Hi, John,
On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court banned racial segregation in public schools with the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision. The case, brought by the NAACP, successfully challenged the largely Southern doctrine and mandatory practice of “separate but equal” schools for whites and Blacks as inherently unequal and unconstitutional.
Now, 70 years after this landmark case in the fight for educational equity and civil rights, we still are seeing the impact — and pushback — in school systems across the nation and on the ability of students — particularly students of color — to thrive and advance educationally.
Color Of Change, in partnership with the National Education Association, invites you to watch “Educating for Equity: Brown v Board of Education 70 Years Later,” a short video featuring a range of young and older thought leaders talking about the groundbreaking case and the challenges facing our public education system today. Participants discuss what we need to do to protect education moving forward.
You’ll hear from:
- Rashad Robinson, president of Color Of Change
- Rebecca S. “Becky” Pringle, president of the National Education Association
- Marley Dias, student activist, author, NEA ambassador and founder of #1000BlackGirlBooks
- George “Conscious” Lee, educator, content creator and host of the “Black History, For Real” podcast
- Alice O’Brien, general counsel of the National Education Association
- Erin Freeman, a public school educator based in Florida.
Tune in on COC’s YouTube and Facebook channels to watch “Educating for Equity: Brown v Board of Education 70 Years Later,” the latest episode of our Black History Now Live Series.
Even today, far-right forces are looking to roll back Brown v Board of Education and the progress made because of the landmark decision. In a South Carolina racial gerrymandering decision released this week by the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Clarence Thomas lays the legal groundwork to challenge the Brown decision. Neo-segregationists like Ed Blum and Stephen Miller are eager to take him up on that and are actively working to bring cases before the court that would give them the opportunity to once again enshrine racial segregation in our schools.
We invite you to learn, share and protect Black history. Working together, we can build power to make positive changes in our education system that our communities want and our children deserve.
Until Justice Is Real,
The Color Of Change Team
