BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION

BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION
AN OPINION
BY JOSEPH D. BOONE
Circa 1994

THE BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION LAWSUIT, BROUGHT BY THE NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE FUND, WAS A WORTHWHILE ENDEAVOR. BUT IT WAS THE WRONG LAWSUIT TO BRING BEFORE THE U.S. SUPREME COURT.

THE INTENT OF THE NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE FUND WAS TO INTEGRATE THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM SO THAT NEGROES WOULD RECEIVE AN EQUAL CHANCE TO EDUCATION. THIS WAS A NOBLE IDEA, A GOOD IDEA, AN IDEA WHO’S TIME HAD LONG BEEN COMING. BUT IT WAS A MISGUIDED IDEA. TO END “JIM CROW”, SEGREGATION, BY DESEGREGATING THE SCHOOL SYSTEM MIGHT HAVE LOOKED GOOD AT THE TIME BUT UNDER CLOSER SCRUTINY AND HINDSIGHT LOOKS LIKE THE WRONG PATH WAS TAKEN.

THIS OPINION OF MINE STEMS FROM THE FACT THAT RACISM OF ANY KIND IS A NATURAL INSTINCT IN HUMAN BEINGS. RACISM WAS A WELL ESTABLISHED INSTITUTION FROM THE INCEPTION OF THIS NATION. AND TO END RACISM BY PASSING A LAW SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA, AMERICANS BEING A FAIR MINDED PEOPLE, TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE PLANNING AND STRATEGY OF THE LAW SUITS BEING FILED IN THE 1930s AND 1940s AND 1950s. BUT WHAT THEY FAILED TO UNDERSTAND, ACCEPT OR ACKNOWLEDGE WAS THE DEPTH OF WHICH RACISM WAS INGRAINED IN THE AMERICAN PSYCHE. THIS DEPTH IS SHOWN IN OTHER ACTIONS BY THE U.S. SUPREME COURT AND BY THE U.S. CONSTITUTION ITSELF.

THE U.S. CONSTITUTION CONTAINS A NUMBER OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS, MOST NOTABLY THE FUGITIVE SLAVE CLAUSE, THE SLAVE TRADE CLAUSE, AND THE THREE-FIFTHS COMPROMISE, WHICH PLAINLY RECOGNIZES THE EXISTENCE OF THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY. THERE ARE SEVERAL SUPREME COURT CASES THAT UPHELD THE IDEA OF RACISM IN THIS COUNTRY, FROM PRIGG v. PENNSYLVANIA(1842) TO PLESSY v. FERGUSON(1896) OF WHICH I WILL SPEAK MORE ABOUT LATER ON.

EVEN THE COURT ITSELF DID NOT REALIZE THE DEPTH OF RACISM IN THIS COUNTRY. AFTER THE FIRST BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION(1954) THE COURT ASKED FOR BRIEFS AND ARGUMENTS ON HOW THIS DESEGREGATION WOULD COME ABOUT. THE FOLLOWING YEAR IN THE SECOND BROWN v BOARD OF EDUCATION(1955) THE COURT REALIZED THAT LOCAL OFFICIALS WOULD HAVE TO FORMULATE POLICY TO HANDLE THE DESEGREGATION SO THEY DIRECTED DISTRICT COURTS TO ENSURE THAT THE TRANSITION TO A UNITARY SCHOOL SYSTEM WAS ACCOMPLISHED “WITH ALL DELIBERATE SPEED”. THEY OBVIOUSLY HOPED FOR COOPERATION FROM LOCAL AUTHORITIES IN THE DESEGREGATION PROCESS. SUCH COOPERATION WAS NOT FORTHCOMING. “THE JUDICIARY WAS FACED WITH SOUTHERN SCHOOL BOARDS AND STATE GOVERNMENTS THAT WERE TYPICALLY COMMITTED TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF “MASSIVE RESISTANCE” TO DESEGREGATION.

SO WITH ALL THIS OPPOSITION AND INGRAINED RACISM, EVEN HATRED, WHY DID THE NAACP FIGHT FOR INTEGRATION INSTEAD OF ENFORCING PLESSY v. FERGUSON? IN PLESSY v. FERGUSON (1896) THE COURT HELD, 7 TO 1, THAT STATE IMPOSED RACIAL SEGREGATION IN PUBLIC FACILITIES WAS NOT “UNREASONABLE” AND THEREFORE DID NOT VIOLATE THE EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE OF THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT. I KNOW THAT AS A NEGRO I SHOULD FIND THIS ABHORRENT. HOWEVER, I AM FORMING MY OPINION BASED ON HINDSIGHT. I, WE, KNOW TODAY THAT A PRIMARY CAUSE FOR THE STATE OF NEGROES TODAY IS THE BREAK-DOWN OF THE FAMILY AND THE “FLIGHT” OF THE MIDDLE-CLASS NEGROES TO THE SUBURBS AND MOST DAMAGING IS THE DISASSOCIATION OR DISOWNMENT OF MIDDLE-CLASS NEGROES OF THEIR ROOTS AND THEIR CONSTANT DESIRE TO LIVE THE “AMERICAN DREAM”. AS WE KNOW THERE IS NO REAL AMERICAN DREAM FOR NEGROES BECAUSE RACISM IS STILL ALIVE AND WELL GOING INTO THE 21st CENTURY.

TODAY THERE ARE ALL MANNER OF SCHOOLS AND CURRICULUMS BEING DEVELOPED THAT ARE PURPOSELY “SEPARATE BUT EQUAL”. NOT ONLY RACIALLY BUT GENDER-WISE ALSO. IT HAS FINALLY DAWNED ON NEGROES THAT THEY DON’T NEED TO BE LIKE “WHITE FOLKS” IN ORDER TO LIVE “AN AMERICAN DREAM”. THAT IT IS NOT ONLY GOOD FOR NEGROES TO KNOW WHO THEY ARE BUT IT IS ESSENTIAL FOR THEIR COLLECTIVE PSYCHE. AND ONE OF THE WAYS NOW BEING LOOKED AT IS SEPARATE CLASSES, EVEN SCHOOLS FOR YOUNG NEGRO MALES. AND KNOWING THEIR CULTURAL HERITAGE EVEN PRACTICING SOME OF IT, FOR INSTANCE KWANZA.

SO MY THEORY IS THAT IF THE LEGAL DEFENSE ARM OF THE NAACP HAD FOCUSED ON MAKING THE “SEPARATE BUT EQUAL” CLAUSE WORK, THE COLLECTIVE PSYCHE OF NEGROES WOULD BE BETTER OFF TODAY. WE HAVE HISTORY TO SHOW US THAT GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY OR LEFT TO OUR OWN INGENUITY WE CAN SURVIVE QUITE WELL, WITHOUT THE AIDE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, LIKE URBAN RENEWAL. THE QUESTION NOW IS IF WE HAD TAKEN THE COURSE I SUGGEST HERE, WOULD THE WHITE COMMUNITY HAVE LEFT US ALONE TO LIVE OUR OWN LIVES OR WOULD THEY HAVE RESORTED TO WHAT THEY DID TO BLACK COMMUNITIES IN OKLAHOMA AND FLORIDA THAT WERE MAKING IT ON THEIR OWN. AND THAT IS ERADICATE THEM. I GUESS WE WILL FOREVER BE ARGUING THIS SCENARIO. BUT I DON’T BELIEVE THAT NEGROES WOULD BE ANY WORSE OFF IF THEY, NAACP, HAD CHOSEN THE PATH I SUGGEST HERE. IN FACT THERE IS MUCH TO BELIEVE THAT WE WOULD BE A LOT BETTER OFF. WITH INTACT COMMUNITIES, FAMILIES AND PRIDE. WITH A GOOD, HEALTHY SELF-ESTEEM.


PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS