September marks the 50th anniversary of racial integration in Jefferson County’s public schools.

In 1975, on the order of a federal judge, the city and county school systems merged. White students were bused across town to majority-Black areas, and Black students were bused into majority-white areas. The legacy of that decision is complicated. The move is credited with boosting academic achievement, economic growth and community cohesion.

But the change also sparked protests and violence among white residents opposed to integration, and diluted the voice of Black families and teachers in their newly integrated schools.

Today, that original integration plan has been almost entirely dismantled. Instead, district leaders are implementing a new arrangement that offers Black students schools

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