FAIR News: Why Brown v. Board of Education Still Matters in Schools Today
Newsletter
Dear Friends of FAIR,
In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Brown v Board of Education that segregating students in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. This groundbreaking case would mark the end of “separate but equal” laws that governed American society for more than six decades and become the catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement that emboldened efforts to dismantle systemic racism.
What’s often less discussed are the mental and emotional factors underlying the Court’s decision. Relying on psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark’s now-famous doll experiments, Thurgood Marshall and his legal team argued that depriving Black children “of equal status in the school community…destroys their self-respect, denies them full opportunity for democratic social development [and]…stamps [them] with a badge of inferiority.” The Court agreed, finding that separating “children 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.”
In other words, segregation isn’t just illegal; it’s also cruel and inhumane.
The path to desegregation wasn’t easy, and it was often violent. From Alabama to Texas, law enforcement agencies were brought in to protect Black children from mobs brandishing weapons and burning effigies. Yet, over time, resistance subsided. Brown’s legacy became ingrained in the psyche of Black and White students and parents who would come to embrace tolerance and inclusion that have defined modern education in the 20th century.
70 years later, we face an educational landscape that would likely shock the nine justices who ordered states to desegregate schools “with all deliberate speed.” While Black students — the intended beneficiaries of Brown — find themselves respected, welcomed, and safer in schools than at any other time in history, the same cannot be said for many of their peers.
Today, millions of students on college and university campuses across the country are robbed of self-respect and made to feel inferior and unsafe — not because of the color of their skin, but because of their ethnicity, religion, or political views. Jewish students find themselves harassed and assaulted because of their faith, and conservative students are silenced and attacked for voicing their opinions. Students are even ridiculed and intimidated for expressing love and appreciation for our country.
How far we have fallen.
Not long ago, America’s institutions of higher learning stood as intellectual beacons that inspired creativity, stimulated debate, and fostered critical thinking. They attracted the best and brightest minds from all over the world who were eager to share with each other and learn from one another. This would never have been possible had schools enabled the environment we see today, one that the Brown Court would surely recognize as inherently destructive to the mind and spirit. Because even if students are not segregated physically, they can nevertheless be distanced from one another mentally, emotionally, and in other ways that “den[y] them full opportunity for democratic social development, [and]…stamp [them] with a badge of inferiority.”
As we honor the anniversary of one of the most monumental legal milestones in our nation’s history, administrators and faculty would do well to remember the true spirit of Brown’s legacy and why it matters to students of any color. Efforts to promote diversity and inclusion on campuses will continue to fail unless and until students are taught the most important lesson: all human beings are worthy of and entitled to dignity, safety, and respect.
Warmly,
Monica Harris
Executive Director
The Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism
FAIR and friends attend the inaugural Dissident Dialogues Festival in New York City
This month, hundreds of heterodox thinkers from around the world gathered in New York City to celebrate free thought and engage in constructive dialogue.
Organized by Winston Marshall and Desh Amila, Dissident Dialogues saw Executive Director Monica Harris, Board President Angel Eduardo, Substack Editor Reid Newton, and Arts Director Brent Morden attend on behalf of FAIR.
Speakers included FAIR Advisors Michael Shellenberger, Jon Kay, and Lee Fang. Also in attendance were FAIR-supported plaintiff Zack De Piero, FAIR Advisor Lisa Selin Davis, FAIR Arts Fellow Clifton Duncan, Canadian independent journalist Tara Henley, and filmmaker & friend of FAIR Meg Smaker.
Fashion designer and friend of FAIR Elena Velez displayed her latest designs, while NYC local artist Kat Chamberlin exhibited some of her latest artwork.
Panels were held on topics ranging from the future of feminism to the Israel/Palestine conflict. Notable voices included John McWhorter, Steven Pinker, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Richard Dawkins, Freddie Sayers, Ayishat Akanbi, Thomas Chatterton-Williams, Mary Harrington, Greg Lukianoff, Masih Alinejad, and many more.
Connect with FAIR-Minded Artists using our new FAIR Artist Directory!
This directory will serve as a resource for FAIR in the Arts members to discover peers with a shared mission to advance freedom, excellence, and humanity in the arts, and will also facilitate opportunities for professional collaboration and support between fellow FAIR artists.
Applications to join the first round of the FAIR Artist Directory will be accepted through Friday, May 31st. For more information, check out the FAQ on our website or email us at arts@fairforall.org. We look forward to hearing from you!
Teaching About Identity: Lessons From Around the World Pt. 2: The Chinese Cultural Revolution
FAIR's Teaching About Identity project explores twentieth century contexts in which teachers made grave mistakes in teaching about identity—mistakes that at the time seemed scientific, unifying, correct, and culturally necessary—but ultimately laid the foundation for inter-group hatred.
This installment focuses on the Cultural Revolution, a program of Mao Zedong designed to “refresh” Chinese culture and eliminate elements of the culture that he deemed to be backward, bourgeois, feudal, or otherwise counter-revolutionary.
Read the latest guide here.
Is there a left way out of woke?
Join the University of Buckingham branch of Academics For Academic Freedom on International Academic Freedom Day – Monday, May 20th, 1:00 PM EST – to hear Professor Umut Ozkirimli discuss Is there a left way out of woke?, the subject of his new book Cancelled: the left way back from woke. This talk is one of a series of Free Speech Seminars organized by the University of Buckingham branch of Academics For Academic Freedom with support from the University of Buckingham.
Braver Angels National Convention
Join our friends Braver Angels in Kenosha, Wisconsin, June 27th - 29th, for their annual National Convention. The 2024 Braver Angels National Convention is a call to citizenship. Their main goals are to connect people across divides and create ways to work together to save our country.
Politics doesn’t have to be this destructive. We can find ways to disagree better. Build new friendships. Deepen our civic skills. Renew our commitments.
FAIR News Podcast
For audio versions of our FAIR News and FAIR Weekly Roundup newsletters, subscribe and listen to FAIR News Weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or via RSS feed.
FAIR Educators Alliance & Other Networks
Connect with other pro-human educators through the FAIR Educators Alliance. We bring together educators from all levels to share experiences and work on developing resources that can support teachers, community members, and FAIR chapters.
Teachers, administrators, librarians, and educators of all kinds are welcome. For more information and to join any of these networks, please email educators@fairforall.org.
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While I am dismayed that my children are told explicitly in school that they may not use words that others may use, and that they should be condemned for actions that others with different skin should be excused for, it is difficult to see the parallels between the examples Ms Harris cites and what Brown was trying to fix.
Better to pick the BIPOC-only classes that have sprung up in public schools, the school-sponsored 'affinity groups' that welcome everyone but white people, 'grading for equity,' or the selective enforcement of rules. These may create only a very mild version of segregation's harms, but the real harm is in legitimizing unequal treatments by race, which leads us to unknown but likely much more unpleasant consequences.
I am disappointed in this article as I feel the author is pushing an agenda that is not the same as the intended Brown vs Board of Education ruling.
In Brown, the problem was that students were segregated based on the colour of their skin - something the students could not control. Mistreatment of conservative students or Jewish students because of the philosophies they hold - while also problematic - is not the same.
There is a new kind of racial segregation on campuses in 2024. A segregation the purports to benefit Black Americans. This affirmative action is the antithesis of the Brown decision and I expected this behaviour to be described in the article.