John,
67 years ago today, the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in our schools was unconstitutional. But believe it or not, the “landmark” Brown v. Board case was only the
beginning of the fight against white supremacy in our education systems -- one that we’re still fighting today.
Brown vs. the Board of Education ruling has not lived up to its full potential. Like every other system in this country, educators, school officials, and legislators on all levels have ingrained white supremacy in our education system in order to manipulate Black students across the country. The ruling even devastated a whole generation of Black educational leadership.
This “landmark” case did not go far enough. It set the stage for what would come to be a bunch of Jim Crow loopholes. We’ve watched our HBCUs go underfunded for years. We’ve seen the constant attacks on our public schools -- especially those in Black communities. We’ve seen elite public schools like Stuyvesant in NY fail to admit Black students year after year. And none of us are strangers to infamous college admissions scandals that crop up like clockwork.
Today, it’s abundantly clear that even since Brown vs. Board of Education, there has never been a real investment in Black education. Until that investment is made, we will
never achieve abolition. We will
never achieve Black liberation.
Let us commemorate the anniversary of this case by remembering that this fight is just beginning. We will not stop until Black educators, Black students, and Black people everywhere have equal access to quality education, no matter where we live or how much money we’ve got.
In love and solidarity,
Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation
