From 1896 to 1954, the "separate but equal" doctrine instituted by the landmark "Plessy v. Ferguson" case reverberated in public education in the United States until its rejection in the 1954 "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka" Supreme Court decision. In this integrative literature review, the authors sought to…

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…

This article describes how the impact of state accountability penalties at the school-district level are not limited to the sanctioned school systems classified as low performing or unaccredited. Instead, by law in Missouri, there is a regional effect that is largely ignored in most discussions of high-stakes accountability. The goal of this…

The racial diversification of America's higher education system has been at the forefront of legal argument for the last seventy-five years. Ground-breaking decisions birthed the inclusion of affirmative action policies in higher education after the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In recent years, both the utility and constitutionality…

This article highlights the overshadowed contributions that Marion Thompson Wright, Ruby Jackson Gainer, and Mamie Phipps Clark made to the landmark "Brown v. Board of Education" case. Arguably, "Brown" would not have materialized without their legal and scholarly activism. Yet their legacies were eclipsed by legendary race men…

The anti-slavery ministry of Rev. John G. Fee and the unlikely establishment of Berea College in Kentucky in the 1850s, the first college in the southern United States to be coeducationally and racially integrated, are examined to further understand the conditions surrounding these extraordinary historical events. The Berea case illustrates how…

In 1954, the United States Supreme Court decided "Brown v. Board of Education" and ordered the desegregation of students by race in public schools. Many of the states as well as the federal executive branch of government expressed some level of opposition to this order. Over time, courts have taken alternative positions on the education…

Youth homelessness is a distressing trend in the United States (U.S.). In 2013, more than one million homeless students were enrolled in the U.S. public school system. The District of Columbia, the nation's capital, is also experiencing a surge in the number of homeless youth. In April 2015, one in every twenty-four students attending the District…

Eighteen years after the Supreme Court rendered its decision in Fordice, many states have complied somewhat or not at all to its mandates. This has been particularly evident in Maryland, where the presidents of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are pressuring the state to fulfill its commitment with the Office of Civil Rights…

This article examines the under-representation of Black students in gifted education, asserting that social inequalities (e.g., prejudice and discrimination) contribute to segregated gifted education programs. Under-representation trends are presented for gifted education, along with methods for calculating under-representation and then inequity…

The purpose of this study is to address differences in states' capital spending between public four-year historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and their predominantly White institutions (PWIs) counterparts located in the southeastern and bordering regions of the United States. This investigation was viewed through nine academic…

This article uses critical race theory, court opinions, newspapers, and interviews to explain how the burden of busing for desegregation was placed upon Blacks in Nashville, Tennessee and why the agenda of the litigants in the Kelley v. Metropolitan Board of Education cases shifted over time. The deliberate pace of the initial desegregation…

The "United States v. Fordice" was decided in the United States Supreme Court in 1992, and it represents the most recent ruling on desegregation for those states that have historically maintained racially segregated systems of higher education. This study raises the question of what would Mississippi higher education be without public…

Historically, the Federal courts have played a decisive role in school desegregation; but this issue appears to be stalemated as the courts retreat from their strong position of the late 1960's. (Author/AM)

Judge Robert L. Carter submits this article on "Brown's" legacy in recognition of the invaluable role "The Journal of Negro Education" has played in this fight; it served as a forum for academic discussion and helped facilitate the development of creative strategies. Over the past seventy-five years "The Journal" has…