In-Depth: Re-Segregation? The repercussions of revoking Brown v. Board of Education in 2007: Part II
Published February 27, 2007
By Nate Bradbury
Brown v. Board is recognized as a groundbreaking legal case which, to quote George W. Bush, was “a decision that changed America for the better, and forever.” However, that “forever” is now in question.
Two ongoing Supreme Court cases are currently threatening to overturn the monumental decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Therefore, it is important to straighten out some of the historical misrepresentations of the Brown ruling and how those misrepresentations continue to hamper social equality.
To start, Brown was not even the first case to challenge racially-segregated schooling in Topeka, or the whole state of Kansas. Between 1879 and the 1954 ruling, there were nearly a dozen challenges to formal segregation in the state of Kansas alone.
In reality, Brown v. Board is only the name and Linda Brown was only the figurehead of a group of five cases from four states that represented hundreds of plaintiffs, all battling racially-segregated school systems.
Lastly, Brown’s legal counsel focused much attention on the psychological effects of racial segregation and the complex feelings of inferiority that it could instill in black students over time. In other words, the case was based specifically on the negative effects of racial segregation on black students.
Details, such as the ones above, are generally left out of history lessons, because they are deemed unnecessary in the modern and so-called “socially-equitable” United States. Consider that at the time of Brown’s ruling there were 16 states that required schools to be racially segregated. In all, 31 states did or could segregate their public schools based solely on race (Vermont had no official policy for segregation in their school system).
This form of legalized oppression, especially in the states that required segregation before Brown, was representative of deep-seated racism in many communities.
These issues could not be re-solved by a simple declaration of equality. Integration had to be fought for just as actively as de-segregation. There was widespread resistance to the court’s ruling, and the fight to integrate school systems was arduous and continues to this day.
For example, twenty-four years after the initial ruling, Topeka schools still remained mostly segregated, and it was necessary for the ACLU to forcefully re-implement Brown. Even then, it was not until 1994 that a district-wide plan was actually implemented to fully de-segregate the school system, and the judicial standards for racial balance were not met until 1998.
Because the Brown ruling alone could not stop or reverse the effects of under-education, discrimination, and bias towards blacks and other minorities in the US, an affirmative action policy was established in 1961.
Affirmative action is designed to lessen the effects of racism on minorities in terms of housing, employment, and higher education. The basis for affirmative action was outlined by former President Lyndon B. Johnson when he said, “You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line in a race and then say, ‘you are free to compete with all the others.’”
Today, as Brown’s legal precedent faces an assault, some states have banned affirmative action or simply stalled its effectiveness. Individual states – California, Washington and Michigan – have attacked affirmative action by calling it “preferential treatment.” This complaint has been given a voice on the national stage through talk shows like the “O’Reilly Factor.”
However, affirmative action is not about privilege, it is about equality. Though many white, liberal Americans profess a belief in racial equality, they are quick to point a finger at it when it appears to affect them negatively. Your white daughter who does not get into the University of Arizona is not a victim of affirmative action; there are no victims.
Following affirmative action policies leads to more competitive and thus, better educational environments. The differences between espoused American values and real American values are currently on display in these two ongoing Supreme Court cases that threaten to overturn Brown.
Check out the last installment of the series next week!
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