Opinion
The ‘Browning’ of Public Schools
“Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now”
B ERNIE F OSTER
Founder/Publisher
B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER
Executive Editor
J ERRY F OSTER
Advertising Manager
L ISA L OVING
News Editor
H ELEN S ILVIS
Multimedia Editor
D AVID K IDD
Graphic Designer
M ONICA J. F OSTER
Seattle Office Coordinator
J ULIE K EEFE
S USAN F RIED
Photographers
The Skanner Newspaper, established
in October 1975, is a weekly publica-
tion, published each Wednesday by
IMM Publications Inc.,
415 N. Killingsworth St.,
T
his is the 60th anniversary
of the landmark Brown v.
Board
of
Education
Supreme Court decision outlawing
“separate but equal” schools. And
like most major anniversaries,
incorrect information surfaces as
purported fact, doing a disservice
to the accomplishment being cele-
brated as well as truth itself.
In this instance, some have
asserted that because of re-segre-
gation, public schools in the
South, where most African Ameri-
cans live, are more segregated
now than when Brown was hand-
ed down. That is simply untrue
and if you want to read a compre-
hensive account of what has truly
happened in school desegregation
over the past 60 years, there is no
better source than “Brown at 60:
Great Progress, a Long Retreat
and an Uncertain Future,” pub-
lished by The Civil Rights Project
at UCLA.
First, let’s dispense with the
nonsense.
“The claims that black students
in the South are no better off than
they were before Brown, in terms
of segregation, are obviously
wrong,” the report stated. “They
are ten times as likely to be in
majority-white schools as they
were when the Civil Rights Act
passed.”
The 42-page report is packed
with illuminating facts about
progress made in the wake
of Brown and the subsequent
retrenchment. But to appreciate
the significance of Brown, it is
necessary to understand what our
schools looked like before the
court decision.
desegregation of schools. With no
progress after a year, the court
T HE C URRY ordered in 1955, in a ruling some-
R EPORT
times called Brown II, that
desegregation had to be carried
out “with all deliberate speed.”
George E.
But racial segregation was delib-
Curry
erate and speed was missing in
action. In fact, nine years
after Brown, 99 percent of Blacks
in the South were still in segregat-
“Nine years after Brown, when ed schools.
“President Lyndon Johnson
President John Kennedy called for
the first major civil rights act of powered the historic 1964 Civil
the 20th century, 99 percent of Rights Act through Congress with
blacks in the South were still in bipartisan support, and he pro-
totally segregated schools,” the ceeded to enforce civil rights law
report recounted. “Virtually no more forcefully than an Adminis-
whites were in historically black tration before or since,” the report
schools, nor were black teachers stated. “After he also led the battle
Some say that re-segregation means
public schools in the South, where
most African Americans live, are more
segregated now than when Brown
was handed down. False!
and administrators in white
schools. For all practical purposes,
it was segregation as usual or ‘seg-
regation forever,’ as some of the
South’s politicians promised. In
the great majority of the several
thousand southern districts noth-
ing had been done.”
Actually,
there
were
two Brown decisions. The first,
issued in 1954, outlawed segregat-
ed public schools masquerading as
“separate but equal.” The court
ruled that “segregation is inherent-
ly unequal” and ordered the
for the largest federal education
aid program in American history,
the Southern schools changed.
Faced with the dual prospect of
losing federal funds if they
remained segregated, as well as
the threat of a Justice Department
lawsuit as a result of the Civil
Rights Act, almost all the districts
began to desegregate. Strongly
backed by the federal courts, fed-
eral civil rights officials raised
desegregation requirements each
year. In 1968 the Supreme Court
unanimously ruled that desegrega-
tion in the historically segregated
states must be comprehensive and
immediate. By 1970 Southern
schools became the nation’s most
integrated.”
Nationwide, the percent of
Blacks attending majority White
schools has declined from a high
of 43.5 percent in 1988 to 23.2
percent in 2011, about the same
level it was 1968. This did not
happen by accident.
“Throughout the l980s there was
a strong legal attack on desegrega-
tion orders, led by the Reagan and
Bush administrations’ Justice
Departments and, in l991, the
Supreme Court authorized the ter-
mination of desegregation plans in
the Oklahoma City (Dowell) deci-
sion. The decline in black student
access has been continuous since
l991,” the report observed.
The report documents the strong
connection between segregated
schools and concentrated poverty.
In its recommendations section,
the report observes that while edu-
cation is primarily a state
responsibility, the federal govern-
ment also has an important role to
play. Sadly, the report points out,
there has not been a major nation-
al study on school desegregation,
its costs and solutions since Racial
Isolation in Public Schools,
a report requested in 1967 by Pres-
ident Johnson.
Non-government organizations
also have a role to play.
George E. Curry is former edi-
tor-in-chief of Emerge magazine,
and editor-in-chief of the National
Newspaper Publishers Associa-
tion News Service (NNPA)
P.O. Box 5455, Portland, OR 97228.
Telephone (503) 285-5555.
E-mail: info@theskanner.com
World Wide Web site:
http://www.theskanner.com
Fax: (503) 285-2900
The Skanner is a member of the
National Newspaper Pub lishers Associ-
ation and West Coast Black Pub lishers
Association.
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property of The Skanner. We are not re -
spon sible for lost or damaged photos
either solicited or unsolicited.
© 2014 The Skanner. ALL RIGHTS RE SERVED.
REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART
WITHOUT PERMISSION PROHIBITED.
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Where Donald Sterling was Right ...
T
he NBA playoffs, the NFL
draft, and elevator music
with Jay Z and Beyonce are
all distractions in the pursuit of
occupying our attention. Among
them, I found Donald Sterling’s
rants to be the most intriguing.
Many people want to dismiss him
as a racist, disillusioned old man,
but if you listened carefully a few
of his points were valid. I’m
always bothered by people who
criticize our culture, but I think I
am more bothered that there is
room for criticism than I am about
the person criticizing.
I assume Donald Sterling
refused a PR team to script his
message in his interview with
Anderson Cooper or he lost focus
and went off on a tangent about
Magic Johnson and the Black
community. Nevertheless, he
seemingly dug a deeper hole for
himself by referencing Johnson’s
HIV status, questioning his influ-
ence in South L.A. and outright
dismissing Magic’s role in helping
the Black community. Sterling
says, “What has he done, can you
tell me, big Magic Johnson, what
has he done?”
Now, I am sure we are very
aware of Magic Johnson’s invest-
ments in communities of color and
I don’t dispute Magic’s sincere
commitment to do business in the
urban neighborhoods around the
country. But what I heard Donald
Sterling say is Jewish people have
a company for people that want to
Page 2 The Portland and Seattle Skanner May 21, 2014
H IP H OP
U NION
Jineea
Butler
borrow money at no interest, they
want to give their people a fishing
pole, they want to help people, if
people don’t have the money they
will loan it to them and if they
don’t have interest one day, they
will give it back. Wow!
tion? Donald Sterling is one of
I’m sure millions who speak nega-
tively about the Black community
on a daily basis.
I believe what he and the rest of
America are really saying is why
is there so much violence and so
much unemployment among
Black and Brown folks? Why
aren’t they spending every dime of
their money to create opportuni-
ties for their people? Let’s be
honest, most wealthy individuals
in our community stick their noses
up and walk right by if you’re not
in the “in” club or if you are not on
the PR agenda. They don’t have
What Sterling and the rest of America
are really saying is why is there so
much violence and so much
unemployment among Black and
Brown folks?
That is a completely different
conversation, one that does not
apply in the Black communi-
ty. Magic Johnson got it right: this
whole ordeal really had nothing to
do with him. Sterling obviously
grasping for straws while trying to
lay a foundation for his perspec-
tive said something we have got to
take a look at.
When the world looks at the
state of the Black community, do
you think they applaud our posi-
time to hear about your bright idea
or how they can potentially help
you. Is this because they care so
much about the less fortunate and
just don’t have time to acknowl-
edge your existence? No one
would be able to say such
grotesque things if we were a
group that looked at each other
with love and expectancy in their
hearts.
Why isn’t there a nationwide
program designed by African
Americans that helps other
African Americans in busi-
ness? Magic Johnson provides
jobs that we undoubtedly need, but
we also need more Magic John-
sons who own businesses to
provide more jobs.
All of the wealthy African
Americans hob knob with one
another throughout the year. When
are they going to get together and
say, “Let’s just spend some money
on rebuilding our community. All
of them.” We only make up 14
percent of the population. With the
right economic empowerment
plan we can convince these young
brothers and sisters to walk the
path to success. The problem with
our people is they know they are
on their own. They know that if
they are going to make it, they
cannot depend on people who look
like them.
The Hip Hop Union is working
to change this. There are people
who are willing to work together
for a common goal of building
wealth and ensuring that wealth
continues to build among our-
selves. There are so many Hip
Hop Citizens who are opening
businesses and if we help these
businesses grow, we will have jobs
to place people in.
Jineea Butler is founder of the
Social Services of Hip Hop and
the Hip Hop Union. Tweet her at
@flygirlladyjay