What is the "right perspective" on being forced to do something? Being "next to" white people, or physical proximity, has never been what it's all about. You know that, and are taking an issue which is quite complicated and attempting to answer it in a very idiosyncratic way.

Any example you give cannot begin to be dealt with in the few sentences you give them in each paragraph. For example, if you make reference to the measures of quality of life in the black community, why don't you list some rather than deal in generalities? If you assert that black kids are not "better off educated," tell us in what ways and why. Though I respect Malcolm Gladwell, I'm not going to rely on one sentence from him to make my case.

It's the job of all of us, first, to assess the quality of black life objectively, to describe why it is the way it is, and to find ways to improve it. Blaming "integration," as if sitting next to white people, is some sort of solution, is not going to solve anything.