The truth of the Brown v. Board ruling that “separate can never be equal” has as much validity today as it did half a century ago. Separate can never be equal not only because segregated black, Latino/a and Native American schools have never been and never will be afforded equal resources, but, even more importantly, because segregated institutions place a badge of inferiority on those who are segregated from the dominant population. If we are equal, why must we be kept separate?
School integration has been repeatedly proven by all reputable research to be the only policy that narrows the racial academic achievement gap, while simultaneously having a positive impact on the education of white children. Yet the attacks on integration continue unabated despite that fact that in districts that instituted desegregation plans either by court order or voluntarily, the deseg programs enjoy the support of the overwhelming majority of both white and minority students and parents.
Brief for intervention in the LAUSD School desegregation case
Brief for the LAUSD desegregation case