Views / Opinions
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"
impor­
vi ory
th
17, 1, ing
entire court, Warren de­
sezrezstion of chil­
hool solely on
t b is of ra , even though
th phy ical faciliti and other
tangibl factors may be equal,
d priv children of the minority
group of equal educational op­
portuniti ? We beli va it d
To ep rate them from otb
of imilar age and qualifications
I ly of their race n-
era a f ling of inferiority as
to th ir tatus in the community
that may affect their hearts and
minds in a ay very unlikely
ver to be undone. We conclude,
unanimously, that in th field of
public education the doctrine of
'separate but equal' ha no
place."
Ei nhower w outraged by
Warren's courageous decision,
later lamenting that the Califor­
nia Republican's selection as
Chief Justice w "th biggest
damn fool mistake I ever made. "
We celebrate the Brown deci­
sion as a decisive blow against
the totalitarian system or racial
prejudice. Browm reinforced th
concept of equality for all under
HARRIS
yo
By -James E. Alsbrook
CONNECT WITH US
Voice:
202 72 -11 0
1M
- ... -- - - -�-�. �
th law.
But in faim to' tory, w
must al 0 r gniz Brown'
limitations. An inte t t
for a Bla child in a form rly
white school d . not, by i If,
alter th curriculum or CO\!
content of that school. It d sn'
change the racial com iti n of
th teach rs and dministr to
of a school system. It doesn't
challenge the Eurocentrism,
ethnic and gender bias which
underscores traditional pedago­
gi and systems of learning.
THE LOGIC 0 Brown im­
plied that Blacks eould not learn
as well within an all-Black envi­
ronment - but the history of
African-American colleges
proves that this is not true.
We must make a critical dis­
tinction between "desegrega­
tion" and "integration." The
cultural assumptions behind
Brown favored integration, the
upward mobility of Black
within the so-c lled cultural
mainstream. Wh t we have
learned since 1954 i that nei­
th r racial gregation nor inte­
gra tion per se crea tes the
conditions ne ary for an ex­
change of values and learning
experie between children of
different backgrounds.
The framework which r -
spects the diversity of all people
is not "integration", th 10 of
Black id ntity, but "mul icultu­
ralism", th full r of our
social differen whil main­
taining our political unity
American people. Th Brownd -
cision was only the ginning,
not the end, in a long truggl to
make a genuin d DlO cy in
America.
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growing, nd h
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