70 Years Later: Rethinking Brown v. Board of Education

Note: Quotes were taken from a podcast recording to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. Listen to the full podcast episode here.

Seven decades ago, a court decision focused on Topeka, Kansas changed how students, particularly students in the South, would experience school as they knew it.

The infamous Brown v. Board of Education case ruling found that segregated schools were unconstitutional and the process of integrating them started thereafter. While the intent of desegregation is one few can argue with and led to thousands of students now having access to improved facilities like more robust libraries, the reality of how the decision has played out is more nuanced.

Long-time parent empowerment advocate Virginia Walden Ford recalled the moment her father told her she would be part of the group of students integrating Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. As she recounted, he said, “You have a responsibility to go to Central and to do well because you have younger siblings, and what is it going to look like if you don’t take advantage of what’s been offered to you?”

While she recounted the early days were indeed difficult, she’s taken the responsibility articulated by her father seriously for the rest of her life. As an adult, she’s been an outspoken champion in the school choice movement, leading the charge for D.C.’s Opportunity Scholarships Program, and programs in numerous other states.

While the Brown V. Board decision was first handed down 70 years ago, its lasting implications can still be seen and felt in the education system now. The solution that the court envisioned was to make education more equitable, which was noble, but as is often the case, the decision also came with unintended consequences.

“One of the big tragedies we hardly ever talk about is the loss of a 100,000 Black jobs for teachers and principals in the South because they closed our schools, demoted our teachers, closed our schools, demoted our principals,” said Gerard Robinson, a professor at the University of Virginia. “Because if we’re talking about why we don’t have Black teachers today, that conversation is tough to have without talking about the ones we lost there.”

As courts often do, the decision was a broad one that was made without engaging those most affected to understand what they would have wanted. “I think the second flaw was this notion that the only way to have equal education was to have an integrated education,” said Dr. Howard Fuller, a civil rights activist fighting for many causes over the past several decades. He went on to explain one of the attorneys on the case admitted that one of the great mistakes they made was never going back to ask Black educators what they thought equal education should be about.

As educational freedom advocates have seen the fight for equity is not yet over but let us still celebrate the many major wins for families we have seen.

“There’s a lot to be said there about the importance of parents having the opportunity and freedom to have access to quality schools to make the right match fit for their child.” Sekou Biddle

Dr. Fuller closed out his final statements by saying, “It’s not correct to say nothing significant has changed in this country.” Fuller continued on saying how he believed the Brown decision played a central role in improving basic human rights in America.

Sekou Biddle of the United Negro College Fund echoed what supporters of choice already know. He said, “Anyone who was in a family with more than one child or has a family with more than one child can vouch for the fact that most of your children are just not the same, and they might want or need different things to support them.”

This will always be true so we’ll keep working towards more equality in education and expanding what programs are available to all families. Then we’ll look back on the next anniversary of Brown vs. Board and remember even more progress that has been made.

Listen to the full conversation about Brown v. Board of Education here.