Feb. 9, 2010

B.B. DeLaine addressed the Forum Tuesday in a session on the history of desegregation and the unaddressed legacies of discrimination that continue to hobble American society today. DeLaine's father helped organize plaintiffs in Summerton, S.C. in the legal battle for a school bus that ultimately led to the 1954 Brown v Board Supreme Court decision. DeLaine was one of the leaders of the Charlotte lunch-counter sit-ins that sparked the eventual desegregation of restaurants citywide. He was the first African-American teacher allowed to teach at Garinger High School, and later served in the pupil assignment office as CMS implemented Judge McMillan's order to desegregate all public schools in Mecklenburg. DeLaine continues to fight for equity in Summeton, and spoke Tuesday about the need to heal the psychological wounds that remain for all people from the racial discrimination of the past and the ongoing forms of discrimination that remain today.