Domestic Issues of the 1970s

The 1970s were a time of confusion and revolution in the United States. Integration finally prevailed in the public school system, with the major incident being in Little Rock, Arkansas. The United States went through an extreme energy crisis in the 1970s. Both Welfare and Social Security went through drastic reform policies throughout the decade. In addition, the U.S. economy fluctuated throughout the decade creating both good and bad times for many, as inflation rates hit an all-time high. The 1970s was an extremely influential decade in America's history, and one that helped to shape following decades.
The 1970s were a time of new advancements and turmoil in the world of education. One of the most influential progressions in education was the further implementation of desegregation in schools. In Prince George's County, Maryland, on the eastern border of Washington, DC, school desegregation, which in theory should have been an easy task, took twenty years for the county school board to devise a plan that met federal court and Department of Health, Education and Welfare standards. The process was overtly complicated by racist attitudes throughout the county, segregated housing patterns and the "white flight" trend, in which white persons left predominately black areas for more affluent suburbs. The history of the Prince George's scandal goes back to the Brown v. Board of Education of 1954 court ruling in which the theory of "separate but equal facilities" did not apply to public education. However, in compliance with an 1872 Maryland law which required separate education for blacks and whites, the entire school system for the county was segregated—students, buses and even teachers. After the Brown v. Board of Education of 1954 case, the Maryland school board required all superintendents to submit an "effective date" in which the desegregation would occur. William Schmidt, superintendent of the Prince George's County school board, stated that the school system