Paul has been on top of the apparent Kamala Harris fraud. Harris, attacking Joe Biden for having collaborated with segregationist Democrats in the Senate to oppose school busing, claimed that she was bused as a kid, in Berkeley, and it did her a world of good. Or something like that.
Given the demography and geography of Berkeley at the time–she was 10 years old in 1974–it seems highly unlikely that Harris, the daughter of two PhDs, one from India and one from Jamaica, was bused into a white school so she could escape the ghetto and mix with the children of educated parents.
But that isn’t what strikes me most forcibly about this story. A Democratic presidential contender lied about her background for political gain? The horror! Or, rather, take a number. At least Harris hasn’t claimed to be a member of an Indian tribe.
What I think is most remarkable about this story is that the Democrats are now nostalgic for busing! Joe Biden is a villain because he opposed it decades ago, while Harris is a heroine…or a martyr…or something, because she participated in it.
But here’s the thing: in the 1970s, everyone opposed busing to achieve racial balance in public schools. Federal courts in urban areas around the country had ordered children to be bused from their homes to faraway schools to achieve a numerical, bean-counting ethnic balance in public schools. The result was a disaster: neighborhood schools were destroyed, student achievement declined, violence erupted, civil disobedience by parents of all races ensued. Finally, as I recall, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order: No more busing!
I was living in the Boston area during the early 1970s, when busing was in its heyday. Boston’s public schools were war zones, and public education was being destroyed by the maniacal busing regime to which the city was subjected by a federal judge. A woman named Louise Day Hicks ran for Chairman of the Boston School Board, as I recall, and won handily behind the slogan: “She says what you think.”
In the 1970s pretty much everyone, of all races, who wasn’t on the take in some way, hated busing. Its demise was unlamented. But now, to my amazement, the Democrats are nostalgic for the busing regime!
I realize that Democrats assume Americans have no historical memory. Still, this strikes me as a suicide mission. If the Democrats seriously want to re-institute school busing after the fiasco of the 1960s and 1970s, or even to look back fondly on the busing disaster of those years, be our guest! The Democrats will be the party of open borders, unlimited taxpayer-funded medical care for illegal immigrants, outlawing health insurance, busing little children hither and yon to achieve statistical equality in hundreds of thousands of school rooms, and more. This hardly looks like a path to victory.
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