The More Things Stay the Same: A Personal Story on Desegregation

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

by Sharon Kyle

Fast forward 20 years after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision and we find ourselves embroiled in yet another school desegregation controversy. The more things change…

It was September 1973, I was about to enter the 11th grade in a new state, a new city. A transplant from the East Coast, I had recently moved from Queens, New York, to Long Beach, California. Feeling somewhat at a disadvantage entering school a full year after the rest of the class, I was determined to find my place in this strange new environment 3,000 miles away from what I still considered home.

On registration day, when I arrived at the neighborhood school prepared to enroll, l learned I would not be attending class locally. Lakewood, not Long Beach, would be the community where I would go to school. Although Lakewood is a different city, its public schools were and are part of the Long Beach Unified School District. Naturally, I assumed the reason I would have to travel to Lakewood was that the neighborhood high school was overcrowded. Having to attend a school in another community meant that my sister and I would have to get up a little earlier each morning to catch a bus and arrive home a little later. But aside from the extra transit time, this arrangement didn’t seem too problematic. Besides, we were new to the community anyway and were going to have to make new friends even if we went to the local school. I figured we’d make new friends in Lakewood instead of Long Beach. No big deal -- or so I thought.

A Visit to the Principal’s Office

On the first day at Lakewood High, we were greeted by the principal, who ushered my sister and I into his office. I remember wondering if the principal had one-on-one meetings with all transfer students. Already this was different from what I was expecting. The principal had a pleasant demeanor and a gentle voice. I have forgotten most of the details of our conversation except for one question he posed. He told us that Lakewood High School had a student population of approximately 3,000 and that all except for two students were white. He asked if we thought we’d have a problem in that kind of environment. The question threw me off guard. I didn’t know how to answer. The mere fact that it was being asked gave me pause. I began to feel that perhaps I had reason for concern.