[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 11006]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   COMMEMORATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. KAREN McCARTHY

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 20, 2004

  Ms. McCARTHY of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate 
the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, a landmark Supreme 
Court case that gave rise to Linda Brown's dream of equality in 
education in this country, a dream deferred that has become for many a 
broken promise.
  The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision marked a 
turning point in our history and incited a movement to break down 
barriers of race that had long plagued communities across the nation. 
It helped pave the road toward integral measures such as the Civil 
Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965 and Fair Housing Act of 
1968 and began the movement for desegregation. Chief Justice Earl 
Warren felt the ruling was so historic he issued a rare public 
statement: ``We conclude that in the field of public education, the 
doctrine of `separate but equal' has no place.'' In declaring 
segregation unconstitutional, the Supreme Court mandated a focus on 
equality not only in education, but also in public transportation, 
accommodations and commerce.
  The Brown v. Board of Education decision demanded that all Americans 
be entitled to the fundamental right to equal educational 
opportunities, regardless of race, and the resources to achieve their 
dreams. But by the time Martin Luther King, Jr. addressed America from 
the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, nearly ten years later, that 
promise remained unfulfilled. And half a century later, with the 
convulsing explosions of the Civil Rights Movement behind us, the 
future assured to Linda Brown in that historic ruling has been 
approached, but not yet reached. And we are left to wonder, like 
Langston Hughes in his poem ``A Dream Deferred,'' whether those 
promises, if not fulfilled, will one day cease to exist.
  Fifty years ago, Linda Brown, a third grader in Topeka, Kansas, and 
her father had the courage to protest the long accepted ``separate but 
equal'' principle that required her to walk for over an hour every 
morning because she was not permitted to attend the white-only school 
just blocks from her house. On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court struck 
down the ``badge of inferiority for African Americans'' that the 
principle of ``separate but equal'' had come to signify.
  This week we honor all those who fought for the dream of equality of 
opportunity: the valiant families who came forward in these five cases; 
the NAACP legal defense team, including Charles Hamilton Houston, 
Thurgood Marshall, Robert L. Carter, Kenneth B. Clark and Judge 
Constance Motley; and the community which held on to the dream through 
years of bitter opposition and violent protest in the South. But half a 
century later, urban and rural schools across America lack the funding 
to provide equal education opportunities for all students.
  An Education Trust study released last week reveals alarming 
statistics about the state of education: Minority students are about 
three years behind other students by the time they reach eighth grade; 
17-year-old African American and Latino students have reading and math 
skills similar to those of 13-year-old white students; and African 
American and Latino and American Indian youth are less likely to be 
enrolled in full college prep coursework.
  No Child Left Behind, underfunded by $27 billion, could achieve the 
dream of Brown v. Board of Education if provided with the resources to 
dismantle unequal opportunities and enhance the quality of education 
for every community. Fifty years after Brown, we continue to make 
promises we cannot keep.
  As we remember today the dream of Linda Brown and the courageous 
civil rights leaders to whom we owe our progress, let us remember that 
the most fitting tribute to them is a continued effort to fulfill their 
vision for our nation. Let us continue the promise of Brown by breaking 
down the barriers that still persist in our classrooms and giving 
schools the resources they need to provide a safe and productive 
learning environment for our children.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing this 
historic anniversary and renewing the effort to achieve the promise of 
Brown v. Board of Education: equal educational opportunities for all 
children. Let us not defer the dream any longer.

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