70 Years Later: Revisiting Brown v. Board of Education & The Struggle for Racial Equity in Education

Location: Gerwirz 12
Date: March 7, 2024
Time:
Organized by Georgetown Journal of Law & Modern Critical Race Perspectives

Seventy years ago, in a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court decided the seminal case Brown v. Board of Education, holding that separate but “equal” educational facilities amongst racial lines were inherently unequal and in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. For many civil rights activists and litigants, Brown was supposed to be the beginning of achieving racial equity in education – providing hope that the effects of the previous regime of racial subordination would be remedied. Yet, today, race continues to impact the educational opportunities and experiences of millions of students nationwide. We live in a period where education has become heavily politicized, with many politicians and litigants using education to maintain the hegemony of whiteness – reliant on relegating people of color to the status of second-class citizens. Through our symposium and subsequent publication, we aim to use the 70th anniversary of Brown as a vehicle to identify and examine issues that impact the educational experiences and outcomes of students of color and explore how we can use the law to provide remedies and solutions in the persistent struggle for racial equity in education.