Some on the Wake County school board were offended by Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker's remarks at a community meeting. This board needs to realize that it's not about how they feel. It's not about where you come from or when you came. It's about collectively confronting our segregationist history, learning from that, and so not dooming ourselves to repeat it.
I was born in Raleigh. I attended my neighborhood school, A.B. Combs, where the first-through-sixth-grade student body included one African-American. I was bused to Carnage Junior High in 1973. My parents were wringing their hands. But guess what? As a community we came together and made it work, well, for a very long time.
I've lived since graduating from Broughton High School and UNC in four other states and overseas, including a stint in New Jersey where my kids attended neighborhood schools, with the requisite exorbitant taxes. Returning to Wake County after almost three decades away, I appreciate even more what we did here in the South, in the '70s. We don't want to go back. We value diversity, equality and excellence in our schools.
