In the Bible, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are said to usher in the end of the world. That is why, in 1964, Judge Ben Cameron gave four of his fellow judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit the derisive nickname "the Fifth Circuit Four"--because they were ending the segregationist world of the Deep…

More progress is needed to achieve equity in racial and gender representation in the push to diversify the physical sciences. In order to continue moving towards representation and equity, there is a need for more analytic tools that can help us understand where we are and how we got here. This may also enable meaningful systemic change. In this…

The advent of critical race theory (CRT) in legal scholarship changed the way in which legal scholars think about race and racism in at least three ways. First, CRT scholars argue that the problem of racial justice is fundamental to American law, whereas the previous generation of civil rights scholars saw racial justice as a problem of…

This article explores the growing interest in schools which are aimed at children and young people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and questioning (LGBTQ), schools described as LGBTQ-affirming. Schools which target specific groups of students are sometimes viewed as being anti-inclusive because they assign labels to students and…

The Mississippi Association of Independent Schools was born out of the turbulent years of the Civil Rights Era. "Plessy v. Ferguson" in 1896 had established the doctrine of separate but equal facilities, including schools. While the decision in "Brown v. Board of Education," handed down by the Supreme Court in 1954, ruled that…

This article provides a history of Black southern teacher associations and the civil rights agenda they articulated from Reconstruction through the desegregation of public schools in the 1970s. Black teacher associations demonstrated historic agency by demanding a fundamental right to an education, equal salaries, and the right to work during the…

With the rise of the Cold War, federal officials in the United States sought to end the racial segregation that the U.S. Supreme Court had accepted in the 1896 decision of "Plessy v. Ferguson." Although the reforms began with changes in the armed services, they moved to reduce racial segregation in schools. Many forces brought about the…

Purpose: This article reflects on the 60th anniversary of the "Brown v. Board of Education" Supreme Court decision while discussing the significant lessons learned from this and subsequent court decisions. Argument: In this article, we posit that a fundamentally different conversation surrounding the legacy of Brown is needed if we are…

Rhetoric, policy, and debate about immigration and immigrants are saturated with the trope of deservingness. In nation/states built on stratification, deservingness acts as a discourse of racialization, narrating across racially minoritized groups to re-instantiate the benefits for the racially majoritized. In this theoretical essay, I draw from…

In 1956, southern Congressmen signed the Southern Manifesto, rejecting the Supreme Court's "Brown v. Board of Education" ruling. This moment, in the general American consciousness, marked the rise of White massive resistance to Black advancement, a racist foray doomed to be swept aside by civil rights forces and a determined federal…

Good research does not mean good policy, but policy or legal conclusions that rely on false assumptions are certain to be bad. When the rights of U.S. students of color are at stake, the Supreme Courts need the best research findings the country can offer. The U.S. Constitution contains sweeping and undefined terms. Reaching a conclusion about the…

This article examines the historical relationship between political power and the pursuit of education and social equality from the Reconstruction era to the present. The chief argument is that education equality is historically linked to and even predicated on equal political power, specifically, equal access to the franchise and instruments of…

In this classroom simulation, students travel back in time to 1945, when racism was institutionalized in many states through segregation. Though students cannot literally travel back to the Jim Crow era, teachers can create a situation that brings home the point of injustice and the choices individuals are faced with in such situations. Suddenly,…

This article explores the legacies of the 1954 "Brown v. Board of Education" Supreme Court decision within the historical context of race relations in the United States. The pursuit by African Americans to exercise their rights of citizenship is described as influenced by the changing face of fear. The Supreme Court decisions that…

"The Journal of Negro Education" was born during the third decade of the 20th century. "The Journal" has reflected concern with race and racial discrimination as a central problem in the education of Negro people. During its 75th anniversary, the legacy of "The Journal" continues and has remained the educational,…