BROWN V BOARD OF EDUCATION - 60 YEARS LATER

The more things change the more they remain the same.

Sixty years ago on this day a United States Supreme Court case [Brown v. Board of Education, 347 US 483 (1954)]that was-and is-considered a landmark case was decided in favor of not only the six children pictured on the left but all other children in their legally defined class. This decision was an attempt to offer parity in terms of education to all little American children regardless of race, creed or color. There are many misconceptions about this case. The first fallacy is that the little children pictured reaped the fruit of their parents tenacity while they where still small children. To the contrary, Linda Brown (who is the most recognizable of the children, since her father was the lead plaintiff)was 9 years old when her parents first filed their case in State court in 1951-and lost. She was 13 years old-a teenager- by the time the Supreme Court case was finally decided in Brown II in 1955.

I am sure all the children and parents had seen a lot of ugly things in those ensuing years.

Some parents lost their jobs, some houses were burned, at least one church was burned, citizens of their towns considered them troublemakers. As a matter of fact, even one judge in South Carolina who argued against segregation was forced from the bench and after receiving death threats fled to the North even before the Supreme Court decision was handed down. At least one of the parents was also forced to leave his home.

Segregation, after all, was the law of the land. [Read PLESSY V FERGUSON 163 US 537 (1896)] Black children who attended substandard and underfunded schools in the 1950's was an acceptable form of business as usual in the United States. Another fallacy, then, was that the cases all originated in Kansas. In point of fact they represented at least 5 different parts of the country. Parents filed lawsuits in State courts in Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia. The cases were purposely combined by the Supreme Court so that whatever the subsequent decision, it would not be seen as a Southern issue. The last fallacy is the importance of the NAACP. Many attempt to minimize this importance, but those who know American history know that the NAACP in many important arenas made the country better. The NAACP was a truthteller, and sometimes the truth is not what people want to hear. With very few resources but with great and passionate lawyers, the NAACP successfully argued the case before the Supreme Court and won with a unanimous decision. The opinion was pretty straightforward in it's distaste for segregated schools. It said that education is “the very foundation of good citizenship. To separate from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone.” These words are a predictor of what followed in the subsequent years.

Many legal machinations were employed as a result of the 1955 Supreme Court case labeled Brown II that was supposed to give directions for implementing the 1954 case. Brown II used the phrase "all deliberate speed". The result was that many states gave no serious thought to integrating schools for 10 years or more. School segregation looked the same during this 10 year period: Underfunded, overcrowded, dilapidated infrastructure, were the status quo.

My own experience with Brown v Board was that I was in diapers when Linda Brown, et al originally filed their State lawsuit. I was in kindergarten when Brown v Board of Education decision came down. I was a freshman in junior high before I attended my first non-segregated school. In my town they integrated the older kids first. Seniors, then juniors, then sophomores, then freshmen. As much as I have always loved school, those were the worst 4 years of my educational life. We Black students could all see it was designed to be unpleasant. The school itself was huge compared to our little neighborhood school which housed all 12 grades. Despite those of us who were A and B students, Black students were usually assigned to the low achieving classes where students were tracked for non-college courses. Because I had many family members who taught at the segregated Black school in town, that tracking system was changed pretty quickly for me. We were never assigned to classes with any other Back students. We were never called on in class-even when we raised our hands. I remember writing a pretty good paper in high school, and I could see that my English teacher was impressed. He waited until class was almost over before handing me my paper and whispered to me that I wrote an outstanding paper. He also said if I was thinking about going to college I should major in journalism. Our principal (who I assume had a college degree from somewhere)would never say "Negro" - which was the word we preferred back then. It was always "nigra". And he always said it with a sinister smile. I have degrees from two HBCU's and have never felt the need to keep in touch with any of the white students who attended high school with me. I also have never felt any desire to attend class reunions.


60 years later, schools are re-segregating. Zero tolerance rules in schools result in many questionable expulsion of Black and brown children. Black and brown children are at risk for the school to prison pipeline. A report came out on the day of the 60th anniversary that "inner city youth" are at risk for something called "hood disease", which seems to be a form of PTSD for inner city children. The CDC says that maybe 30% of inner city youth are affected by this "disease" and not only does it make it difficult to learn, but it's like growing up in a war zone. The economic downturn resulted in many homeless families, and this includes children. A surprisingly large percentage of children who go to school now are homeless. Many neighborhood schools are in poverty just as much as the residents of the community. As a result they are lacking in resources to offer students a pleasant school experience. Basic courses are the rule-elective courses are the exception.

And then we have the the police commissioner in a small New Hampshire town who publicly called President Obama "that f--king n--ger". He admitted it, would not apologize, and said he would NOT resign. This would be distrubing at any time, but it is especially disturbing during a time when Black men and women are profiled and killed for perceived perceptions about who they are and what they are doing. By the POLICE.

While Brown was an important first step, it was only a step. Sadly, the country did not take the MOST important step in acknowledging the true meaning of segregation. That step involved telling the raw and real truth about America's relationship with it's Black citizens. Segregation-for Blacks in particular-was an answer to the Amendments passed after the South lost to the North. It is an answer to the period of Reconstruction immediately after that war. It is a statement by former slave owners that the slave will never have equal rights with the slave owners. Segregation is a statement of one's superiority that is not supported by facts either scientifically, morally, or spiritually. Brown, then, was never going to fully be succeessful as long as the systemic structures that undergirded segregation was still in place.

I often quote a proverb that has African roots:

Until the lion has his/her own storyteller, the hunter will always have the best part of the story.

More of us need to tell our stories. And it will not always be politically correct. Or male centered.