Summarizes the U.S. Department of Education's efforts to implement the mandate of "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas" and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, examining traditional tools used in enforcing civil rights laws and reviewing new strategies to promote high quality education, equal educational opportunity, and diversity.…

"Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas" called the United States to a new level of moral consciousness. Current efforts to denigrate "Brown" as a failure overlook its effect as a social catalyst for movement toward equality. Six visions of "Brown" examine its contemporary meaning (triumph, aspiration,…

The paper recapitulates the flow of a 2-day conference on the 40 years since "Brown v. Board of Education," focusing on 2 general-session presentations that examined "Brown" as promise and discussed visions for the future. "Brown" is viewed as a benchmark of American democracy and an opportunity for redemption. (SM)

Discusses examples of sharp inequalities in school financing. Argues that the goal of educational equality does not confront the basic cause of educational inequality; fear of school integration perpetuates the existence of a multiplicity of school districts, which substantially increases the burden to fund education and ultimately costs society.…

Forty years after "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas" mandated equal education for black students, racial discrimination thrives in public schools. Educators must lead the fight for quality education for black students in racially isolated urban schools and for monitoring the educational offerings provided for minority…

Examines the dual meaning of promise (hope and vow) in relation to "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas," discussing how the two conceptions are implemented in a desegregated school and explaining how multicultural education can help meet the dual expectations of "Brown" as promise/vow and promise/hope. (Author/SM)

Introduces 21 papers on racial inequality, examining 2 documents that significantly influenced American aspirations early in the century--"An American Dilemma" (Gunnar Myrdal) and "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas." The article discusses the impact of racial inequality on public education and the role of public…

Argues that the single most enduring effect of "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas," has been to reverse the public policy of racial segregation approved by the Supreme Court in "Plessy v. Ferguson." The article reviews instances of resistance and violence, government use of troops, and present situations of school…

The federal government has been important in developing and enforcing school desegregation law, including "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas". The ambiguity of the "Brown" decision has allowed considerable flexibility in defining and remedying discrimination. The U.S. Department of Justice must protect the gains…

The "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas" decision was a crucial 20th century civil rights event. However, civil rights leaders underestimated the depth of racism and the enormity of the task of getting all black agricultural workers into the mainstream economy. That task, left over from slavery, still faces the American…

Schools are inadequately prepared to serve the needs of increasing numbers of culturally diverse students. Problems relate to desegregation, multicultural education, higher quality education, and bilingual education. New York City is used as an example, noting the school system's role in serving New York's immigrant students. (SM)

Summarizes the role of short-term and long-term effects of social science research in examining the impact of school desegregation policies on black students, discussing whether it works to improve student achievement. The article suggests that short-term effects research has traditionally been less informative than long-term effects research. (SM)

Defends race- and gender-based affirmative action against recent attacks by liberals and conservatives, arguing that a need-based approach is not an adequate substitute and demonstrating that there are three independent moral foundations for a race and gender approach that are not adequately met by the need-based alternative which would make…

Reexamines the Supreme Court's school desegregation opinions, including "Brown v. Board of Education," and concludes that a multicultural society was not part of the Supreme Court's vision of public schools. Argues that the ideology of those opinions cannot be the basis of school districts' efforts to bring together racially or…

Since 1954, the force of law has been required to achieve much of America's school desegregation. Though "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas" (1954) provided a legal basis for equal education, many inequalities still exist. In order to fulfill "Brown"'s mandate, the education community must accept its leadership…