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May 27, 2004
Unintended consequences
The recent celebration of the 50th anniversary of
Brown vs. Board of Education indicates that many people still
believe the decision requires racial integration in the public
schools. That is not so. The court only ruled that legally imposed
racial segregation was unlawful.
In his majority opinion Chief Justice Earl Warren made it clear
that the court opposed legally sanctioned school segregation.
He said:
“Segregation of white and colored children in public schools
has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact
is greater when it has the sanction of law; for the policy of
separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority
of the Negro group.”
Chief Justice Warren then went on to indicate the damage to black
students in a segregated school system:
“A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child
to learn. Segregation with the sanction of law, therefore, has
a tendency to retard the educational and mental development of
Negro children and to deprive them of some of the benefits they
would receive in a racially integrated school system.”
The court clearly intended to condemn only school segregation
that resulted from intentionally imposed public policy. Although
the American ideal was racially integrated public schools, the
court took no action against segregated schools which resulted
from housing patterns. Only “de jure” segregation
was condemned by the court while “de facto” segregation
was legally permissible.
Nonetheless, the advocates for racially integrated public schools
have continued to press their case. They decry the fact that racial
segregation in the public schools has increased as blacks and
Latinos have moved in great numbers into the nation’s cities.
Integration advocates correctly point out that whites will suffer
from racial isolation as the so-called minorities begin to predominate.
The problem is that the battle over school integration creates
the impression in black and Latino students’ minds that
their schools are inexorably inferior. The distinction between
de jure and de facto is lost. The idea that predominates is Chief
Justice Warren’s pithy statement that “separate educational
facilities are inherently unequal.”
The black community has a challenge to encourage their children
to believe that they can attain academic proficiency in the schools
which they presently attend.
It’s up to us
Bill Cosby, the black comedian and philanthropist, unleashed a
torrential backlash last week when he criticized “lower
economic” blacks for not exercising personal responsibility
to improve their lives.
Black activists who place total responsibility on “the system”
resorted to the tired old “blaming the victim” gambit.
Cosby, especially concerned about the 50 percent black urban high
school dropout rate stated, “A 50 percent dropout rate in
2004 is not all about what people are doing to us. It’s
about what people are not doing. The Legal Defense Fund and the
N.A.A.C.P. can deal on those points of law, but something has
to come from the people.”
The Cosbys have shown their concern for the welfare of blacks
by the generosity of their charity. They gave $20 million to Spelman
College and substantially more in anonymous donations over the
years. His comments raise a serious question that black leaders
have so far not answered. At what point can all agree that real
opportunity exists?
Once that date is determined, it will be incumbent upon blacks
to move forward primarily on their own effort.
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