[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 73 (Thursday, May 15, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E961]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     THE 49TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BROWN VS. BOARD OF EDUCATION CASE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 14, 2003

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in celebration of the 
49th Anniversary of the historic Brown vs. Board of Education of 
Topeka, Kansas case, which struck down the doctrine of separate but 
equal in Plessy v. Ferguson, and desegregated public schools across 
this great Nation.
  In early 1950, racial segregation in public schools was the norm 
throughout the United States. Although all the schools in a given 
district were supposed to be equal, most black schools were inferior to 
their white counterparts.
  The situation was no different in Topeka, Kansas. In the early 1950s 
in Topeka, a young black fifth-grade student named Linda Brown had to 
walk over a mile to get to her segregated elementary school. Her daily 
journey took her through a railroad switchyard to get to her all-black. 
A white elementary school was only seven blocks away from Linda's home. 
Oliver Brown, Linda's father, attempted to enroll her in the all-white 
elementary school, but the principal of the school refused.
  Oliver Brown then turned to McKinley Burnett, the head of the Topeka 
branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored 
People (NAACP), and asked for help. The NAACP was eager to assist 
Oliver and Linda Brown because they had long wanted to challenge 
segregation in public schools. With Brown's complaint, it had ``the 
right plaintiff at the right time.'' Soon, other black parents joined 
Oliver and Linda Brown, and in 1951 the NAACP filed an injunction that 
would forbid the segregation of Topeka's public schools.
  The U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas heard Brown's case 
from June 25-26, 1951. At the trial, the NAACP argued that segregated 
schools sent the message to black children that they were inferior to 
whites. Therefore, the schools were inherently unequal.

  The Board of Education's defense was that, because segregation in 
Topeka and elsewhere pervaded many other aspects of life, segregated 
schools simply prepared black children for the segregation they would 
face during adulthood. The board also argued that segregated schools 
were not necessarily harmful to black children; great African Americans 
such as Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, and George Washington 
Carver had overcome more than just segregated schools to achieve what 
they achieved. Because of the precedent of Plessy v. Ferguson, the 
court felt ``compelled'' to rule in favor of the Board of Education. 
Brown and the NAACP, led by the great Thurgood Marshall, appealed to 
the Supreme Court on October 1, 1951. After several arguments over 
several years, on May 17, 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren read the 
decision of the unanimous Court:

       We come then to the question presented: Does segregation of 
     children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even 
     though the physical facilities and other ``tangible'' factors 
     may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of 
     equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does. . . 
     . We conclude that in the field of public education the 
     doctrine of ``separate but equal'' has no place. Separate 
     educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we 
     hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for 
     whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the 
     segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection 
     of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.

  The Supreme Court struck down the ``separate but equal'' doctrine of 
Plessy for public education, ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, and 
required the desegregation of schools across America.
  Mr. Speaker, as we celebrate the anniversary of Brown vs. Board of 
Education, we must not lose sight that civil rights are still under 
attack today. On April 1, 2003, I attended the oral argument in the 
United States Supreme Court on the University of Michigan affirmative 
action cases. I listened with disgust as the Administration argued that 
the university sets aside seats for minority applicants and that there 
is a two-track system for reviewing applications. The Administration 
also characterized the admissions program as one that uses a quota 
system based upon race. Mr. Speaker, this simply is not true of 
affirmative action programs.
  The Administration's position on affirmative action illustrates that 
the civil rights of African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and all 
Americans who believe in peace and equality are under attack.
  On March 30, 2003 in Houston, Texas, Members of the Congressional 
Black Caucus held a town hall meeting titled the ``Call to Action: 
Summit to Stop the Attack on Affirmative Action.''
  As we discussed the status of affirmative action in America we 
reached several conclusions. We concluded that the civil rights and the 
fundamental human rights of all Americans are in peril. Our right to 
vote is under attack. Our very survival has been jeopardized by an 
exclusionary and discriminatory health care system. Our economic 
opportunity has been diminished by flawed federal policies that enrich 
the few, while millions of other Americans face financial ruin. Our 
children's future has been endangered by educational policies that 
starve our public schools and subject millions of American children, of 
every background, to the most damaging segregation of all: ``the 
segregation of poverty.''
  Mr. Speaker, we have come a long way since Brown vs. Board of 
Education, and I am proud to stand today and celebrate our 
advancements. I also stand today to encourage every American to 
recognize that we still have a long way to go.

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