Unfinished Agenda of Brown v. Board of Education

Praise for The Unfinished Agenda of Brown V. Board of Education

"My father, Oliver L. Brown, for whom Brown v. Board of Education is named, was a proud member of a group of a few hundred people, across the country, who took risks by taking a stand for what they believed. He died in 1961, just seven years after the case, so he didn't live long enough to know that Brown would become the foundation on which so much of this country's civil and human rights initiatives would rest.
Brown v. Board became important for every citizen, not just African Americans. It shows that the founding documents of our country provided us with sovereign rights that cannot be restricted by state and local governments. That decision impacted the lives of women, persons with disabilities, blacks, whites, Hispanics, Asians, and everyone living in this country.
Brown was significant in attacking the silence. It opened up a dialogue and forced the country to take on greater responsibility; we at every level had to start addressing the issue of race. In many ways, once the dialogue started, we finally began to under stand the depths of racism. This case was about gaining access to educational resources; the resources were and remain where the white children are. The Unfinished Agenda of Brown v. Board of Education is about renewing and continuing the promise of Brown."
-Cheryl Brown Henderson, president of the Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence, and Research, and daughter of Oliver L. Brown, one of the thirteen plaintiffs in Brown v. Board of Education

On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States under Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered its verdict in the case of Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka. By a unanimous vote, the judges found that "in the field of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place." Civil libertarians at the time hailed Brown v. Board of Education as a momentous legal victory. For millions of African American, Latino, Native American, and Asian American parents it was a dream come true. It meant that their children would no longer be forced to go to school under the same conditions that they and their parents endured. For the first time in U.S. history, children of color would have equal access to public education–and, hopefully, with equal education would come equal opportunities in adulthood.

It is now fifty years later, and unfortunately the jury is still out. Was the promise of Brown v. Board of Education realized–– and if not, why? What real gains have been made and what losses sustained as a result of the decision? What has been its impact socially, culturally, economically, and psychologically?

In an attempt to find answers to these and other crucial questions concerning school integration and the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education, the editors of Black Issues in Higher Education solicited the opinions of a diverse group of activists, scholars, jurists, educators, and theorists. The result is The Unfinished Agenda of Brown v. Board of Education, a collection of essays offering a range of enlightening, thought provoking, and, at times, highly controversial views by the likes of the civil rights activist and jurist Derrick Bell, National Public Radio senior correspondent Juan Williams, Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree, the internationally known educator Mary Hatwood Futrell, and others.

The Unfinished Agenda of Brown v. Board of Education is enriched throughout by poignant oral histories in which many of those involved with the case–including plaintiffs, attorneys, teachers, students, and activists–share their firsthand experiences with segregation and the struggle for educational equality.

A provocative and inspiring exploration of a pivotal moment in our history, this book is both a celebration and thorough reassessment of Brown v. Board of Education and its legacy.

Publishers Weekly

A biweekly magazine with 40,000 subscribers, Black Issues publishes on minority issues in education from a variety of perspectives. This collection includes essays from Ogletree and Bell (whose full-length efforts are reviewed above), as well as from Washington Post columnist Juan Williams, Howard University professor of linguistics Richard L. Wright and NPR talk show host Tavis Smiley, among others. A contributor to the preface is John Jay College of Criminal Justice professor of speech, theatre and media studies Dara N. Byrne. Together, they cover the documentary history of Brown, its language, the attorneys who litigated it, the "psyche" it has helped produce in the U.S., as well as ways of "Renewing Our Commitment." (May) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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