2004-5-16
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VOICE ONE:
Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English. I'm Steve
Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Faith Lapidus. Today we look back at an event fifty years
ago in civil rights history. On May seventeenth, ninety-fifty-four,
the Supreme Court ruled that racial separation in public schools
violated the Constitution.
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VOICE ONE:
The year is eighteen-ninety-six. Northern states won the Civil
War thirty years ago. Southerners lost the right to have slaves.
Black people are supposed to have the same legal rights now as white
people under the Constitution.
Yet the Supreme Court has just declared that blacks and whites
can be educated in separate schools. The schools can be separate as
long as the quality of the education is equal.
VOICE TWO:
Now it is nineteen-fifty-four. Almost sixty years have passed.
These days, there is a lot of talk about civil rights. The United
States armed services are no longer separated by race. President
Harry Truman made that an order in nineteen-forty-eight, three years
after World War Two ended.
After the war, society is changing. Life is getting better, but
not for all Americans. Equal treatment is an issue not just in the
military.
Now, the Supreme Court declares
that schools paid for with public money must be open to students of
all races.
VOICE ONE:
The case was important in the movement to gain equal rights for
African Americans. At that time, it was legal to separate blacks and
whites in public places as long as the services were "separate but
equal." But schools for white children were almost always better.
The situation was worst in the South. Most blacks in the South
were not permitted to vote. They were denied jobs. They often had to
live in fear of racists.
The National Organization for the Advancement of Colored People
is a leading civil rights group. In the nineteen-forties, the
N-double-A-C-P decided to take action to get the Supreme Court to
reconsider its eighteen-ninety-six ruling.
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VOICE TWO:
In nineteen-fifty-one, the
N-double-A-C-P sent its lawyers to help an African American man in
the middle of the country. Oliver Brown of Topeka, Kansas, wanted to
send his daughter, Linda, to a new school closer to their home. But
the school said no. That school was for white children only.
So Oliver Brown and twelve other black parents in Topeka brought
legal action. State courts ruled against them.
After that, the parents joined with black families in other
states. Twenty other states also separated schoolchildren by race.
With the help of the N-double-A-C-P, the parents appealed their case
to the Supreme Court.
VOICE ONE:
The court decided to combine five cases involving schools in
Kansas, South Carolina, Delaware, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
These cases became known together as Brown versus the Board of
Education.
Thurgood Marshall was the top
lawyer for the civil rights organization. Later, he became the first
African American justice on the Supreme Court.
The case opened in nineteen-fifty-two. Thurgood Marshall and
other lawyers presented their side. They argued that separate
schools denied black children the constitutional right of equal
protection under the law.
VOICE TWO:
The Supreme Court justices considered the case for almost a year
and a half. Then on May seventeenth, nineteen-fifty-four, they
announced their decision. All nine justices called for an end to
racial separation in public schools. They decided that the rule of
"separate but equal" had no place in public education.
They found that separation made minority students feel of lesser
value. This affected their ability to learn. The next year, the
court said public schools must accept children of all races as
quickly as possible.
Some of the twenty-one states moved quickly to permit black
students and white students to attend the same schools. Some in the
South, however, resisted. The governor of Virginia closed public
schools to thousands of students rather than desegregate.
VOICE ONE:
In nineteen-fifty-seven, the governor of Arkansas called out
state troops. Orval Faubus ordered them to bar a group of black
students from a school in the city of Little Rock. President Dwight
Eisenhower sent federal troops to Little Rock to protect black
students.
In nineteen-sixty-four Congress passed a civil rights act. This
law said the government could withdraw federal aid to schools that
were racially separated. By nineteen-seventy, schools in the South
were described as more integrated than anywhere else in the country.
Experts say this remains true. Yet it is still possible to find
traditional events like separate dances for blacks and whites.
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VOICE TWO:
After the Brown decision, many people and groups organized
protests to demand equal rights for black people in all areas of
life. The ruling also led to hundreds of other civil rights cases
along with legislation.
The Civil Rights Act of nineteen-sixty-four banned unequal
treatment of black people in employment and public places. The
Voting Rights Act of nineteen-sixty-five banned actions by Southern
states that prevented black people from voting.
VOICE ONE:
Recently, experts have been discussing the progress made in the
fifty years since the decision. Many note the improvements in the
number of black students who graduate from high school. And they say
growing numbers of minorities are studying science and engineering
in higher education.
However, black and Hispanic students are still far more likely
than whites or Asian Americans to leave high school early. Critics
also note that there are areas throughout the country where racial
and ethnic groups live separately. This is the result not of laws,
but usually of economics and immigration patterns.
Research shows that most white, black and Hispanic students still
go to a school where they are in the majority. Public schools get
most of their money from taxes, often based on local property
values. Schools that are mostly black or Hispanic often have too
many students and not enough money. Many critics also say blacks and
Hispanics are too often placed in lower-level programs instead of
honors classes.
VOICE TWO:
Legal rulings during the nineteen-nineties have led to the end of
court-supervised desegregation programs in many cities. These
included programs like busing students across town in an effort to
establish racially mixed schools. But creating a balance became more
and more difficult. Many white families moved out of cities. Or they
put their children into private schools.
Some critics say that segregation is worse now in parts of the
country than it was at the time of the Brown decision. But some
steps have been taken to improve the quality of schools.
In January of two-thousand-two, President Bush signed a federal
education law that his administration proposed in Congress. The law
is called No Child Left Behind. By two-thousand-fourteen, it calls
for all children to be able to read and do math at the grade level
for their age.
Yet many schools are struggling to meet the requirements. Some
states have been taking steps to withdraw, even if they lose federal
aid.
VOICE ONE:
One way schools have tried to increase racial balance is through
affirmative action. Such programs give special consideration to
minorities who want to attend. Last year, the Supreme Court agreed
to let the University of Michigan law school continue its program.
Affirmative action is under attack, though. Some call it unfair.
Others say students who attend racially mixed schools are better
prepared to live in society. But some civil rights leaders say they
are more concerned with the quality of the education than the racial
balance of a school.
VOICE TWO:
The daughters of Oliver Brown are taking part in the fiftieth
anniversary celebration of the ruling in their famous case. Linda
Brown Thompson and her sister Cheryl Brown Henderson operate a
private organization. It is called the Brown Foundation for
Educational Equity, Excellence and Research. It awards scholarships
and publishes information about the case.
The Brown sisters say huge gains have been made since
nineteen-fifty-four. But they say America still has a long way to
go.
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VOICE ONE:
Our program was written by Cynthia Kirk and produced by Caty
Weaver. I'm Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for THIS IS
AMERICA, in VOA Special English.