The Undermining of Brown v Board | Culture and Society

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A common feeling in regards to racism in the present time is often a combination of a discontented sigh and a variation of the question isn't that over? You can appreciate the annoyance and anger of having to constantly deal with such an in your face social issue. Unfortunately, thats what we do. If laying racism to rest is what we truly want on a local, national and global level then we will have to continuously fight for social justice until it is a common belief that racism is no longer an issue. It is at that point the feeling will no longer be discontent but extreme happiness and joy.

It seems though that instead of moving forward we're taking steps backwards as the battles that our parents, grandparents and great grandparents fought are being reversed as we speak.

The legislations that were originally instituted by the Supreme Court that were designed to ensure the fair treatment of all Americans regardless of race, that individuals often overlook and take for granted aren't permanent and can be overturned and changed at any point in time.

Desegregating American schools was the start of a turn of legal events that sparked the Civil Rights Era. Education is often times the building blocks for intense and serious social changes and transformations. In the fifty years since the Brown vs. Board of Education and less than fifty years since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 the large leaps towards social equality are today being debilitated.

July 2, 2007, the Supreme Court voted 5 to 4 against school districts using only race as their criteria for achieving diversity and integration. Justice Paul Stevens described Chief Justice John Robert's audacious act of citing the original Brown decision as a justification of "right wing activism" as "cruel irony".

In 2006 and 2007 many of the ideals and laws contained within the Voting Rights Act of 19645 were subject to change. An article on Snopes.com stated that we should see this as a positive sign, that as individuals we don't need the government to oversee that individuals are treated fairly. To a certain extent this is true.

Even to the most blind eye racial inequalities still exist to day, and people are treated unfairly based on their racial background. We will never achieve a fair, humane, and just society if we don't start ensuring that the rights of individuals are protected and that all individuals are treated equally. It is going to take major strides on the part of our government and citizens to ensure that we maintain the efforts of our ancestors and progress upon them with even greater efforts.

About the Author

Ian Spellfield explores the most frequently used African American names through the lens of history in his blog, Black Ghetto Baby Names.

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