"The 'separate but equal' doctrine ... has no place in the field of public education."
Thus was the U.S. Supreme Court's historic ruling on Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, a year when 17 states still mandated segregation and another four allowed it to occur unchecked. Even after a secondary 1955 ruling vaguely demanded states to integrate their schools "with all deliberate speed," many schools violated the order until another court edict forced their hand in 1969. But change, even court-ordered, takes time — and in this case, it's still coming.
Fifty years after the decision, it stands to reason that generations of U.S. students have benefited from its relief. The ruling spawned other protectionist laws — Title IX, for example, which specifically extends Brown's principles to gender — that prohibit noncompliant institutions from receiving federal funds, and it arguably cleared the educational paths of millions of minority students.
Yet today, people's impressions of the impact of the decision vary as widely as their personal experiences. Baby boomers recall a time of expanded opportunity and change, while younger generations opine that the current classroom compositions are what they are — the law behind them simply fills a page in their history books.
So, 50 years later, has the decision led to change in our schools? How have we benefited? And how far do we still have to go?
