Truce in Boston

Police helicopters were not hovering over the schools, and the sharpshooter had long been removed from the roof of Charlestown High. Few parents were demonstrating or spewing venom at the cops. About one-third of the city's 75,000 public school children were being bused, but black and white kids were largely coexisting. The Boston schools thus opened without serious incident--in marked contrast to the year before.

Opposition to court-ordered busing had not abated. One-third of the white kids did not show up at two of the most troubled schools; a federal marshal and five policemen were injured in encounters with white malcontents. But violence was generally under control.

Many factors had contributed to this. Business and academic leaders, parents and students had worked to defuse the issue. No major new desegregation plans were introduced. Said Mayor Kevin White: "We start this school year with fewer transfers, less busing and more stability." At least Boston was spared the travail of Louisville and environs, where once again anti-busers clashed with police, smashed windows, set bonfires and had to be dispersed by tear gas. In Boston, as elsewhere, one could hardly speak of peace; at best it was a truce.

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