William Capacchione (don't miss this PBS interview) filed a lawsuit against the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system because his daughter was twice denied admission to the family’s school of choice. Plaintiffs, in effect, allege that integration has been achieved and race-based programs are no longer needed because they now discriminate against white children.

The school system has defended by asserting it is NOT fully integrated and should not be released from court-ordered desegregation. The attorneys who filed the original Swann case now agree with their former adversary.

Many similar cases are pending throughout the country. In some, courts have relieved schools from court-imposed segregation. To reach that conclusion, however, courts have to find that the school district has become "unitary." In other words, school boards must show they have complied in good faith with court orders and have eliminated traces of illegal segregation.

Believing that schools in Charlotte, North Carolina ARE fully integrated, Robert D. Potter, a federal judge, ruled in favor of the Capacchione plaintiffs and against the Board of Education and the Swann plaintiffs.

The last word on the case has not been spoken, however. On its way back to the United States Supreme Court, the matter passed through the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. During arguments before that court, judges intently questioned lawyers representing the Capacchione plaintiffs.

But the climate in America is much different now. The turbulent days of marches and demonstrations, for and against busing, are completely unknown by an entire generation. Even people who lived through gut-wrenching days of political unrest, student protest and seemingly endless war in Viet Nam have distant memories of turbulent times.

Where the issue of school busing in America ultimately goes, no one can say for sure.