Unbought and Unbossed

by Shirley Chisholm

Finally he went all the way with his March 1970 statement on policy, appointing himself the guardian of the "neighborhood school," a code phrase that no segre- gationist could fail to catch and admire. He proclaimed that the federal government would not require busing beyond "normal geographic zones" and made it clear that Washing- ton would have nothing whatsoever to say about de facto segregation. The difference between de jure and de facto segregation is the difference between open, forthright bigotry and the shamefaced kind that works through unwritten agreements between real estate dealers, school officials, and local politi- cians. What the President said was that, as long as a locality can manage to keep its black, brown, and poor citizens jammed into filthy slums by conspiracy, rather than by stat- ute, it is fine with him and no one in Washington will lose any sleep.