Justice Deferred – A Half Century After Brown v. Board of Education

  • Results of longitudinal research that demonstrate effects of desegregation have been positive
  • Legal trends show steps forward and backward toward racial desegregation
  • Desegregated education prepares Black and White Americans for an interracial world.
  • Behind desegregation’s benefit;
    • 1) Involves interracial contact
    • 2) erodes avoidance learning
    • 3) blacks gains access to formerly all-White social networks
    • 4) teaches interracial interaction skills
    • 5) avoids the discriminatory stigma of Black institutions
  • Misconceptions about desegregation:
    • 1) desegregated schools have failed
    • 2) desegregation causes massive “white flight” thus interracial schools are impossible to achieve
    • 3) desegregation necessarily entails massive busing
    • 4) desegregation has become increasingly unpopular with Americans of all races
  • Important attention should be given to residential segregation.