Busing divided even 1970s liberals, but it’s time for all of us to move on
For a while now, the most demanding wing of the progressive movement has been gunning for Thomas Jefferson. Their feeling is that because he was a slave owner, his contributions to the American experiment should no longer be recognized and celebrated. This is, of course, ridiculous.
Anyone trying to quote “all men are created equal” back at Thomas Jefferson is either a fool or a hypocrite. Jefferson lived in different times and different conditions, and it is absurd to judge him by our standards of enlightenment. To paraphrase Isaac Newton, if we have seen further than others, it is because we have stood on the shoulders of giants. And in American history, they don’t come much taller than Thomas Jefferson.
I’m not particularly bothered by this. Despite the judgment of groups like the Democratic Party of New Hampshire, I’m confident that Jefferson’s contributions will stand the test of time. But now this same sort of ahistorical Monday-morning quarterbacking is starting to affect real people in real time.
Former Vice President Joe Biden is under attack because in the 1970s, he had the “wrong” position on forced busing. It seems progressives are now in favor of busing. Biden was against it. In their view, this renders Biden out of step with the Democratic Party and is unacceptable in a presidential nominee.
As with their rejection of Jefferson, this completely ignores historical context. In the 1970s, busing was an incredibly contentious and complicated issue with even the most committed liberals — that’s what progressives called themselves then — lined up on both sides. Detroit is a case in point.
Coleman Young had impeccable liberal credentials. In 1952, he came to attention for publicly spitting in the eye of the House Un-american Activities Committee. In 1963, he was elected to the Michigan Senate. In 1969, he became the Senate minority leader, where he helped pass a law that blocked the forcible reassignment of thousands of Detroit students.
Young had one more noteworthy achievement: He became Detroit’s first African-american mayor.
Forced busing was a divisive issue, even within the black community. In 1971, that bill blocking the reassignment of all those Detroit students passed with the support of all but one member of the Michigan legislature’s Black Caucus. African Americans opposed busing for a variety of reasons. Some were in favor of local control. Some thought the correct solution was providing more resources for primarily black schools. Others were concerned that forced busing often resulted in local schools simply closing down and the students distributed to schools far outside the community.
As the mayor of Detroit, Young continued to oppose forced busing. He even filed a brief opposing a case brought by the NAACP that sought to use busing to integrate the Detroit school system.
Was Mayor Young right? I don’t know. But none of the modern progressives criticizing his position know, either. He dealt with these decisions in real time, addressing the concerns of real people. It was a complicated, messy problem with no perfect solution.
Coleman Young and Joe Biden were both deeply committed to civil rights, integration and equality. They had, however, a different view on the best way to achieve that than do the latest crop of progressive activists. A little humility is called for. For us, forced busing was something we read about in history books. Donald Trump doesn’t even know what it is. But for Young and Biden, it was a lived experience.
There is a grubby and unpleasant political feel to these attacks. On Friday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson criticized Biden’s long-ago opinions on busing, claiming that he was on “the wrong side of history.”
Challenge Biden over future, not past
Jackson attended and addressed the 1972 National Black Political Convention in Gary, Indiana, which drew some 10,000 delegates and observers from across the country, according to the Indiana Historical Bureau. Jackson himself supported black self-determination and black control over black education back then. Today he could be the voice of wisdom and experience to explain that busing was difficult and controversial. Sadly, he has chosen not to do it.
If Biden’s armor is a little scratched and dented, it’s because he has been through the wars. I disagree with many of Biden’s political positions. But I recognize that he came to those positions thoughtfully and in good faith. I also recognize that throughout his career, Biden has been willing to grapple with questions wiser politicians would have avoided. This makes him politically vulnerable. It also makes him a leader.
Democrats have one job in 2020, beating Donald Trump. They aren’t going to accomplish that by having an ideological beauty contest, and they aren’t going to accomplish that by ignoring facts and twisting history to fit a convenient political narrative. If Sen. Kamala Harris or anyone else wants to take down Joe Biden, they need to do it on their visions for the future, not by refighting the battles of decades ago.
Chris Truax, a Republican, is a member of USA TODAY’S Board of Contributors and an appellate lawyer in San Diego.