Prince George's County was more than a little late in abiding by Brown v. Board of Education. Twenty years, to be exact, of official foot dragging until the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) forced change. The January of 1973 saw the largest busing plan implemented in the country amidst some very unhappy parents and their students. The shift away from the neighborood school and into, for the most part, unknown territory was unpopular but necessary for a full realization of the ruling handed down from the Supreme Court two decades before.

The problem then was a combination of hosing segregation and covert racism. Today, we no longer have segregation based on race. In fact, the county's school system is almost 75% black, a side-effect of the "white flight" phenomenon in which white homeowners have moved into other parts of Maryland. The busing system in the County stayed intact through the better part of three decades and it is only now being disbanded, with a return to neighborood schools.

The short story I've written, entitled "Prince George's County, Circa 1973: William Wirt Junior High School (As seen through the eyes of Jesse Wheeler and Nicholas Arnet)" sought to expand upon the clear-cut facts of the situation and explore its more human elements. These were simply children being placed into a situation that they had no control over. There have been some serious questions asked pertaining to the ethics of such a move by the School Board, and the tale does shed light on some of the more negative aspects of the busing.

We follow Jesse Wheeler from his first day at William Wirt and some of his experiences with his new white classmates and teachers. Every other chapter switches perspectives, showing us these same days through the eyes of Nicholas Arnet, a white boy who befriends the new kid and some of the issues attached with this burgeoning friendship.

The interview I conducted with Mrs. Cassandra Hall, along with the interviews and quotes I came upon in preliminary research, helped to flesh out some of the more real aspects of the tale. Some situations were inspired by her own experiences as a child in the county during the 1970s.