Is anyone else as intrigued as I am by the parallels between Busing and Prohibition?
Both were well-intentioned attempts to deal with a genuine problem. Contrary to legend the Prohibitionists weren't just a bunch of killjoys. Alcoholism was a huge problem then [1]. Both, however, involved intrusions on people's personal lives going way beyond what they would tolerate for any length of time.
Ironically, the point was best made in a letter supporting Prohibition, written in 1925 by journalist William Allen White. In it, White acknowledged that most people did not need such a drastic measure to keep their drinking under control, but argued that it was their duty to accept this infringement on their liberty for the sake of those weaker brethren who could not control themselves. Though meaning to defend Prohibition, White had inadvertently put his finger on the reason that it ultimately failed - it called on the majority to make sacrifices for the sake of a minority, as busing would do later. In both cases, of course, the answer was the same, ie "In your dreams, mate."
[1] Could I put in a plug for the excellent Ken Burns documentary on Prohibition, which I find absolutely fascinating. If it were an Alternate History, written on a TL where Prohibition never happened, it would surely be dismissed as ASB.