[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 69 (Monday, May 17, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E886-E887]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. PETER DEUTSCH

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 17, 2004

  Mr. DEUTSCH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 50th 
Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. This landmark victory in 
the effort to rid this nation of segregation continues to product 
national repercussions, and on this day I believe we must rededicate 
ourselves to the ideals that it proposes.
  Mr. Speaker, many people consider Brown a failure. It is not 
universally accepted or practiced, and the victories of the civil 
rights movement have been overturned or forgotten in the subsequent 
years. Minority populations including black and Latino children 
continue to find themselves as this nation's lowest academic 
performers. Indeed, if Thurgood Marshall surveyed the racial landscape 
today, he may wonder if Brown had been overturned.
  But these very real challenges must not let us forget the lasting 
lesson of Brown. For many black parents, integration was not the key 
issue as it was the recognition of the fact that unless their children 
went to school with the children of the whites who controlled the purse 
strings, their children's educational opportunities would likely be 
shortchanged.
  Brown ultimately decrees that all children--black, white, Latino; 
Asian, Native American--are all equally deserving of a high quality 
education, and that we cannot allow superficial differences to dissuade 
us from this fact. We must provide our children the presumption of 
competence and the expectation of success. Our children must have an 
environment that nurtures aspiration, guardians who provide direction, 
and peers who provide support. If we are serious about realizing the 
promise of Brown, then we must challenge ourselves to deliver those 
things which they most desperately need.
    

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