[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 63 (Thursday, May 19, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 19, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
   THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SUPREME COURT'S BROWN VERSUS BOARD OF 
                            EDUCATION RULING

  Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN. Mr. President, yesterday was the 40th anniversary 
of the Supreme Court's landmark ruling in the case of Brown versus 
Board of Education. In Brown, Chief Justice Earl Warren, writing for a 
unanimous court, struck down the doctrine of separate but equal, 
holding that it did, in fact, violate the equal protection clause of 
the 14th amendment to the Constitution.
  What tends to get lost in the discussion over Brown is that, in 
purely legal terms, the decision was actually very narrow. It was 
limited in scope, applying solely to the field of public education. It 
did not even provide the plaintiffs with a remedy for correcting the 
discrimination, forcing them to return to the Supreme Court the next 
year, in a case known as Brown II, for relief. The simple fact is that 
the actual plaintiff's in Brown never realized the fruits of their 
victory, never actually attended a desegregated school, due to the 
official government resistance in carrying out Brown's directive.
  However, I think the reason that gets lost--the reason that, on its 
40th anniversary, no one discusses the narrowness of the Court's ruling 
in Brown--was summed up by an editorial in yesterday's Washington Post. 
The editorial stated, ``Seldom does a Supreme Court ruling have such a 
profound impact on the country's social structure, moral tone, and 
constitutional assumptions as to become a benchmark in the Nation's 
history''.
  For the fact is that, with a single stroke of the pen, the Supreme 
Court started this Nation down a long and troubled road toward equal 
opportunity for all citizens, regardless of race or religion or gender 
or national origin. By writing in its unanimous opinion that ``In the 
field of public education, the doctrine of separate but equal has no 
place,'' the Supreme Court laid the cornerstone for all the advances in 
civil rights in America in the past 40 years.
  In 1954, the year of the Brown decision, the entire South, and many 
border States, lived under the Domain of Jim Crow. Blacks were 
relegated to the back of the bus, were banned from white lunch 
counters, and were not allowed to use the same bathroom or water 
fountains as whites. Interracial marriage was prohibited--by law--in 
many States, and any black who attempted to vote was quite literally 
risking his or her life. Although today the Court's ruling seems quite 
logical, and not all that revolutionary, we can never forget the 
extraordinary courage of those who, in that atmosphere, fought for the 
proposition that separate but equal was, in fact, inherently unequal--
the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who argued the Brown 
case before the Court, his cocounsels, George Hayes and James Nabrit, 
Jr., Linda Brown and her family, and the other plaintiffs in the case 
and, of course, the Supreme Court itself.
  We can never overstate the importance of this ruling. For without the 
decision in Brown, there is no telling where our Nation would be today. 
Without the Supreme Court on its side, would the U.S. Congress have had 
the courage to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act 
of 1965 or the Civil Rights Act of 1968? Without the Supreme Court on 
their side, would those who reallied around a women named Rosa Parks, 
who refused to give up her seat on the bus, have had the courage to 
risk water cannons and police dogs and rocks to stand alongside her? 
Would civil rights achievements in other areas--banning discrimination 
against women, against those with disabilities--have been possible? 
Thankfully Mr. President, these are questions we will never have to 
answer.
  Nonetheless, 40 years later, I cannot help but be troubled that, in 
so many areas, our Nation is longer moving forward toward racial unity 
and harmony but slipping back toward segregation, toward two nations, 
separate and unequal. Nowhere is that more obvious than in our Nation's 
schools, the very subject of the Brown ruling.
  In a study conducted for the Department of Education last year, Prof. 
Gary Orfield found that despite rapid movement toward integration from 
the mid-1960's to the early 1970's, our Nation's schools are now more 
segregated than ever. Specifically, this study found that 70 percent of 
black and Hispanic students now study in classrooms with a 
predominantly minority enrollment. In my hometown of Chicago, that 
number is even more troubling--more than 90 percent of black students 
still attend either mostly black or predominantly minority schools.
  Or take another example, the continued discrimination in the 
administration of the death penalty. Last week, this body debated the 
Racial Justice Act, an act that would have afforded those sentenced to 
death the same right to present a claim of discrimination as those 
turned down from renting an apartment or fired from their jobs. As 
study after study after study presented during the debate shows--
including a study conducted by the Government Accounting Office--there 
exists to this day a pattern of racial disparities in the charging, 
sentencing, and imposition of the death penalty. One need look no 
further than the Federal criminal justice system itself to realize 
this. Since 1988, the Federal death penalty for drug kingpins has been 
sought against 36 defendants--4 white, 4 Hispanic, and 28--or 77 
percent--African-American.
  Mr. President, the fact that millions of our Nation's citizens 
continue to be segregated by race and ethnicity in our Nation's schools 
as well as in our Nation's communities is unacceptable. The fact that 
defendants continue to be sentenced to death based on their race, or 
the race of their victims, is unacceptable. These statistics tell us 
what we already know--that despite the historic decision in Brown, 
despite the gains in civil rights of the past 40 years, we still have a 
long way to go before the doctrine of separate but equal is truly 
abolished.
  I know this is not a fun subject to discuss. I know people throughout 
this country wonder why we can't forget about race, why we can't just 
be proud of how far we've come, and leave well-enough alone. As 
Clarence Page stated in a recent column in the Chicago Tribune, the 
idea that separate but equal is inherently unequal has fallen on hard 
times. Said Page, and I quote, ``Never have I seen whites more weary of 
the idea that race is still a significant problem in America. Never 
have I seen black folks, particularly young blacks, so weary of 
pressing for white acceptance.'' But we cannot, we must not allow this 
weariness to distract us from the task at hand. The issues at stake are 
too important.
  I recently returned from South Africa where I was able to witness 
what can happen when people of all races and colors come together to 
fight against racism and segregation.
  By now we have all seen the truly moving and truly remarkable sight 
of blacks and whites together waiting in lines literally miles long, 
waiting 8 full hours and more, to vote in the first multiracial 
elections in South Africa's history.
  I was a part of the U.S. delegation that was present at the 
inauguration of Nelson Mandela. He is a man who spent 27 years in 
prison, not for crimes, but for trying to open up opportunities for all 
South Africans. But he was not embittered by his years in prison. 
Instead he stayed true to his values.
  Nelson Mandela, and the coalition he heads, is bringing new freedom 
and new opportunity to black South Africans. But his victory was not 
just a victory for black South Africans but for South Africans of every 
race and color.
  South Africa is in the process of transforming itself into a 
multicultural, pluralistic, democratic society. That metamorphosis was 
personified by the Pretoria Children's Choir. This group of young 
teenagers looked like South Africa. One could see strains of every 
imaginable racial and ethnic group, and they sang and danced in unison. 
One song brought tears to my eyes. They sang: ``We all know we are 
different from one another; be proud of your heritage; but know that 
you are my brother.''
  Mr. President, I mention my recent trip to South Africa because while 
the Supreme Court's Brown versus Board of Education ruling began the 
dismantling of our Nation's system of apartheid in education, of 
apartheid in the death penalty, more needs to be done.
  Education is more than a private benefit to individuals, it is a 
public good for us all. How well a democratic society is able to 
function depends in large part on the opportunities for education 
available to its citizens. That connection is seen in everything from 
crime statistics, to health status, to electoral participation, to 
international competitiveness.
  The elimination of discrimination in the death penalty is equally 
important. I know some people ignore the implications of this continued 
discrimination by reasoning that, after all, these are only criminals. 
They have committed heinous and unspeakable acts, and it doesn't really 
matter if we deny them equal protection under the law. But the simple 
fact is, if we continue to allow death sentences to be imposed on the 
basis of race, we diminish all of our humanity. This country has long 
stood for the proposition that even those who have done wrong have 
rights. Even those who have committed a crime deserve not to be 
discriminated against on the basis of race. Eliminating that protection 
for any class in society--even criminals--sends a strong message that 
equal protection is not s highly valued in this Nation as we claim it 
is.
  Mr. President, these are just two illustrations of the fact that, as 
far as this Nation has come since that day 40 years ago when the 
Supreme Court handed down the Brown decision, we still have a long way 
to go. Brown was a giant step forward in the process of achieving full 
political and economic integration. But we've made more progress on the 
political front than on the economic front. Full economic integration 
is necessary to overcome the legacy of discrimination, and education is 
an important part of achieving that economic integration.
  While the problems we confront today, in 1994, are different than the 
ones confronted by the Supreme Court 40 years ago, in 1954, the 
fundamental meaning of Brown versus the Board of Education has not 
changed. At its core, Brown was bout values--about the significance and 
worth of every individual, regardless of race or religion or gender or 
national origin. Brown stated what we all know, that we are greater as 
a Nation if we stand together and use the talents of all our citizens 
than if we allowed ourselves to be divided on a characteristics as 
meaningless and irrelevant as the color of one's skin. No matter what 
happens, no matter what new problems we confront, we must never forget 
that message. Instead, the belief in true equality that was voiced in 
Brown should underlie everything we do in this Nation, today, tomorrow 
and every day.
  Mr. President, the 40th anniversary of Brown should not just be a 
time to reflect on the importance of the decision. Rather, it should be 
a time for the people of this Nation, including those of us in the 
Senate, to rededicate ourselves to the struggle of ensuring equal 
justice for all. It is worth recalling what Frederick Douglass said 
over a century ago: ``If there is no struggle, there is no progress.'' 
We must ask and demand that we all live up to the values our 
declaration of independence and our Constitution so eloquently 
expounded. That is the strategy that has resulted in the greatest 
success. It is the path that offers the most for each and every one of 
us, and for our Nation.
  I would like to conclude my remarks by reminding my colleagues that 
we are stronger as a Nation, and stronger as people if we can work 
together, if we can utilize the talents of every one of our people. If 
we can put aside racism, and sexism, and all of the other ``isms'' that 
separate us from one another, in short, if we can live up to the values 
we state so eloquently in our Constitution.

                          ____________________