WASHINGTON – Sixty years ago today, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that “separate but equal” had no place in America’s education system. In his opinion, Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote that education provided by the state was “a right which must be made available to all on equal terms” and that to separate Black children “from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority…in a way unlikely ever to be undone.” In commemoration of this landmark decision, Advancement Project issued the following statement.
“The Brown v. Board of Education decision was a hallmark event for our democracy, and a defining moment in the struggle for equality and justice,” said Advancement Project Co-Director Penda D. Hair. “Yet America has not lived up to the equal educational opportunity that it promised. Today children of color are more likely to be in schools that are labeled as failing, shut down and turned over to private purveyors, instead of getting the resources they need to be successful. This new playbook is producing the same outcomes for children of color: schools that are still separate, and still unequal.”
“However, communities of color on the ground are fighting tirelessly (to) realize equal education for their children,” said Advancement Project Co-Director Judith Browne Dianis. “This week we joined the Journey for Justice Alliance, a coalition of community-based organizations in 22 cities, to file three complaints under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to confront this mounting crisis. We zeroed in on the departments of education in Newark, New Jersey; Chicago and New Orleans – cities where school districts are shirking their responsibility to educate African-American children, and instead are giving multi-million dollar contracts to companies to do the job. In each city Black students are being uprooted, shuffled around to low-quality schools, with their hopes of equal educational opportunities dashed. We hope the Department of Justice will investigate and end these practices to bring our nation closer to the still elusive promise of Brown v. Board of Education.”
“In more ways than one, today’s education system is an affront to the Brown v. Board of Education decision made 60 years ago,” said Thena Robinson-Mock, Program Director for Advancement Project’s Ending the Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track Campaign. “The new system of ‘separate and unequal’ runs deep across the country. National patterns show that traditional public schools serving predominantly children of color are being set up to fail, through high-stakes testing and other policies that promote prison-like environments – geared at keeping students under control, undereducated and under-supported. On this anniversary, we are proud to stand beside parents, students and educators who have been doing the work, for decades, of building opportunity and access to excellent neighborhood schools for all children.”
