Using Quant Crit analysis, Resilience Theory, and Critical Race Theory, this qualitative phenomenological study was designed to gather information to further understand the phenomena of racism and sexism. The study involved K-12 charter school administrators with at least three years of charter school administrative experience in central New York.…

This conceptual analysis centers two historical periods in which Black communities in the United States secured educational rights for themselves in spite of (not because of) intervention from the federal government. Drawing from the Critical Race Theory, the authors argue that Reconstruction and the post-"Brown" era offer valuable…

What are the origins of educational rights? In this essay, Espinoza and Vossoughi assert that educational rights are "produced," "affirmed," and "negated" not only through legislative and legal channels but also through an evolving spectrum of educational activities embedded in everyday life. Thus, they argue that the…

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…

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…

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 once all black Howard High School in Wilmington, Delaware, has had a long and interesting past. For more than a century, the high school attempted to maintain a strong academic core amidst pressure from the white community to become a vocational or "industrial" school, following the Tuskegee model. In this article, the author…

The simple mention of reparations for African-Americans in the United States can be counted on to generate a firestorm. When it comes to the issue of recompense for injustices Black Americans have suffered throughout U.S. history--slavery, Jim Crow segregation, and other political and social mechanisms designed to maintain racial inequality--the…

Analyses of the Brown decision often overstate its importance. For centuries before it was handed down, white Americans regarded blacks as inferior. During the time of slavery, white men (including those of apparent stature, such as Jefferson and Lincoln) felt that for some reason society could do to black people that which it could not do to any…

On May 17, 1954, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas." State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was declared a violation of the 14th Amendment and was unconstitutional. This historic decision marked the end of the…

Analyzes four significant court cases that span the rise of a body of jurisprudence in the United States known as civil rights law. Describes each of these cases in detail showing the profound impact they have had on the rights of all citizens and, in particular, African Americans. (CMK)

The United States Supreme Court has had a significant role in the exploration and definition of affirmative action in this country. No more so than in the recent decisions related to the University of Michigan admissions cases. This article will explore the historical role of the U.S. Supreme Court and the decisions that this entity has made in…

The history of the ideal of equality is traced from Plato to the present. The relevance for American society of equality of opportunity and of condition is explored, especially in terms of legal developments and educational policy. An intermediate judicial standard has evolved, straddling rational basis and strict scrutiny interpretations. (AF)

"Brown v. Board of Education" reminds this author, a linguist, of the linguistic diversity among black Americans, be they descendants of enslaved Africans--as he is proud to be--or Africans who escaped slavery. There is as much linguistic diversity among their race as among any other racial or ethnic group in the United States. When the…