[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 128, 113th Congress, 2nd Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
PROCLAMATION 9125--MAY 15, 2014

Proclamation 9125 of May 15, 2014

60th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

May 17, 1954, marked a turning point in America's journey toward a more
perfect Union. On that day, the Supreme Court handed down a unanimous
decision in Brown v. Board of Education, outlawing racial segregation in
our Nation's schools. Brown overturned the doctrine of ``separate but
equal,'' which the Court had established in the 1896 case of Plessy v.
Ferguson. For more than half a century, Plessy gave constitutional
backing to discrimination, and civil rights organizations like the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People faced an
uphill battle as they sought equality, opportunity, and justice under
the law.
Brown v. Board of Education shifted the legal and moral compass of our
Nation. It declared that education ``must be made available to all on
equal terms'' and demanded that America's promise exclude no one. Yet
the Supreme Court alone could not destroy segregation. Brown had
unlocked the schoolhouse doors, but even years later, African-American
children braved mobs as they walked to school, while U.S. Marshals kept
the peace. From lunch counters and city streets to buses and ballot
boxes, American citizens struggled to realize their basic rights. A
decade after the Court's ruling, Brown's moral guidance was translated
into the enforcement measures of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting
Rights Act.
Thanks to the men and women who fought for equality in the courtroom,
the legislature, and the hearts and minds of the American people, we
have confined legalized segregation to the dustbin of history. Yet
today, the hope and promise of Brown remains unfulfilled. In the years
to come, we must continue striving toward equal opportunities for all
our children, from access to advanced classes to participation

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in the same extracurricular activities. Because when children learn and
play together, they grow, build, and thrive together.
On the 60th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, let us heed the
words of Justice Thurgood Marshall, who so ably argued the case against
segregation, ``None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves
up by our bootstraps. We got here because somebody . . . bent down and
helped us pick up our boots.'' Let us march together, meet our
obligations to one another, and remember that progress has never come
easily--but even in the face of impossible odds, those who love their
country can change it.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of
America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and
the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 17, 2014, as the
60th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. I call upon all
Americans to observe this day with programs, ceremonies, and activities
that celebrate this landmark decision and advance the causes of equality
and opportunity for all.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of
May, in the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
eighth.
BARACK OBAMA