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Henry L. Allen, a lifelong resident of Boston, reflects on the Boston Public Schools and the city itself during the time of the Garrity decision, which in 1974 required some students to be bused between Boston neighborhoods with the intention of creating racial balance in the public schools. In this interview, he discusses his extensive community work in support of school desegregation; his and his family’s experiences with the Boston Public Schools; the racial dynamics of Boston from the late 1960s to the early 1990s; and his opinions of the current state of Boston and its schools.