Blacks Protest Bus Seating

(Santa Clara, California) A discrimination controversy regarding the seating of black students on a school bus is threatening to flare up.

From MercuryNews.com:

When the driver began directing African-American students to the front of the bus -- for safety reasons, he reportedly said -- they quickly concluded that something was wrong.

Now, more than a month later, some Santa Clara High School students are still upset, the NAACP is asking questions and Santa Clara Unified School District officials are trying to determine exactly what happened.

It appears that two black students had gotten into a fight at the back of the bus so the bus driver subtly encouraged all the black students to temporarily sit in the front of the bus so they could easily be watched. The episode is all over now and bus seating is back to normal.

The issue, however, has not died. Students have demonstrated and made presentations to school officials. The NAACP is calling for action to improve conditions for African-American students and staff. The Santa Clara High School principal, Brad Syth, has cautioned against viewing the situation as racial when, in reality, it "may just be a bus situation."

Maybe so, but one thing seems certain. If black people are on a bus, they had better be allowed to sit anywhere they damn well please or somebody will likely have to answer to accusations of racial bias.