May 17

Brown v. Board of Education

Author

David Barnhart
May 17, 2025

Bricks. Bolivia, 2008. Own photo.

Today in 1954, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was decided by the Supreme Court of the United States, ruling that school segregation was unconstitutional. A year later, the court also decided that desegregation should happen “with all deliberate speed.” Over seventy years later, segregation is still in place geographically, instead of racially, and white supremacists continue to find other ways to enforce their racism through policy and what they call “religious freedom.” 

Reflection: 

Chief Justice Warren, in his opinion on the decision, wrote the following: 

“Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments. Compulsory school attendance laws and the great expenditures for education both demonstrate our recognition of the importance of education to our democratic society. It is required in the performance of our most basic public responsibilities, even service in the armed forces. It is the very foundation of good citizenship. Today it is a principal instrument in awakening the child to cultural values, in preparing him for later professional training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his environment. In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.

“We come then to the question presented: Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other "tangible" factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does.”

Our current fascist regime disagrees with nearly all of the above paragraphs, including that education is important to a democratic society and the foundation of good citizenship. It intends to dismantle the Department of Education out of spite and in retribution for this decision. Most of the “small-government” and anti-education policies of the last 70 years go back to this decision. 

Prayer: Christ our teacher, you say that the truth will make us free. That is why there is a war on the truth. Help us to speak truth to power, to create equity in our society, and to educate children to pursue truth in their lives. Amen.