56 Years ago the Supreme Court handed down the Brown vs. Bd. of Education of Topeka decision, a well known decision that stated schools were not allowed to segregate schools.
We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. This disposition makes unnecessary any discussion whether such segregation also violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
I'm sure we've all heard that before, right? Well here we are in 2010 and Federal Courts STILL have to order school districts to desegregate? The Court in Brown also stated:
To separate them from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone. The effect of this separation on their educational opportunities was well stated by a finding in the Kansas case by a court which nevertheless felt compelled to rule against the Negro plaintiffs:Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law, for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the negro group. A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn. Segregation with the sanction of law, therefore, has a tendency to [retard] the educational and mental development of negro children and to deprive them of some of the benefits they would receive in a racial[ly] integrated school system. [n10]Whatever may have been the extent of psychological knowledge at the time of Plessy v. Ferguson, this finding is amply supported by modern authority. [n11] Any language[p495] in Plessy v. Ferguson contrary to this finding is rejected.
Here's the situation according to the Washington Post:
For years, the local school board has permitted hundreds of white students to transfer from its Tylertown schools, which are about 75 percent African American and serve about 1,700 students, to another school, the Salem Attendance Center, which is about 66 percent white and serves about 577 students in grades K-12. The schools are about 10 miles apart.
Salem became "a racially identifiable white school while the student enrollment of the Tylertown schools has become predominantly black" because of the transfers, U.S. officials alleged in December, based on data from the 2007-08 school year, according to Lee's order.
At the same time in Tylertown four K-12 schools, "District administrators group, or 'cluster,' disproportionate numbers of white students into designated classrooms . . . resulting in significant numbers of segregated, all-black classrooms at each grade level," the judge wrote, summarizing the Justice Department lawyers' case.
Miss. county schools ordered to comply with desegregation order
By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post
So not only did the school district allow most of the White students to transfer to one school, it also allowed the schools to segregate the classrooms themselves where the White students were in a school with the Black students. I think that is pretty bold on the part of the school district. I did see an article on the Huffington Post where some of the District's claim is set out. The District claims that the drawing of the district is bad, and that some of the White students actually lived closer to the Salem school.
Specifically the Court ordered:
The order issued today by the court requires the district to modify its transfer policy to permit students to transfer to a school outside their residential zone only if the student can demonstrate a compelling justification for the transfer. The court further ordered the district to implement protocols to ensure that students within district schools will hereafter be assigned to classrooms in a manner that will not lead to segregation.
Now, when it comes to school desegregation, I do agree with Clarence Thomas when in Missouri v. Jenkins he states:
It never ceases to amaze me that the courts are so willing to assume that anything that is predominantly black must be inferior.
But I also acknowledge that when the government or school district seems to sanction the blatant segregation of students in schools, especially in 2010, there is something wrong. What message does the school think they are sending to those Black students when they continue to hold them separate from their White counterparts? I don't think the schools or the classes are inherently inferior because there are few or no White students in them, but I am offended by the idea that the schools seek to keep the students separate even when they are in the same building.
Think Progress points out that:
After being confirmed as attorney general, Eric Holder said that he would make sure the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division return to its traditional role of pushing "high-impact civil rights enforcement against policies, in areas ranging from housing to hiring, where statistics show that minorities fare disproportionately poorly."
I am glad to have a Justice Dept. interested in justice and enforcing Civil Rights laws, but I am sad that this particular case still needed to be settled, and the judgment enforced, by the Courts in 2010.
and kudos to Thomas Perez for this:
"More than 55 years after Brown v. Board of Education, it is unacceptable for school districts to act in a way that encourages or tolerates the resegregation of public schools," said Thomas E. Perez, U.S. assistant attorney general in charge of the civil rights division, in a written statement. "We will take action so that school districts subject to federal desegregation orders comply with their obligation to eliminate vestiges of separate black and white schools." (Emphasis Mine)
I find it interesting (and slightly amusing) that this order came down during "Confederate History Month" which is also celebrated by the state of Georgia.