The Royall House & Slave Quarters is co-sponsoring the Confronting Racial Injustice Series of five monthly programs hosted by the Massachusetts Historical Society and Northeastern University Law School’s Criminal Justice Task Force. Today’s topic is “Boston School Desegregation through the Rearview Mirror.”

In 1972, a group of African American parents sued city and state officials over segregation within the Boston Public Schools. After a trial, a federal court determined that the Boston School Committee had intentionally discriminated on the basis of race by operating a dual school system that extended to school assignments, facilities and staffing. When officials failed to produce a timely remedy, the court ordered institutional reforms, including redistricting and the reassignment of students. In this program, panelists will reflect on the lessons to be learned from Boston’s school desegregation experience.

Panelists will be Martha Minow, Harvard Law School; Becky Shuster, Boston Public Schools; and Rachel Twymon, whose family was profiled in J. Anthony Lukas’ Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “Common Ground.”

Admission is free, but registration is required through the Massachusetts Historical Society website: https://www.masshist.org/calendar/series/confronting-racial-injustice

Future programs in this series will address the War on Drugs in Massachusetts and the Charles Stuart story.