[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 67 (Thursday, May 13, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H2925-H2933]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXPRESSING SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT ALL AMERICANS OBSERVE THE 50TH
ANNIVERSARY OF BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION WITH A COMMITMENT TO
CONTINUING AND BUILDING ON THE LEGACY OF BROWN
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the previous order of the
House, I call up the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 414)
expressing the sense of the Congress that, as Congress recognizes the
50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, all
Americans are encouraged to observe this anniversary with a commitment
to continuing and building on the legacy of Brown, and ask for its
immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
The text of H. Con. Res. 414 is as follows:
H. Con. Res. 414
Whereas on May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court
announced in Brown v. Board of Education (347 U.S. 483) that,
``in the field of education, the doctrine of `separate but
equal' has no place'';
Whereas the Brown decision overturned the precedent set in
1896 in Plessy v. Ferguson (163 U.S. 537), which had declared
``separate but equal facilities'' constitutional and allowed
the continued segregation of public schools in the United
States on the basis of race;
Whereas the Brown decision recognized as a matter of law
that the segregation of public schools deprived students of
the equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth
Amendment to the Constitution of the United States;
Whereas the Brown decision stood as a victory for plaintiff
Linda Brown, an African American third grader who had been
denied admission to an all white public school in Topeka,
Kansas;
Whereas the Brown decision stood as a victory for those
plaintiffs similarly situated to Linda Brown in the cases
that were consolidated with Brown, which included Briggs v.
Elliot (103 F. Supp. 920), Davis v. County School Board (103
F. Supp. 337), and Gephardt v. Belton (91 A.2d 137);
Whereas the Brown decision stood as a victory for those
that had successfully dismantled school segregation years
before Brown through legal challenges such as Westminster
School District v. Mendez (161 F.2d 774), which ended
segregation in schools in Orange County, California;
Whereas the Brown decision stands among all civil rights
cases as a symbol of the Federal Government's commitment to
fulfill the promise of equality;
Whereas the Brown decision helped lead to the repeal of
``Jim Crow'' laws and the elimination of many of the severe
restrictions placed on the freedom of African Americans;
Whereas the Brown decision helped lead to the enactment of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination
on the basis of race, religion, or national origin in
workplaces and public establishments that have a connection
to interstate commerce or are supported by the State;
Whereas the Brown decision helped lead to the enactment of
the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which promotes every American's
right to participate in the political process;
Whereas the Brown decision helped lead to the enactment of
the Fair Housing Act of 1968 that prohibits discrimination in
the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings, and in other
housing-relating transactions, on the basis of race, color,
national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or
disability; and
Whereas in 2004, the year marking the 50th anniversary of
the Brown decision, inequalities evidenced at the time of
such decision have not been completely eradicated: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the Congress--
(1) recognizes and celebrates the 50th anniversary of the
Brown v. Board of Education decision;
(2) encourages all Americans to recognize and celebrate the
50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision;
and
(3) renews its commitment to continuing and building on the
legacy of Brown with a pledge to acknowledge and address the
modern day disparities that remain.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ose). The gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr.
Sensenbrenner) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) each will
control 15 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr.
Sensenbrenner).
{time} 1030
General Leave
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend
their remarks and include extraneous material on House Concurrent
Resolution 414, currently under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ose). Is there objection to the request
of the gentleman from Wisconsin?
There was no objection.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support today of House Concurrent Resolution
414, which recognizes the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's
decision in Brown v. Board of Education and calls on Americans to
observe this anniversary with a commitment to continuing and building
on the legacy of Brown.
In 1896, the Supreme Court decided Plessy v. Ferguson, which held
that separate but equal public facilities were lawful. This decision
paved the way for the systematic segregation of America based on race.
In the wake of that decision, State legislatures felt vindicated
passing a number of laws, including the infamous Jim Crow laws, which
ensured that the right to equal protection of the laws was a right in
name only for African Americans and other minorities.
Many fought for years to try and reverse this pattern of
discrimination. Some met with limited success, such as Gonzalo and
Felicitas Mendez, who in 1947 prevailed in their efforts to allow
students of Mexican ancestry to attend the same California public
elementary schools as attended by white children, but it was not until
Oliver Brown and his brave fellow plaintiffs from Kansas, Virginia,
South Carolina, and Delaware successfully challenged the school
segregation policies in those States that this pattern of inequality
began to change for all persons.
As Chief Justice Earl Warren, who had recently been appointed to the
Supreme Court by President Eisenhower, stated for a unanimous majority,
``We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of
`separate but equal' has no place.''
In the 50 years since the Brown decision, much has changed in this
country. Brown provided the spark for the Eisenhower administration to
push through the 1957 and 1960 Civil Rights Acts. These acts, in turn,
provided the blueprint for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
All of these acts served to further dismantle the barriers to
equality that African Americans and other members of minority groups
had faced in the decades after Plessy. It is for this reason that
Congress, and indeed, all Americans, should celebrate the anniversary
of Brown and take this opportunity to reflect anew on the importance of
equality in society.
I would like to commend the gentleman from Michigan (Ranking Member
Conyers) for introducing this resolution and would also like to thank
the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), the gentleman from Kansas
(Mr. Ryun), the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Loretta Sanchez), and
the gentleman from California (Mr. Cox) for their own resolution which
helped inform the measure we have before us today. I am pleased to note
that most of the leadership of both parties have signed on as
cosponsors of this resolution, and I urge all my colleagues to join me
in supporting it.
[[Page H2926]]
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
(Mr. CONYERS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, this is indeed a historic moment in the
history of this country and in the Congress as well.
I begin by really lifting up the name of the chairman of the
Committee on the Judiciary, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr.
Sensenbrenner), who, with me, was able to get a unanimous resolution on
this matter celebrating Brown v. the Board from the Committee on the
Judiciary. I sincerely thank him.
I have two colleagues that I want to mention because they had
resolutions that we worked into ours, and we came up with one. The
first was the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Loretta Sanchez), who
brought to our committee's attention that in California they had worked
out, in effect, a Brown v. Board-type solution even before the Brown
decision, and we will hear from her later on this matter.
The other person was the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), who
is on the floor now, who had an important resolution as a ranking
member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce. His interests
on this were very large, and we were able to all work these regulations
out.
What is the significance of Brown? It reversed an 1896 decision,
Plessy v. Ferguson, which indicated that under the 14th amendment
separate and equal was acceptable. Of course, there is very little in
real-time that separate can be equal, but that was the law up until
1954 when a unanimous Supreme Court decision changed it.
But the Brown decision went further. It was a decision about
education; but thanks to the civil rights movement, Dr. King, Rosa
Parks and even our own gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) in the
Congress, it was expanded to cover all forms of social life in the
country.
Finally, this resolution seeks to renew our commitment. Everything is
not okay, as our colleagues all know and as this resolution which we
are to support makes clear. So I am very happy to be with all of my
colleagues today.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume
to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Ryun), who represents Topeka, Kansas,
that led the way to get the Brown decision decided by the Supreme
Court.
Mr. RYUN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for the time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the 50th anniversary of the Supreme
Court decision of Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark case that
desegregated schools in America. This Monday, May 17, 2004, I will be
pleased to welcome people from across this Nation to my district for a
celebration of this anniversary.
On Monday, we will look back over 50 years of work to bring equality
to America, specifically to our public education system.
May 17 will also mark the culmination of an effort I began 3 years
ago to honor the 50th anniversary of Brown v. the Board. In the 107th
Congress, I was privileged to author legislation to establish a Federal
commission tasked with educating the public about this decision. With
the help of my colleagues in Congress, the commission became a reality
and has played a vital role in planning for next week's anniversary.
Recently, I was also pleased to draft language calling on Congress to
honor the anniversary of Brown v. Board. I am grateful that the
resolution we consider today accomplishes this goal, and I am pleased
to lend it my support.
I would like to thank the Brown Foundation, located in Topeka,
Kansas, for its leadership in helping America remember its struggle for
equality. I want to specifically thank Cheryl Brown Henderson for her
undying dedication to this issue. Cheryl's assistance has been
invaluable, and I am grateful for her contributions.
President Bush's presence in Topeka on Monday will lend national
significance to this occasion and also indicates his ongoing commitment
to the ideals embodied in Brown v. Board. I am grateful for the
President's support, and I look forward to welcoming him to Kansas.
Finally, I encourage all Americans to take this opportunity to
rededicate themselves to the ideals set forth in our Constitution that
all men are created equal; that they are endowed by our Creator with
certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the opportunity to highlight
this monumental anniversary on the floor. I thank the chairman for his
work, and I urge my colleagues to lend their support to this measure.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Does the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr.
Payne) seek to control the time?
Mr. PAYNE. Yes, I do, Mr. Speaker.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentleman from New
Jersey will control the time.
There was no objection.
Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
(Mr. PAYNE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, let me commend the gentleman from Wisconsin
(Mr. Sensenbrenner) for bringing this resolution and certainly the
gentleman from Michigan (Ranking Member Conyers), who is a living
history of what is great about this country with his own history in the
House of Representatives, being the second-longest-serving Member here.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong support for H. Con.
Res. 414, a resolution which urges Congress to renew its commitment to
continuing and building on the legacy of Brown v. the Board of
Education.
This month marks the 50th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. the
Board of Education decision, declaring segregation of public schools
unconstitutional. The chain of events began in Topeka, Kansas, where an
African American third grader by the name of Linda Brown had to walk 1
mile through a railroad switchyard to get to her segregated elementary
school, even though a white school was only seven blocks away.
Linda's father, Oliver Brown, tried to enroll her in the white
elementary school, but the principal refused to admit her. Mr. Brown,
along with other parents, went to the Topeka NAACP, filing a request
for an injunction that would forbid the segregation of Topeka's public
schools. In the initial trial, the court sided with the Board of
Education saying that the precedent of Plessy v. Ferguson, passed in
1896, allowed separate but equal school systems.
Led by Thurgood Marshall, who later, of course, became the first
African American to serve on the United States Supreme Court, the case
was brought before the Nation's highest Court. At first, in 1952, the
Supreme Court sent the case back to a lower court. The case came back
to the High Court in 1953 and was heard along with others from South
Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, and the District of Columbia.
Interestingly, in September of 1953, with the courts seemingly split,
and the cases sent back down, the cases were in jeopardy; but what
happened was that Chief Justice Fred Vinson died in his sleep.
President Eisenhower, therefore, nominated a new Supreme Court Justice,
the Republican Governor of California, Earl Warren. It was under Earl
Warren's leadership that he brought the Court together; and he
persuaded the Court, after the persuasive arguments of Brown v. the
Board of Education, to have a unanimous decision. He wanted no dissent,
and a unanimous decision was given by the Supreme Court under the
leadership of Earl Warren. It surprised many Americans, but he lived up
to that great title.
So separate but equal was thrown out, and Thurgood Marshall's
argument that the 14th amendment equal protection clause precluded
States from imposing distinctions based on race had prevailed.
So I conclude, I believe that Brown v. the Board of Education was one
of the
[[Page H2927]]
most significant cases regarding segregation. The Brown case provided
momentum for increased civil rights advocacy and legislation, opening
equal opportunity to education to all in our society and then to other
public accommodations.
However, we should remember that Brown was neither the beginning nor
the end of the struggle for justice and equality. Today, equal
education opportunities for all children are still a dream for many. In
both the North and South, segregation has been thrown into reverse gear
with 70 percent of the Nation's African American students in
predominantly minority schools, and so I urge my colleagues to support
H. Con. Res. 414, which commemorates the historic Brown v. the Board of
Education decision and encourage Congress to continue to build on the
legacy of Brown.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms.
Jackson-Lee).
(Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise
and extend her remarks.)
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished
gentleman for the time.
Let me congratulate the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers), the
ranking member, and the chairman of the full Committee on the Judiciary
for this joining together of a unanimous consent order to bring this
historic civil rights resolution to the floor of the House. This is
historic; and allow me to thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr.
Payne) for not only his knowledge but also the work he has done on the
Committee on Education and the Workforce in trying to implement the
Brown decision; and my good friend and colleague the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Loretta Sanchez) for working and informing us and
adding to the history of the Brown decision as it relates to California
and our many friends around the Nation.
I am proud to be an original cosponsor, and I stand to acknowledge
that Brown did open the door. As was stated in Grotter v. Bollinger:
``We have repeatedly acknowledged the overriding importance of
preparing students for work and citizenship, describing education as
pivotal to `sustaining our political and cultural heritage' with a
fundamental role in maintaining the fabric of society.''
Why the case was so important is because the Court in Brown said this
Court has long recognized that education is the very foundation of good
citizenship and, might I say, opportunity.
So, as the Grotter case concluded, we still recognize even with Brown
that in this Nation race unfortunately still matters.
{time} 1045
And so it is imperative that all of the Nation on May 17, 2004, lift
up the song of Brown v. Board of Education to be able to announce, if
you will, the vitality of that case and yet where we have to go.
It is important to note that after Brown, there is still work. Even
with the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965, we must in fact follow
through on getting rid of the alternative schools, poor test scores in
the minority community, and poor physical conditions of those schools.
As Dr. Martin Luther King said, ``There are at least three basic
reasons why segregation is evil. The first reason is that segregation
inevitably makes for inequality. There was a time that we attempted to
live with segregation. There was always a strict enforcement of the
separate, without the slightest intention to abide by the equal.''
But even so, we must promote equality. I thank Dr. Martin Luther King
and for all those who worked so hard, and I give thanks to the decision
rendered in Brown v. Board of Education.
Mr. Speaker, let me begin to honor a great decision out of the
highest Court in the land with an excerpt from its progeny, the 2003
decision of Grotter v. Bollinger:
We have repeatedly acknowledged the overriding importance
of preparing students for work and citizenship, describing
education as pivotal to ``sustaining our political and
cultural heritage'' with a fundamental role in maintaining
the fabric of society. Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202, 221
(1982). This Court has long recognized that ``education . . .
is the very foundation of good citizenship.'' Brown v. Board
of Education, 347 U.S. 483, 493 (1954). For this reason, the
diffusion of knowledge and opportunity through public
institutions of higher education must be accessible to all
individuals regardless of race or ethnicity. Effective
participation by members of all racial and ethnic groups in
the civic life of our Nation is essential if the dream of one
Nation, indivisible, is to be realized. . . . diminishing the
force of such stereotypes is both a crucial part of the Law
School's mission, and one that it cannot accomplish with only
token numbers of minority students. Just as growing up in a
particular region or having particular professional
experiences is likely to affect an individual's views, so too
is one's own, unique experience of being a racial minority in
a society, like our own, in which race unfortunately still
matters. (emphasis added)
It is with great pride and hope that I rise in support of H. Con.
Res. 414 to recognize the 50th anniversary of a historic piece of
jurisprudence in the name of education, civil rights, human rights,
democracy, and diversity. Yesterday, in a markup of the Full Committee
on the Judiciary, we voted 27 yeas and 0 nays--unanimously to report
this resolution out favorably and to move to conference, and I would
expect to see the same kind of alliance at the full House scale, the
Senate scale, the joint conferee scale, and on a worldwide scale to pay
tribute to the spirit of a decision that changed the structure and
focus of U.S. education and began the process of meeting the challenges
and opportunities of equal opportunity and a quality education for all
students.
I joined the distinguished Ranking Member from Michigan as an
original co-sponsor of this important resolution celebrating the 50th
anniversary of some of the most profound and meaningful jurisprudence
in the history of the United States. On May 17, 1954, Brown v. Board of
Education of Topeka Kansas reversed Plessy v. Ferguson, which
established the ``separate but equal'' doctrine that stamped African
Americans with a badge of inferiority as articulated by Judge John
Marshall Harlan, the lone dissenter in that case.
With the Brown decision, the meaning of ``equal protection of the
laws'' took on real meaning for African Americans and other minorities.
It fueled the momentum of the Civil Rights Movement that spurred
America's realization of change.
I take a special interest in supporting Brown and its progeny both in
the courtroom and out on the battlefields of society. We should all
recall the recent threat to affirmative action that was defeated in
Grutter v. Bollinger. It is shameful that almost a century from the
great decision, the principles of equality were again challenged by way
of college admissions criteria. It is shameful that the Board of
Regents at Texas A&M University chose to abandon the jurisprudence of
Brown and Bollinger and refused to utilize affirmative action to repair
its significantly disparate racial student body ratio--this fall, it
was 82% white, 2% black, 9% Hispanic, and 3% Asian-American.
At Prairie View A&M University, a District Attorney challenges
students' right to vote in a local primary election based on domicile.
Ultimately, the student body, Waller County activists, elected
officials, educators, spiritual leaders, and many other supporters were
successful in bringing about a settlement offered by the challengers.
Nevertheless, from that experience, we learned that this Nation is
still a long way from where it should be in terms of providing equal
opportunity and access to education, voting rights, and civil rights.
The sentiment and mentality that threaten to erode our progress are
not always as clear as at Prairie View or in a blatantly anti-
affirmative action admissions policy. Socioeconomic status plays a role
in rendering meaningless the promise of Brown v. Board of Education.
When children are poor, expectations are lower. Unfortunately, if your
mother or father works in the sweatshops in East Harlem or picks
broccoli in Northern California, you are likely receiving a sub-
standard and slower-paced education. Teachers have a duty to show these
children that their neighborhoods do not define who they are and what
their futures hold.
On the third anniversary, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made one of his
first important addresses to discuss the implications of the Supreme
Court's decision in Brown. He referred to that decision as ``simple,
eloquent and unequivocal'' and a ``joyous daybreak to end the long
night of enforced segregation.'' At that address, Dr. King said the
following profound words:
There are at least three basic reasons by segregation is
evil. The first reason is that segregation inevitably makes
for inequality. There was a time that we attempted to live
with segregation. . . . there was always a strict enforcement
of the separate without the slightest intention to abide by
the equal. . . .
But even if it had been possible to provide the Negro with
equal facilities in terms of external construction and
quantitative distribution we would have still confronted
inequality . . . in the sense that they would not have had
the opportunity of communicating with all children. You see,
equality
[[Page H2928]]
is not only a matter of mathematics and geometry, but it's a
matter of psychology. . . . The doctrine of separate but
equal can never be. . . .
But not only that, segregation is evil because it scars the
soul of both the segregated and the segregator. . . . It
gives the segregated a false sense of inferiority and it
gives the segregator a false sense of superiority. . . . It
does something to the soul. . . .
Then there is a third reason why segregation is evil. That
is because it ends up depersonalizing the segregated. . . .
The segregated becomes merely a thing to be used, not a
person to be respected. He is merely a depersonalized cog in
a vast economic machine. And this is why segregation is
utterly evil and utterly un-Christian. It substitutes an ``I/
It'' relationship for the ``I/Thou'' relationship.
We should be moving ahead instead of backward. Mr. Speaker, as Dr.
King said of the great decision that we now honor, I challenge this
nation to also be unequivocal about committing to equality. I support
the Ranking Member's resolution and encourage the Members of this
Committee to do the same.
Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Waters).
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I commend the gentleman from Michigan (Mr.
Conyers) and the chairman, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr.
Sensenbrenner) for bringing to the floor this important resolution
recognizing and celebrating the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of
Education, and I am pleased to be an original cosponsor of this
resolution.
Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that this resolution calls upon
Congress to do more than just noting the historical significance of the
50th anniversary of the Brown decision. It asks Congress to renew its
commitment to continue building on the legacy of Brown with a pledge to
acknowledge and address the modern-day disparities that perpetuate a
separate but unequal society.
Yet while we celebrate the Brown I decision, we must candidly discuss
the many challenges that remain in the quest to achieve equal
opportunity for all Americans. Professor Charles Ogletree of the
Harvard Law School has written a very powerful book on the legacy of
the Brown decision, entitled ``All Deliberate Speeds: Reflections on
the First Half-Century of Brown v. Board of Education.'' Professor
Ogletree reminds us the second Brown case, decided on December 31,
1955, was every bit as important as the first Brown case, which was
decided on May 17, 1954.
While the first case contains the powerful language that we all know,
declaring that separate but equal educational facilities were
inherently unequal and no longer had a place in American society, in
the Brown II decision the Court called for school desegregation to
proceed, and I quote, ``with all deliberate speed.'' Mr. Speaker,
deliberate means slow, and, unfortunately, while we surely are making
progress, the last 50 years of history demonstrates that our progress
toward a color-blind, racially equal society has been slow indeed.
Mr. Speaker, let me briefly quote Professor Ogletree's powerful
words. He said, and I quote, ``Brown v. Board of Education was
important because it ended legal segregation. However, the Court's
decision, though unanimous, contained a critical compromise which
undermined the broad purposes of the campaign to end racial segregation
immediately and comprehensively.''
Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Loretta Sanchez).
Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman
from Wisconsin for introducing this resolution, and, in particular, I
want to thank my friend, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) for
including in this important bill a reference to Mendez v. Westminster.
I rise today in support of this resolution recognizing the importance
of Brown v. Board of Education. But Brown v. Board of Education was
actually built on a few important cases, one of which is the Mendez v.
Westminster, which happened, if you can believe this, in Orange County,
California.
In 1945, Felicitas Mendez took her child, Silvia, and her niece and
her nephew down the block to the local school to enroll them. The niece
and the nephew were lighter skinned; they could go to that school. She
was told that her own daughter, who was darker skinned, would have to
go across town to the Mexican school. Felicitas Mendez was a Puerto
Rican.
The Mexican school took the Asians and the blacks and all the other
dark-skinned people, like Mexicans and Puerto Ricans. Well, Gonzalo and
Felicitas Mendez decided to fight that, and they filed a lawsuit, along
with four other families, against Westminster, Anaheim, Santa Ana, and
El Modena districts, seeking an injunction against all schools in
Orange County.
On February 18, 1946, Mendez v. Westminster was decided in favor of
the Mendez family, and on April 14, 1947, the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals ruled in favor of the Mendez family's case. It was the first
case in Federal Court of the doctrine of separate but equal, naming it
unconstitutional. California Governor Earl Warren signed desegregation
of California, 8 years ahead of the rest of the Nation.
Of course, 8 years later Thurgood Marshall would use that case as he
argued Brown v. Board of Education, and Warren sat on that Supreme
Court. The bravery and the dedication of Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez
opened the doors for better education to all children in the United
States, and I thank this Congress for acknowledging how important Brown
v. Board of Education is.
Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from the
District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ose). The gentleman from New Jersey has
2 minutes remaining.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman
from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New Jersey yields 2
minutes and the gentleman from Wisconsin yields 1 minute.
The gentlewoman from the District of Columbia is recognized for 3
minutes.
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the full committee
for his generosity, and I thank him for his leadership, and I thank the
ranking member, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) as well for
his leadership on this important issue. I also thank the gentleman from
New Jersey (Mr. Payne) for his leadership on education issues in our
Congress.
I think it is fair to say that the Brown decision is the most
important court decision in American history. The decision saved our
country from catastrophic racial division that could have come to race
war rather than to a nonviolent revolution led by Dr. Martin Luther
King that began with the peaceful overthrow of legal discrimination
with Brown v. Board of Education.
Most shamefully, our country tolerated segregated schools here in the
Nation's Capital as well. I attended those segregated schools. We pay
tribute and I offer my personal thanks to the plaintiffs in Bolden v.
Sharp, the decision which was one of the cases that went to the Supreme
Court grouped together under Brown v. Board of Education.
But, Mr. Speaker, Brown is much larger than school desegregation, as
large a mission as that decision took on. After Brown, public funding
of segregated policies or programs became constitutionally untenable.
Brown did more than we had the right to expect from any one court
decision, but Brown could not prevent resegregation through white
flight, or discriminatory housing. Brown could not fund our Nation's
schools. And Brown cannot raise test scores of children.
On this 50th anniversary, let us remember that Brown did its job, and
it left the Congress and the American people with work still to do.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my
time.
Mr. Speaker, if one looks back at the history of the consideration of
civil rights bills in the Congress, the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the
Civil Rights Act of 1960, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting
Rights Act 1 year later, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, these were
all passed due to bipartisan support on the floor of the House and the
Senate and bipartisan cooperation with whichever administration was in
office at the time, the Eisenhower administration, the Kennedy
administration, or the Johnson administration.
This resolution is in the spirit of bipartisanship because there is
no difference between Republicans and
[[Page H2929]]
Democrats, historically, as well as today, in their commitment to equal
rights for all Americans.
The Constitution is color-blind. We should not discriminate based
upon race, creed, color, national origin, gender or disability, and
those are the types of protections that this Congress, through
bipartisan effort, was able to enact into law, but more importantly to
get the American public, even those who held out almost to the bitter
end, to support today.
And that is why America is so much different than countries in the
rest of the world, because we faced up to our discriminatory history,
and we were able to overcome that first legally, but the hearts of
America followed the law in this case.
Yes, there is more work to do. Nobody argues that point. But the
framework that provided the tremendous progress that has been made in
the last 50 years since the landmark decision of Brown v. Board of
Education has been because people of differing political ideologies and
people of differing political party affiliations have gotten together.
We can make that progress in the next 50 years, like we did in the
last, if that type of bipartisan cooperation continues. This is a
bipartisan resolution, and I am happy, on behalf of the majority party
on the Committee on the Judiciary, to bring this resolution to the
floor, a resolution that has been offered by our ranking minority party
member. It is a good resolution, and it ought to be approved
unanimously.
Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the
upcoming 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. It was 50
years ago that the Supreme Court unanimously decreed segregated public
schools unconstitutional. The effects of that decision live on in
myriad ways, and yet, in much of America, equality and integration
remain ideals rather than realities.
In 1954 the U.S. Supreme Court stated that separate is inherently
unequal. The Court concluded, ``that in the field of public education,
the doctrine of `separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational
facilities are inherently unequal.'' The Court found that the evils of
racial segregation affected students' motivation and retarded
educational and mental development.
Education is a right, not a privilege. The Court wrote: ``. . . it is
doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life
if he (or she) is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an
opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right
which must be made available to all on equal terms.''
In the 11th Congressional District of Ohio, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, CEO
of the Cleveland Municipal School District continues this legacy Brown
v. Board of Education, championing the rights of our young people and
working to ensure that they are afforded the best education possible.
Six years ago, in 1998, the Cleveland Municipal School District ranked
last among Ohio school systems, and was placed in academic emergency
status. Under the direction of Ms. Byrd-Bennett the Cleveland Municipal
School District now stands as one of Ohio's ``most improved school
districts.''
Under Ms. Byrd-Bennett's leadership academic successes are clear:
Reading scores have increased by more than 30 percent;
Children have breakfast and lunch at school at no cost, and over 93
percent are immunized;
Graduation rates have increased by 10 percent and 74 percent of last
year's graduates went on to college;
Suspensions are down nearly 45 percent, expulsions are down 9 percent
and assaults on students are down 13 percent;
Fourth and 6th grade reading results were up 19 percent and 28
percent, respectively, in 1 academic year; and
Only 22 percent of 4th grade students passed the State reading test
in 1998 compared to 59 percent passed, in 2003, an increase of 37
percent from 5 years ago. Reading performance at the 6th grade has
improved by 32 percent.
I believe that education is the key to success. I am working on
behalf of all the constituents of the 11th Congressional District in
Ohio to make sure that public education remains the number one issue in
America. I want for those who have a desire to go to college to be
prepared and equipped with the tools necessary for success.
While highlighting successes and recognizing achievements, we must
also focus on current realities to further aid us in shaping national
education priorities. According to the National Education Association:
Poor and minority children risk doing poorly in school. Contributing
factors include: rigorous curriculum, teacher preparation/experience/
attendance, class size, technology-assisted instruction, school safety,
parent participation, student mobility, birth weight, lead poisoning,
and nutrition;
In 1994, 31 percent of black, 24 percent of Hispanic, and 35 percent
of American Indian high school graduates took remedial courses,
compared to 15 percent of whites and Asians;
Few minorities have access to or are enrolled in Advanced Placement
courses,
Student achievement gap still wide; and
Only 5 percent of African American 4th grade students and 4 percent
of 8th grade students met national proficiency standards in 1996.
In addition, under the Bush budget $9.4 billion less for education
than was promised in the No Child Left Behind Act; this means that 2.4
million children will not get the help with reading and math they were
promised. Under the Bush budget 56,000 teachers won't get trained and
1.3 million children won't get the after school programs they were
promised.
According to the National Education Association, the budget
eliminates funds for 38 programs, including dropout prevention and
gifted and talented education, and once again fails to increase Pell
Grants for our Nation's poorest college students. Yet, incredibly, the
President wants $50 million for a national experiment with school
vouchers, which take away much needed resources from public schools,
and trillions more in tax cuts continue to flow to the wealthy.
According to Barbara Bowman, professor of early childhood education
at the Erikson Institute, ``We're still quite a long way from a
concerted national effort. What Brown did was make for a concerted
national effort, but it required people to change. We haven't gotten
that kind of centering of interest right now.''
America's public schools are dealing with a level of linguistic and
cultural diversity unknown 50 years ago, when the Supreme Court
outlawed school segregation in its Brown v. Board of Education decision
of May 17, 1954.
Today, public schools struggling to fulfill the spirit of the Brown
decision, equal access to educational opportunity for all now we have a
task made more complex and difficult by an ever-growing number of
students who aren't even native English speakers.
In this information-based economy, the stakes are increasingly high
for those who don't get the education they need--potentially hundreds
of thousands of dollars in earning power over the course of a lifetime,
middle class vs. minimum wage.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, more than
3.7 million public school students were offered English language
learner services in the 2001-2002 academic year.
Segregated housing patterns make racially mixed schools a rarity. New
York City schools, for example, have grown more segregated over the
last decades. And with de facto segregation comes separate and unequal
education.
Cheryl Brown Henderson, one of the children who helped desegregate
public schools, brought her message to Cleveland earlier this month.
Brown says over the years she's watched schools become more integrated
but feels we're not there yet. ``The country is far more inclusive than
it has ever been and obviously we have some unfinished business to do
because not all of our schools are functioning as they should be; not
all our communities are as open and inviting as they should be.''
We have come a long way; however, we still have a long way to go.
Today I rise to celebrate the anniversary of Brown v. Board of
Education. I am proud to be an American. I saluted African Americans
like Barbara Byrd-Bennett who believed in the fight for justice,
believed in their dreams for equality and continue to pave the way for
a better tomorrow.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 414, a
resolution celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Brown. v. Board of
Education Supreme Court decision, brought to the floor by my very good
friend; a pioneer for civil rights in this House and the ranking member
of the House Judiciary Committee, Representative John Conyers. Mr.
Conyers, I thank you for your continued leadership on issues that
affect the center of people's lives.
May 17, 2004 marks the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court
decision that unanimously held that racial segregation of public
schools violated the 14th amendment. The legacy of the Brown decision
lives on throughout the Nation, and I, as well as million of Americans
throughout the country, are the direct beneficiaries of this monumental
court decision.
In the early 1950's, racial segregation in public schools was the
norm across America. But in 1954, the United States Supreme Court
affirmed that separate facilities are indeed inherently unequal. The
court determined that the segregation in public schools based solely
upon race deprives minority children of equal
[[Page H2930]]
opportunity. As such, the Court concluded that in the field of public
education, the doctrine of ``separate but equal'' has no place.
Mr. Speaker, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of this historic
groundbreaking case it is incumbent upon us to reflect and assess where
we stand today. As students of history know, we study the past in order
to learn about the present and build a better future.
However, for many Americans Brown's promises to seem unfulfilled.
America's schools remain imperiled by segregation. Poor children living
in disadvantaged urban communities of color overwhelmingly attend re-
segregated schools, as more affluent white families have departed for
the suburbs. Methods of school funding virtually assure that wealthy
district will offer superior educational opportunities. In addition,
the one compelling pledge that this administration has made to raise
standards in our schools, the No Child Left Behind Act, remains under
funded to the tune of $9 billion.
Mr. Speaker, we must not allow this nation to return to a time before
Brown. The lesson of Brown is that segregation clearly does not work. I
encourage my colleagues to use this opportunity to renew their
commitment to eradicating all vestiges of segregation by voicing their
support for H. Con. Res. 414.
Furthermore, I call upon my colleagues and the administration to
fully fund the No Child Left Behind Act. Unless we ensure that every
child in this nation receives an equitable and quality education, this
Nation's children will be suffocated once again by the legacy that
segregation has left behind in our schools.
Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to explain my objection to H. Con. Res.
414, the resolution commending the anniversary of the decision in Brown
v. Board of Education and related cases. While I certainly agree with
the expression of abhorrence at the very idea of forced segregation I
cannot, without reservation, simply support the content in the
resolution.
The ``whereas clauses'' of this resolution venture far beyond the
basis of Brown and praise various federal legislative acts such as the
Fair Housing Act of 1968, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting
Rights Act of 1965. This final Act was particularly pernicious because
it was not applied across the board, but targeted only at certain areas
of the country. As such, it violates the spirit of the very equal
protection it claims to promote. Moreover, we certainly should ask what
constitutional authority lies behind the passage of such legislation.
The history of racism, segregation and inferior facilities that led
to Brown cannot be ignored, and should not pass from our condemnation.
Still, thinking people must consider the old adage that ``two wrongs do
not make a right.'' Simply, the affects of Brown have been, at best,
mixed. As this anniversary has approached there have been a large
number of events and articles in the media to celebrate the decision
and analyze its impact. Most people, regardless of their opinion of the
decision, seem to be aware that it has not achieved its goals.
In many places in our country the public school system continues to
fail many American children, particularly those in the inner city.
Research shows that our schools are more segregated than at any point
from the 1960s. Some of this is undoubtedly due to the affects of the
Brown decision. Do we really mean to celebrate the failures of forced
busing? Forced integration largely led to white flight from the cities,
thus making society even more segregated. Where children used to go to
different schools but meet each other at the little league field, after
Brown these people would now live in different cities or different
counties. Thus, forced integration led only to even more segregation. A
recent Washington Post article about McKinley High School makes this
very point. Worse still, prior to this re-segregation racial violence
was often prevalent.
We need also to think about whether sacrificing quality education on
the altar of equality is not a terrible mistake, especially as it
applies to the opportunities available to those who are historically
and economically disadvantaged. For example, research has shown that
separating children on the basis of gender enhances academic
performance. Attempts to have such schools have been struck down by the
courts on the basis of Brown. Just last night Fox News reported the
academic successes at schools separating children based on gender, as
approved by this body is the so-called ``No Child Left Behind Act.''
Yet the National Organization of Women continues to oppose this policy
on the basis of Brown's ``separate is inherently not equal'' edict,
despite the statistically evident positive impact this policy has had
on the achievement of female students in mathematics and science
classes.
Mr. Speaker, in short forced integration and enforced equality are
inimical to liberty; while they may be less abhorrent than forced
segregation they are nonetheless as likely to lead to resentment and
are demonstrably as unworkable and hence ineffective.
While I completely celebrate the end of forced segregation that Brown
helped to bring about, I cannot unreservedly support this resolution as
currently worded.
Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 50th
anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education
decision and to draw a parallel from this historic ruling to the
landmark No Child Left Behind education reform law.
The words penned by Chief Justice Earl Warren on May 17, 1954 still
ring true today and provide a clear roadmap for improving America's
public education system in the future. Fifty years ago, Mr. Warren
wrote:
In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably
be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the
opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the
state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be
made available to all on equal terms.
By striking down the doctrine of ``separate but equal'' as
unconstitutional, the Brown decision flung open wide the doors of
public education for all children, regardless of their color or back
ground. It ensured every child a seat in an integrated classroom. It
guaranteed access to an equal education for everyone. No longer could
students be refused an opportunity to receive a quality education
simply because the color of their skin.
Two years ago, Congress--in a bipartisan vote--enacted that No Child
Left Behind Act as the logical step to improving education for all
students. We promised to increase federal education funding while
demanding high standards and accountability for all students. As a
result of the law, parents are receiving more information than ever
before about the quality of their local schools and are realizing new
opportunities to improve their children's education.
What was once an unattainable dream for so many parents stuck on the
wrong side of the tracks has now become a reality. Parents with
children trapped in underperforming schools may now transfer them to
better performing schools.
A report released yesterday by the Citizens' Commission on Civil
Rights found that the No Child Left Behind Act is already creating new
educational opportunities for minority students. According to the
Commission's report, at least 70,000 students in 47 states are
benefiting for the law's school choice provision.
The Commission understands--just as Congress did--the importance of
providing parents new options to improve their children's education.
They also understand how added school choice options will help the
whole education system get better, not worse.
The Commission's findings are fortified by a recent Chicago Sun-Times
analysis showing that of the students who were allowed to transfer to a
better performing school under NCLB made greater strides on state-
designed reading and math tests than students in their former school.
The paper also determined that other students' scores did not drop as a
result of the incoming students, as many education reform opponents
predicted would happen.
However, these are not the only signs of No Child Left Behind's early
success. Students are showing considerable improvement in the nation's
largest urban schools. A recent report by the Council of Great City
Schools attributed much of this improvement to the No Child Left Behind
Act.
Earlier this week, Florida and Michigan reported decreases in the
achievement gap between African-American students and their Caucasian
peers.
There is still much work to do before America fully realizes the
dream of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, but we are on the
right track. By holding the line against education reform opponents and
allowing states and school districts to implement the full scope of No
Child Left Behind's reforms, we will ensure a higher level of student
academic performance than we have ever achieved.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as we celebrate the
50th Anniversary of Brown v. Topeka Board of Education. African
Americans and other minorities have been affected tremendously by this
landmark decision and have benefited from it over several decades. We
would like to think that our country now benefits from the inclusion of
having a more enriched and diverse classroom, workplace, and community.
We now have more black doctors, lawyers, Members of Congress, CEOs,
scientists, astronauts, teachers and the list continues.
There is no doubt Brown represents the power and potential of masses
united in struggle for justice and equality. The larger question before
us today is, has Brown achieved its goal of equality in education and
educational opportunity for African Americans? The sad answer, after so
many decades of struggle, remains: No.
When compared to their White counterparts, African American children
were three times as likely to be labeled mentally retarded or
emotionally disturbed. The number of African
[[Page H2931]]
Americans attending graduate, medical or dental school slowly has been
declining. There are more black males in our prison than in our
institutions of higher education.
Although there are 39 African American Members of Congress in the
House of Representatives, there is not one black man or woman serving
in the U.S. Senate. Out of our 50 states that make up our great
Nation--not one has a black man or woman at the top as Governor.
Mr. Speaker, data from the 2000 census makes it clear that the ridged
lines of ethnic and racial segregation persist across the entire
country. This year is not only a celebration of the step forward in
freeing the minds of African-American children but a reflection that in
50 years we have failed as a Nation to provide equal education and
opportunities to minority children in our country. After 50 years of
``separate but equal'' being ruled unconstitutional, it is evident it
still exists in our schools and communities today.
Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to commemorate the 50th year
anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of
Education of Topeka. The Nation's highest court spoke almost half a
century ago, but it seems that we have not received the message.
Mr. Speaker, I believe segregation has taken on a new face. It is now
a matter of access to quality education; it is now a matter of
accountability to our children for the unfulfilled promises made 50
years ago; and it is now a matter of addressing disparities in school
funding formulas.
In my own State of Illinois, a black child is about 50 times more
likely than a white child to attend one of Illinois' worst-of-the-worst
``academic watch'' schools. That number for white children is less than
one percent.
I stand in strong support of this important resolution, because I
believe a stronger America is an educated America. And I believe the
only way to continue the legacy of Brown is to engage in an honest
discussion about the current state of public schools in America. Then
and only then we will be able to address the change promised by the
legacy of Brown. Mr. Speaker, segregation was and still is present in
our schools today.
Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, as an original cosponsor of H. Con. Res.
414, it gives me great pleasure to support this important resolution
today.
On Monday we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of
Education, which found that, ``in the field of education, the doctrine
of `separate but equal' has no place,'' thus guaranteeing every
American student a seat in the classroom. Truly a landmark decision,
Brown did not end in the classroom. It helped pave the way for the
enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of
1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
Enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act, built upon the educational
progress made in Brown by ensuring every student will not only have
access, but will also receive a quality education. While progress has
been made since the Brown decision, a huge gap still remains when it
comes to ensuring all children actually learn. Significant academic
achievement gaps between disadvantaged students and their more affluent
peers still exist in key subjects such as reading and math. In effect,
we have allowed a two-tiered educational system--one with low
expectations for poor or minority students and high expectations for
others.
Nationally, the achievement gap between African-American and
Caucasian fourth-graders in reading is 28 percentage points. The
achievement gap between Hispanic and Caucasian fourth-graders is 29
percentage points. We have allowed ourselves to believe that some
children are simply beyond our reach, and, as a result, this Nation has
suffered.
Not unlike Brown, No Child Left Behind is rooted in the belief that
all students--regardless of race, background, income, geography, or
disability--can learn, and must be given the chance to do so.
No Child Left Behind has its skeptics, and change is never easy.
Despite complaints, all parties involved are answering to the
requirements of No Child Left Behind. States, school districts,
teachers, parents and without doubt the students are meeting the rigors
of the law. This response shows that we all are dedicated and believe
in the goals of the law.
We are already seeing positive results. According to a 2004 study by
the Council of Great City Schools, the achievement gap is narrowing in
both reading and math between African-American and Caucasian and
Hispanic and Caucasian students in our Nation's inner-city schools--and
they attribute the positive change in part to No Child Left Behind.
I am honored to be a cosponsor of this resolution, encourage us all
to celebrate the anniversary of Brown, and reflect on how far we have
come in ensuring educational access. We must also recognize that the
job is not done; we must see to it that all children are learning. No
Child Left Behind is a step in this direction and we must stay the
course.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to
support this resolution encouraging all Americans to observe the
anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education with a commitment to
continuing and building on its legacy.
Brown v. Board of Education is one of the most important decisions
our Supreme Court has ever made. It's important to celebrate the
progress that has been made over the past 50 years in eliminating
discrimination and inferior education for low-income and minority
children--but it's also important to take a good, hard look at how far
we still have to go.
Sadly, we are still light years away from providing the equal
education envisioned by Thurgood Marshall and Earl Warren. Today, as in
1954, the quality of a child's education is still all too often linked
to the color of his or her skin.
Just as the United States has the best health care in the world for
those who can afford it, we have one of the best public education
systems in the world if you happen to grow up in a predominantly white
or wealthy community. But what if you don't?
If you are one of the millions of children who attend predominantly
minority schools, our society continues to fail you. And that
shortchanges not only the children, but the future of this nation.
It is shameful that poor and minority children are often assigned to
less-challenging classes and less qualified teachers. The best teachers
are often across town, a virtual world away from the students who need
them desperately.
Black students are assigned disproportionately to special education,
and low-income students are less than half as likely to be assigned to
``college prep'' courses. Overcrowded classrooms and dilapidated school
buildings also send a powerful message to poor and minority students
about what is expected of them.
Just yesterday, a judge with a sense of history in Kansas reminded us
of the importance of school equity by ordering schools closed for not
adequately serving the needs of poor, minority, disabled and non-
English speaking children.
This lack of access to an equal education affects academic
achievement. Seventy-four percent of white 4th graders read well,
nearly twice the rate of the black classmates; and their Latino and
Native American classmates are only slightly better. It is a national
shame that half a century after this Nation committed itself to
equality in education, fewer than half of minority children can read
proficiently.
And that failure plays out in high school graduations. When millions
of students get their diplomas a few weeks from now, only about half
the minority children who began high school will graduate. That is an
unacceptable rate of failure that in most cases, dooms those young
people to a life of second class opportunities. That was not the lesson
of Brown v. Board of Education.
It was to end that two-class education system once and for all that
we passed No Child Left Behind three years ago, to end the racial and
economic disparities that divide our schools and divide our country.
The No Child Left Behind law--if fully funded--would put a qualified
teacher in every classroom. If all students were assigned highly
qualified teachers for 5 years, evidence shows that test-score gaps
separating poor and middle-class students would disappear. Not just
narrow, but disappear.
But the President has turned his back on this law and underfunded it
by nearly $27 billion. And our children are paying the price for yet
another dream deferred.
The foundation of the civil rights struggle of 2004--as in 1954--is
in the classroom. Civil rights pioneer Dr. Dorothy Height said it well:
``The surest path to success is through education.''
Like Dr. Height, we must keep fighting and keep fighting so that 50
years from now--when our grandchildren celebrate the 100th anniversary
of Brown--they will be able to point with pride to an education system
that lives up to the ideals of Brown v. Board of Education once and for
all.
Mr. VITTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 50th
anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision.
On May 17, 1954, Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren announced the
Court's unanimous decision that ended the legal racial segregation in
our Nation's public schools.
Without the courage and determination of the families that made up
the 5 cases under Brown and the team of attorneys from the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), our Nation's
public schools would have continued to operate under the ``separate but
equal'' doctrine.
All parents want to ensure their children are safe, happy and
healthy. They also want to give them the opportunities that were not
afforded to them. Access to safe public schools that have the necessary
resources for their children to succeed later on in life is important
[[Page H2932]]
to every parent, regardless of race, color or creed. As a proud father
of 4 children, I recognize the link between education, good paying
jobs, and securing our children's future in the 21st century.
I have long been an advocate for education in my State. I know the
importance of providing our public schools with the necessary
technology improvements that will help children compete in the 21st
century. I continue to believe that if children are given the necessary
tools to succeed, they will succeed beyond their wildest dreams.
I congratulate the children, parents, and the NAACP attorneys who
pursued this case for their role in ensuring all children have the
right to receive a quality education. Thank you for pursuing and
believing in your fundamental rights under the Constitution, which
guarantees every citizen the right to the pursuit of happiness,
liberty, and equal opportunity.
Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the 50th
Anniversary of the Supreme Court's courageous decision in Brown vs. the
Board of Education.
I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the team of lawyers
from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, led by Thurgood Marshall who had the
courage to pursue this case. I want to thank the legal scholars and
strategists at Howard University School of Law, led by Charles Hamilton
Houston, who had the intellect to map out this winning strategy. I want
to thank the sociologists and psychologists, led by Kenneth and Mamie
Clark who undertook the challenge of gathering evidence of the harm
done to African American children when society branded them with a mark
of inferiority. And I want to thank the parents and students who risked
homes, livelihoods, and underwent physical threats and harassment to be
a part of this lawsuit. Fifty years after Brown, this country owes a
debt of gratitude to each of these people who played a part in bringing
about the end of legal segregation based on race. In the face of
violence, intimidation and governmental resistance, they pressed
forward to move this country closer to the realization of its stated
creed--freedom, equality and justice for all.
Yet 50 years later, we know that the work they started is not
finished. We must remember that their goal was not only to end legal
segregation of the public schools, but to assure that a quality public
education is available for all children. We are still involved in that
struggle. On this anniversary of Brown, many will point to the fact
that many schools are still segregated and are rapidly re-segregating.
I join them in these concerns.
As people talk about the Brown decision, many will talk about the
meaning of the decision and others will talk about the promise the
decision represented. The theoretical underpinning of Brown was that
public schools must be supported adequately. The lawyers in Brown
wanted to dismantle segregation for many worthwhile reasons. But they
also wanted to emphasize that as practiced, separate was inherently
unequal. While we have legally abolished the separateness required
before Brown, we have not yet addressed the problem of equality of
funding.
We are still operating state-based educational systems in which
schools attended by racial minorities receive less money that those
located in primarily white areas. This inequality in funding must be
abolished to complete the mission of Brown. We must focus on the
perpetual under-funding of inner-city schools. We must recognized that
the achievement gap is inextricably linked to the economic gap. Low-
performing schools are almost always situated in communities that are
pockets of poverty. We must realize the importance of teacher and
administration accountability but not forget that Congressional
accountability requires that we make school funding a priority.
Congress must assure that there is adequate money for school
construction to reduce class size and purchase educational materials.
We must ensure that teachers are paid for the professional and
important job that they do. And finally, we must provide funding which
allows local communities to build a supportive infrastructure that
values the role of education in the community.
To me, the message of the Brown decision was simple--education is a
vehicle of upward mobility. If we have heard Brown's message, we must
fulfill its promise--that every child can succeed, if given the
opportunity of a quality public education. We still have not fulfilled
the promise. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I suggest that we in this House
dedicate ourselves to hear the message of Brown and fulfill its promise
by working to provide the opportunity for a quality public education
for all of America's children.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, as the Representative for
Virginia's Third Congressional District, and the state's first and only
Black Congressional Representative since Reconstruction, I take
personal pride in celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the landmark
decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Virginia played a prominent
role in the case. The Davis v. Prince Edward County Public Schools
case, one of the cases decided with Brown, was a Virginia case. Also,
two of the nation's premier constitutional lawyers in the Brown case
came from Virginia. Attorney Oliver Hill, who continues to fight for
equal justice for all, and the late Judge Spottswood Robinson, argued
the case on behalf of the student plaintiffs in the Davis case.
In the Brown decision, the United States Supreme Court unanimously
struck down the legal and moral footing of racially segregated public
education in this country. The decision overturned Plessy v. Ferguson,
an 1896 case which held that a state could maintain ``separate but
equal'' public accommodations based on race. When Homer Adolph Plessy,
who was one-eighth Black, entered a railroad car reserved by law for
whites, he was arrested. He challenged the constitutionality of the
law, but the Supreme Court, by a vote of seven to one, found it valid.
Although Plessy concerned public accommodations, the policy rationale
was applicable to public education, as well. Indeed, the court opined
on that point as follows:
[W]e cannot say that a law which authorizes or even
requires the separation of the two races in public
conveyances is unreasonable, or more obnoxious to the
fourteenth amendment than the acts of congress (sic)
requiring separate schools for colored children in the
District of Columbia, the constitutionality of which does not
seem to have been questioned . . .
Justice John Marshall Harlan was the lone dissenter in the 7 to 1
decision. He wrote an opinion containing the following:
The destinies of the two races in this country are
indissolubly linked together, and the interests of both
require that the common government of all shall not permit
the seeds of race hate to be planted under the sanction of
law. What can more certainly arouse race hate, what more
certainly create and perpetuate a feeling of distrust between
these races, than state enactments which in fact proceed on
the ground that colored citizens are so inferior and degraded
that they cannot be allowed to sit in public coaches occupied
by white citizens? That, as all will admit, is the real
meaning of such legislation as was enacted in Louisiana . . .
The thin disguise of ``equal'' accommodations for passengers
in railroad coaches will not misled anyone, or atone for the
wrong this day done.
In overturning Plessy, the Brown Court not only confirmed Justice
Harlan's ``thin disguise'' dissenting opinion in Plessy, but also held
that even if the tangible features of a segregated public education
system were equal, a constitutional violation would still exist. The
reasoning of the Court then is still valid today:
Today, education is perhaps the most important function of
state and local governments. Compulsory school attendance
laws and the great expenditures for education both
demonstrate our recognition of the importance of education to
our democratic society. It is required in the performance of
our most basic public responsibilities, even service in the
armed forces. It is the very foundation of good citizenship.
Today it is a principle instrument in awakening the child to
cultural values, in preparing him for later professional
training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his
environment. In these days, it is doubtful that any child may
reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the
opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the
state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be
made available to all on equal terms.
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.
The Court then discussed the impact segregation has on minority
children:
To separate them from others of similar age and
qualifications solely because of their race generates a
feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community
that may affect their heart and minds in a way unlikely ever
to be undone. The effect of this separation on their
educational opportunities was well stated by a finding in the
Kansas case by a court which nevertheless felt compelled to
rule against the Negro plaintiffs: ``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 the law; for the policy of separating the
races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of
the negro (sic) group. 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 (sic) children and to deprive
them of some of the benefits they would receive in a
[racially] integrated school system.''
Unfortunately, Virginia led the resistance to the Brown decision.
Ironically Virginia used language in the Brown decision as legal
grounds for its resistance actions:
Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to
provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on
equal terms.
[[Page H2933]]
Virginia reasoned that it could avoid integrating its schools by not
having any schools at all. As a result, Prince Edward County closed its
schools for several years, Norfolk, Front Royal and Charlottesville
also closed some of their schools.
We overcame ``massive resistance'' and, today, Prince Edward County
has one of the most integrated public school systems anywhere. Yet,
five decades after Brown, a recent study by the Harvard Civil Rights
Project revealed that many students in this country still attend
schools and classes that are virtually segregated. So, while we have
desegregated public schools, we have not achieved the integration that
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., envisioned when he dreamed of the day
``little black boys and girls will be able to join hands with little
white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers''.
In fact, the Harvard study data indicates that 70 percent of African
American children attend schools that are predominately African
American, about the same level as in 1968 when Dr. King died.
So, the struggle for equal educational opportunity continues. The
promise of equal educational opportunity envisioned by the Brown
decision remains unfulfilled. For example, equal educational
opportunity does not occur when one jurisdiction spends substantially
more per student than an adjacent jurisdiction because of the relative
differences in wealth between the two. Unequal funding resources also
results in unequal educational opportunity when you consider studies
that show that one half of low income students who are qualified to
attend college do not attend because they can't afford to. Another
example of the educational inequality is the current debate over
publicly financed school vouchers which will provide educational
opportunities to a privileged handful, but deprive public schools of
desperately needed resources. Also in this vein is the inappropriate
use of ``high stakes'' tests, many of which are culturally biased and,
therefore, diminish opportunities for some students based on their
ethnicity.
A final important equal opportunity issue in education is the current
attack on civil rights in the Head Start program. A slim majority of
the members of the U.S. House of Representatives recently voted to
weaken the 40-year ban on discrimination in hiring in the Head Start
program.
Obviously, we have work to do to complete the promise of the Brown
decision and Dr. King's dream for our nation. The upcoming celebration
of the 50th anniversary of the decision offers us an opportunity to
rededicate ourselves to achieving these lofty ideals.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
Pursuant to the order of the House of Wednesday, May 12, 2004, the
concurrent resolution is considered as having been read for amendment
and the previous question is ordered.
The question is on the concurrent resolution.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion are postponed.
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