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LISTEN: Biden Supported A Constitutional Amendment To End Mandated Busing In 1975

Source: www.scpr.org - Friday, June 28, 2019
Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, seen in 1975, told NPR at the time that he supported a constitutional amendment to ban court-ordered busing programs to integrate schools.; Credit: /AP Domenico Montanaro | NPR In 1975, one of the most divisive cultural and political issues of the time was busing, the practice of putting black and white children on buses and sending them to different schools within a school district to achieve integration. Factoring prominently into the debate against busing, however, was a young, liberal, 32-year-old Delaware senator by the name of Joe Biden. Asked in an interview at the time by NPR's David Ensor whether he would go so far as supporting a constitutional amendment to stop court-ordered busing, Biden was open to it. "That would clearly do it," he said, adding, "I'm going to go at it through a constitutional amendment, if it can't be done through a piece of legislation." Here's the full quote from the transcript: ENSOR: What about a constitutional amendment, I asked Biden. Isn't that what you're going to end up supporting if you want to stop court ordered busing too? BIDEN: That would clearly do it. We are trying to figure out whether or not we can come up with an innovative piece of legislation which would limit the remedy and I don't honestly don't know whether we can come up with something constitutional. And if we can't I will not in an attempt to eliminate busing violate the Constitution. I won't

Source: Breaking News

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