Present Day
“It was, in no uncertain terms, the inspirational fount for all that followed. Brown is not just a school desegregation case; it is emblematic of our national will to renounce segregation and to live up to the promises of American democracy.”
-Mary Frances Berry
-Mary Frances Berry
The fiftieth anniversary of the Brown verdict reignited the debate. Revisionist discussed what the decision truly represents after fifty years. Michael Klarman argues that that ‘Brown did more harm than good’ because it provoked a backlash from Caucasian southerners and reinforced racist attitudes. According to Risa Goluboff’s book The Lost Promise of Civil Rights, NAACP lawyers should have focused on economic inequality and discrimination rather than putting all its focus on ‘separate but equal’(Rathbone 6). Nevertheless, there are important people who still remain pleased with the verdict of the Brown v. Board of Education case. Mary Frances Berry, the former chairwoman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, defended Brown’s honor. She discussed that later triumphs, like the Montgomery bus boycott, would not have transformed into what it had.
In 2007, the Supreme Court revisited issues of school segregation. They considered two cases, one in Seattle, Washington and the other in Louisville, Kentucky. Both cases were brought before the United States Supreme Court because their school districts were using race as a factor in the admissions process to have more integrated schools. Chief Justice John Roberts found in favor if the plaintiffs with a five to four majority vote. The justices stated that using race as a factor was against the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Furthermore, in 2007; Bill Clinton revisited Arkansas to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Little Rock Nine. Two years later, all nine of the students were invited to Barack Obama’s inauguration as the President of the United States. Although it has been fifty nine years since the Brown v. Board of Education verdict, it is clear that school segregation is still a passionate issue in America today.
In 2007, the Supreme Court revisited issues of school segregation. They considered two cases, one in Seattle, Washington and the other in Louisville, Kentucky. Both cases were brought before the United States Supreme Court because their school districts were using race as a factor in the admissions process to have more integrated schools. Chief Justice John Roberts found in favor if the plaintiffs with a five to four majority vote. The justices stated that using race as a factor was against the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Furthermore, in 2007; Bill Clinton revisited Arkansas to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Little Rock Nine. Two years later, all nine of the students were invited to Barack Obama’s inauguration as the President of the United States. Although it has been fifty nine years since the Brown v. Board of Education verdict, it is clear that school segregation is still a passionate issue in America today.
To return home, continue to Introduction.