The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 95, July 1991 - April, 1992 Page: 57
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Desegregatzon of the Hamilton Park School
had practically conceded that, except for Hamilton Park, the district
was "being operated on a fully integrated basis." Akin deftly compli-
mented Taylor when he suggested that the judge's 1970 decision had
anticipated Swann in its assurance of a nondiscriminatory system.28
Gurwin disputed Akin's last two arguments. The barriers around
Hamilton Park were not formidable; indeed, the high school and ju-
nior high students crossed them every school day. Then he moved to
the core of the DOJ case. Hamilton Park School's segregation existed in
a system that had never been unitary. The RISD would continue to be a
proscribed dual system until the school was racially mixed. Taylor did
not accept Gurwin's rebuttal, but instead took up Akin's flattering sug-
gestion that his 1970 decision established a unitary system meeting the
test of Swann. Pairing or clustering and the attendant busing "would
not accomplish any effective or realistically stable desegregation." Tay-
lor was "of the view that this one school on the basis of its history and
what the facts are is no indication of any kind of discrimination." There
would be no order to the RISD to develop a new plan.29
Taylor denied the government's motion on August 2. The Fifth Cir-
cuit's reversal of his decision on April 22, 1975, reaffirmed its aggres-
sive desegregation stance. Hamilton Park's segregation would end with
the opening of the 1975-1976 school year. Within sixty days of the de-
cision the RISD was to file a plan with the district court "to achieve the
result required." The board appealed to the Supreme Court but began
its desegregation planning.0
The RISD confronted a situation compounded from three elements.
First, busing for whites had come to Richardson. Realistically, it was
doubtful whether the Supreme Court would hear the case, or would
halt the buses virtually certain to be running by the time it handed
down a decision. Second, the Hamilton Park School could not be closed.
The courts would object, and the residents of Hamilton Park had made
clear their concern over the continuing rumors about closing the school.
On June 28, 1974, Doris A. Robertson of Hamilton Park sent a petition
to Taylor while he was considering the government's case against the
RISD. The petition declared the school to be "an important facet in the
28 Memorandum in Support of Motion for Supplemental Relief, 1 i; Defendant RISD's Reply
to Plaintiff's Motion for Supplemental Relief and Memorandum m Support Thereof, Aug. 2,
1974 (quotations), and Closing Statements of Counsel, Aug. 2, 1974, p. 33, U S. v. RISD.
29Closing Statements of Counsel, Aug. 2, 1974, PP 42-47, 48 (Ist quotation), 49 (2nd quota-
tion), U S. v. RISD
10 Order, W. M. Taylor, Jr., Aug. 2, 1974, US v. RISD, United States v. The Texas Education
Agency, Apr. 22, 1975, Federal Reporter, 2nd ser., vol 512 (St Paul, Mnn.: West Pubhshing Co.,
1975), 898 (quotation); Richardson Daily News, June 17, 1975.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 95, July 1991 - April, 1992, periodical, 1992; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117153/m1/85/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.