East High School was one of the first desegregated schools in the state of Arizona.  Strategically placed between three working class neighborhoods, each dominated by different ethnic groups; its goal was to integrate Hispanic, Anglo and Afro-American teenagers in an academic environment.  Before its closure in 1985 it had achieved that goal with mixed results.  Sharing classrooms, it seems, is not quite enough to bring down the walls of prejudice for everyone. BACK