On this day in 1974, the Supreme Court sided with Gov. Milliken on Detroit’s busing case, fueling white flight. And in 1966, Michigan named its first state ombudsman.
TRANSCRIPT
Today a major failure in the US to uphold the racial integration which was set forth in Brown vs the Board of Education. July 25th, 1974, after the NCAA sues Michigan governor Milliken for the bussing practices in Detroit, the US Supreme Court sided with the Governor and paved the way for what would be later called ‘White Flight’ into the suburbs.
Today in 1966, the second ever state-wide Ombudsman in the US was appointed in the Mitten. Then Michigan Secretary of State, James Hare appointed a 26-year-old named Gordon Alexander to be the point of contact for when Michiganders had grievances to address about our state government, with a then salary of $10,500. However, according to the Cass City Chronicle newspaper, Hare didn’t publicly disclose Alexander’s role until 3 weeks after he took on the role.