White Flight from Reinhardt

Originally, Martin Luther King Jr. Learning Center was named Colonial Hill. It was built in 1902 and was named after the affluent Anglo-American community it served. In the mid-fifties, the neighborhood experienced a transition as the population became increasingly African-American. The transition in the community led to African-American students being assigned to the school which was renamed Colonial Elementary School in 1957. Colonial Elementary served grades 1 - 8.

The Colonial attendance zone has experienced many changes under several court orders. From 1964 until the 1976 court order, Colonial served grades 1 - 6. In 1976, students in grades 4-6 were reassigned to Reinhardt Elementary.
http://www.dallasisd.org/SCHOOLS/es/i_l/mlk/history.htm


Perhaps the most significant problem was the flight of whites to the suburbs: in 1970 the Dallas school district was 58% white, 34% black and 8% Mexican American. Seven years later whites numbered only 35%.

http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,919609,00.html