Busing the Buffer Zone: Chinatown Mothers Boycott Forced Busing During Boston’s Desegregation Crisis

In September 1975, Chinatown children were to be bused to Charlestown as part of Phase II of desegregation for Boston Public Schools. The previous year, Phase I, had protests that turned violent between the white and Black communities. Young Chinese students were at risk and would destabilize a residential immigrant neighborhood already under threat. In response, Chinatown mothers—garment workers who did not speak English—refused to remain silent. They planned a boycott if their demands to ensure safety and education for their elementary-aged children were not met. 

This exhibit is a companion to the play Busing the Buffer Zone, created by playwright Christina R. Chan and creatively produced by CHUANG Stage.

Created by playwright Christina R. Chan and creatively produced by CHUANG Stage, Busing the Buffer Zone brings this forgotten, painful, and powerful history into the present through oral histories, archival research, and community interviews. The project unfolds as a new theatrical play, paired with a temporary exhibition, both inspired by and honoring the Chinatown mothers whose resistance activated the neighborhood’s fights for justice and belonging.