Only recently, reading Heather McGhee’s "The Sum of Us," I learned that this argument was presented directly to the Supreme Court. The ruling talks about the harm of segregation to African American children, but I also wondered: Why weren’t we also addressing the toll racism takes on the psychological and moral development of white Americans? Segregation also hurt white children The opinion famously relies on social science evidence submitted by psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark and other eminent scholars establishing that segregation harms the psychological development of Black children, and that official segregation “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.”Įven as I revered Brown and its cause of vindicating the rights of Black Americans, it always struck me as necessary but not sufficient. But Brown is brief and appeals directly to the conscience of the nation, speaking in moral and practical terms about the role of schools in society. Supreme Court opinions are often long and usually boring. Reading Brown, it’s clear the justices wanted to be accessible and compelling to a lay person. And it is still true that no other court opinion has invalidated such widespread rules on which society operated. I held on, however, to the righteousness of the unanimous opinion in Brown. And I learned about the uneven burdens borne by Black families in the remedy – how historically African American schools were closed, decimating the ranks of Black educators and leaving abandoned buildings in their communities. I learned about the fear and intimidation parents experienced advocating for their children’s rights.
I saw shocking, squalid conditions in public schools, with the worst facilities serving mostly Black students. In the late 1990s, there were still hundreds of active desegregation cases all over the South. Starting my career litigating education civil rights cases at the Justice Department brought new lessons about Brown’s legacy. I wanted to follow in the footsteps of Justice Thurgood Marshall and advance America’s quest for racial justice. I grew up with reverence for Brown’s striking down legal segregation in public schools. A recent discovery about Brown humbled me and reveals something essential about why Americans are still so riven by issues of race and racism. Board of Education, Americans have much to learn about the legacy and unrealized promise that Brown represents.Īs a student of American history, a civil rights lawyer and an education equity expert, I thought I was well-versed in the landmark decision. Watch Video: Linda Brown: The girl who changed school segregation foreverĪs we commemorate the 67th anniversary of Brown v.
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