"Meredith Brace of San Diego, California, believed in integration. She lived in
a white area, but the neighborhood school, Harding Elementary, was 90 percent
Hispanic. She thought whites should go to Harding rather than escape to a white
school. Even before her son was old enough to enroll, she joined the Harding
PTA, raised money for Harding, and went door-to-door to promote it to white
neighbors. After her son began to attend, she became president of the PTA, and
set up after-school art and theater classes to bring whites and Hispanics together.
They were disbanded because so few people took part.
She kept her son at Harding for three years before finally giving up. “[W]e
have nothing in common [with Hispanics],” she said. “Every time my husband
and I would go over for an event, my husband would feel like it was his first
time. We haven’t made any friends.” Her son made no friends either. “He hasn’t
been invited to a birthday party,” she explained. “There is absolutely no after-
school interaction. For his birthday, he invited four of his classmates. Only one
came.”
