70 yrs after #SCOTUS delivered its landmark decision outlawing school segregation, #BrownVBoardOfEducation ranks as perhaps the court’s most venerated decision….
Most everything else related to the decision…is complex.
Nearly 7/10 Americans say more should be done to integrate schools…a figure that has steadily climbed from 30% in 1973….But a deeper look into the views of both Black & White people shows skepticism about the success of #Brown….
In its unanimous decision in #Brown, #SCOTUS ruled segregated schools were #unconstitutional & “inherently unequal,” combining 5 cases in which #Black students & their schools had far fewer resources than their #White peers — longer commutes, lower-quality classes, overcrowding, fewer opportunities & less money. Yet 1/3 Black Americans now say integration has failed to improve the #education of Black students….
Today, about ½ of #Black adults favor letting children attend neighborhood schools, even if it means most students would be of the same race—which, given #housing patterns, is often the case.
…9/10 Whites say they support the #Brown decision, & nearly 2/3 say more needs to be done to integrate schools…. Nonetheless, large segments of the #White pop oppose strategies that…make that a reality. Nearly 8/10 White adults say it is better for children to go to neighborhood #schools over diverse ones.
…The #Brown decision focused on the value of mixing children of different races. But for many #integration activists —then & now— the case is about a path to #fair & #equitable educational #resources. Those legal battles cont. Today’s complex views about #schools & integration come amid persistent #segregation that has risen in recent decades,changes in the #legal landscape & complicated dynamics of #education & #race in #America today.
Because of #Brown, #school ofcls may no longer deliberately separate students by #race —but under more recent #SCOTUS orders, they aren’t allowed to deliberately mix them by race either. #Integration advocates today have stopped looking to the #federal courts for help & are pursuing #state lawsuits instead.…some #Black leaders have concluded that the answer is not integration…but more #money & #opportunity for high #poverty#schools….
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