Carson actually conceded that his demand for a black superintendent was "a mistake."

The black superintendent is expected to be able to do more with less, and undo overnight years and years of things.

The two dismissals drew national attention to the problems of black superintendents, especially those in racially mixed districts.

The black superintendents in Boston and Selma were each the city's first.

Colonel Parker, 43, would have become the state's first black superintendent.

More than half the school systems that belong to his organization have black or Hispanic superintendents, including 4 of the nation's 10 largest school systems.

They said they were concerned that the strike had racial undertones, since the predominantly white union was pitched against a black superintendent.

The original occupants were white, except for a black servant and the black superintendent and his family.

And now attempts to evaluate black and Hispanic superintendents as a group cause some of them to bristle.

Mr. Paige was the city's first black superintendent, a symbol, to some, of minority achievement.