, Center Point/Huffman, Adamsville/Forestdale, Hueytown under the heading: Places that chose NOT to form their own school system.
Below that was a list of four communities Homewood, Hoover, Vestavia Hills, Trussville that did form their own school systems and were listed as some of the best places to live in the country.
In 2013, a flier began making the rounds in Gardendale, Ala., a suburb of Birmingham. On it, a blond white girl wearing a red backpack and knee-high socks peered innocently at a question hanging above her head: Which path will Gardendale choose? Beside her was a list of communities in Jefferson County Pleasant Grove, Center Point/Huffman, Adamsville/Forestdale, Hueytown under the heading: Places that chose NOT to form their own school system.
Below that was a list of four communities Homewood, Hoover, Vestavia Hills, Trussville that did form their own school systems and were listed as some of the best places to live in the country.
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