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The Educational Forum Volume 41, 1977 - Issue 4
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Original Articles

Implementing the Promise of Brown

Julius L. Chambers NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
Pages 415-429 | Published online: 30 Jan 2008

Notes

  • 347 U.S. 483, 494–95 n. 11( 1954 ).
  • See e.g., Stell v. Savannah-Chatham County Board of Education , 220 F. Supp. 667 (S.D. Ga. 1963 ), injunction granted pending appeal on merits, 318 F. 2d 425 (5th Cir. 1963), District Court opinion reversed, 333 F. 2d 55 (5th Cir.), cert. den. sub non. Roberts v. Stell, 379 U.S. 933 (1964); Wechsler, “Toward Neutral Principles of Constitutional Law,” Harvard Law Review 73 (1959).
  • See e.g., Armor , “The Evidence on Busing,” Pub. Interest 28 ( Summer 1972 ): 90 ; J. S. Coleman, S. D. Kelly and J. Moore, “Trends in School Segregation, 1968–73” (Unpublished papers, July 28, 1975 and August 1975, Urban Institute, Washington, D.C.).
  • Stell v. Savannah-Chatham County Board of Education , supra note 1.
  • Bell , “Waiting on the Promise of Brown,” 39 Law & Contemp. Prob. 341 ( 1975 ); Hawley & Rist, “On Future Implementation of School Desegregation,” 39 Law & Contemp. Prob. 412(1975).
  • For an excellent discussion on judicial implementation efforts, see Read , “Judicial Evolution of the Law of School Integration Since Brown v. Board of Education,” 39 Law & Contemp. Prob. 7 (1975).
  • Staff of Senate Select Comm. on Equal Educational Opportunity, 92d Cong., 2d Sess. “ Report: Toward Equal Educational Opportunity ” (Comm. Print 1972 ).
  • See R. McKay , “Courts, Congress, and School Desegregation” (Unpublished paper, U.S. Civ. Rights Commission Conference, December 1975 ).
  • E.g., Bradley v. School Board of City of Richmond , 462 F. 2d 1058 (4th Cir. 1972 ), aff'd by equally divided Court, 412 U.S. 92 (1973); Milliken v. Bradley, 418 U.S. 717 (1974); Carr v. Montgomery County Board of Education, 377 F. Supp. 1123 (M.D. Ala. 1974), aff'd 511 F. 2d 1374 (5th Cir.), rehearing den., 511 F. 2d 1390 (5th Cir. 1975), cert. den.,—U.S.—, 46 L. ed. 2d 303 (1975); Calhoun v. Cook, 522 F. 2d 717 (5th Cir. 1975), rehearing den.,—F. 2d—(5th Cir. 1976).
  • Bickel , “The Decade of School Desegregation: Progress and Prospects,” Columbia Law Review 64 ( 1964 ): 193 , 196. In commenting on the “deliberate speed” sanctioned in Brown II, 394 U.S. 294, 301 (1955), Professor Bickel wrote: It went without saying … that while the vitality of constitutional principles as reflected in specific Court orders ought, to be sure, not be allowed to yield simply because of disagreement with them, disagreement is legitimate and relevant and will, in our system, legitimately and inevitably cause delay in compliance with law laid down by the Supreme Court, and will indeed, if it persists and is widely enough shared, overturn such law.
  • Brown I , 347 U.S. at 492–94.
  • Pollak , “Racial Discrimination and Judicial Integrity: A Reply to Professor Wechsler,” University of Pennsylvania Law Review 108 ( 1959 ): 1 ; Amaker, “Milliken v. Bradley: The Meaning of the Constitution in School Desegregation Cases,” Hastings Const. L. Quarterly 2 (1975):349.
  • 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1856).
  • Id. at 13.
  • Section 1 of the Amendment provides: nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State where they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States;
  • “ Neither slavery or involuntary servitude … shall exist within the United States… . ”
  • 59 Mass. (5 Cush.) 198( 1850 ).
  • 59 Mass. (5Cush.)at 17.
  • 109 U.S.3 ( 1883 ).
  • Id. at 25.
  • 163 U.S. 537 ( 1896 ).
  • Id. at 550.
  • Id. at 551.
  • Id. at 557, 560.
  • 175 U.S. 529( 1899 ).
  • Id. at 544.
  • 59 Mass. (5 Cush.) 198 ( 1950 ).
  • 163 U.S. 537( 1896 ).
  • 305 U.S. 337( 1938 ).
  • 332 U.S. 631( 1948 ).
  • 339 U.S. 637 ( 1950 ).
  • Id. at 641.
  • 339 U.S. 629( 1950 ).
  • 339 U.S. at 634–34.
  • 387 U.S. at 483.
  • See, e.g., Cahn , Jurisprudence , New York University Law Review 30 ( 1955 ): 150 .
  • E.g., Wechsler , “ Neutral Principles ”; Howie, “The Image of Black People in Brown v. Board of Education,” Black Law Journal 1 (1972):234; Steel, “Nine Men Who Think White,” New York Times Magazine, Oct. 13, 1968.
  • Carter , “ Equal Educational Opportunity, An Overview ,” Black Law Journal , 1972 , p. 197 .
  • Bickel , “ The Least Dangerous Branch: The Supreme Court at the Bar of Politics ,” 249–54( 1962 ).
  • See 347 U.S. at 492–95.
  • Id. at 489.
  • Id. at 495.
  • 349 U.S. 294 ( 1955 ).
  • Id. at 299.
  • Id. at 300.
  • Ibid.
  • 358 U.S. 1( 1958 ).
  • Id. at16. See also Griffin v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, 377 U.S. 218 (1964) (local school authorities may not close school districts to avoid desegregation so long as the state maintains free public education for other students in the state); Read, “Judicial Evolution of the Law of School Integration Since Brown v. Board of Education,” 39 Law & Contemp. Prob. 1 (1975).
  • 391 U.S. 430( 1968 ). See also Monroe v. Board of Commissioners , 391 U.S. 450 (1968); Raney v. Board of Education, 391 U.S. 443 (1968).
  • Green represented the first rejection by the Supreme Court of the famous dictum in Briggs v. Elliott , 132 F. Supp. 776 , 777 (E.D.S.C. 1955) (three-judge court), that Brown “does not require integration. It merely forbids discrimination.” This dictum had seriously hampered desegregation efforts for more than a decade. Read, supra at 12–28.
  • 396 U.S. 19 (1969). See also Carter v. West Feliciana Parish School Board , 396 U.S. 290 ( 1970 ); Read, supra at 30–32.
  • 402 U.S. 1( 1971 ).
  • 402 U.S. 33 ( 1971 ).
  • Swarm , 402 U.S. at 15.
  • Davis , 402 U.S. at 37.
  • Swann , 402 U.S. at 30–31. Swann, like Brown contained language which could be exploited for political exigencies. See Thompson v. School Board of City of Newport New, 363 F. Supp. 458 (E.D. Va. 1973), aff'd 498 F. 2d 195 (4th Cir. 1974); Can v. Montgomery County Board of Education, Supra note 9; Calhoun v. Latimer, Supra note 9.
  • Swann , 402 U.S. at 16.
  • McKay , Supra at note 8.
  • 462 F. 2d 1058 (4th Cir. 1972 ), aff'd by an equally divided Court, 412 U.S. 92 ( 1973 ).
  • 418 U.S. 717( 1974 ).
  • See also Wheeler v. Durham County Board of Education , 379 F. Supp. 1352 (M.D. N.C. 1974 ), rev'd on other grounds, 521 F. 2d 1136 (4th Cir. 1975). But see Newburg Area Council, Inc. v. Board of Education of Jefferson County, 510 F. 2d 1358 (6th Cir. 1974), cert. den. 43 U.S.L. Week 3571 (U.S. Sup. Ct. No. 74–1122, April 22, 1975) and Evans v. Buchanan, 379 F. Supp. 1218 (D.Del. 1974), cert, den., U.S., 46 L. ed. 2d 293 (1976).
  • E.g., Bell , “ Waiting. ” We do not discuss here the defacto-de jure distinction. See Keyes v. School Board of Denver, 413 U.S. 189 (1973) and Mr. Justice Powell's concurring and dissenting opinion 217–54. For suggestion of abolition of these distinctions, see Fiss, “Racial Imbalance in the Public Schools: The Constitutional Concepts,” Harvard Law Review 78 (1965):564. Wright, “Public School Desegregation: Legal Remedies for De Facto Segregation,” New York University Law Review 40 (1965): 285. Silard, “Toward Nationwide School Desegregation: A 'Compelling State Interest' Test of Racial Concentration in Public Education,” N.C. Law Review 51 (1973):675. We note only in passing that many of the same racial practices and the recognition of the history of pervasive racism noted in Brown are equally discernable in the alleged de facto segregated school districts. See Keyes, supra at 214–17, concurring opinion of Mr. Justice Douglas; 217–36, concurring and dissenting opinion of Mr. Justice Powell; Fiss, supra; Comment, “Keyes v. School District No. 1: Unlocking the Northern Schoolhouse Doors,” Harv. Civ. Rights Civ. Lib. Ls. Rev. 9 (1974): 124.
  • See, e.g., Read , supra at 47–49.
  • E.g., J. S. Coleman , S. D. Kelly and J. Moore , supra note 3; Hawley & Rist, supra note 5.
  • Compare Swann v. Charlotte-Mechlenburg Board of Education , 402 U.S. 1 ( 1971 ); Medley v. School Board of City of Danville, 482 F. 2d 1061 (4th Cir. 1973), cert, den., 414 U.S. 1172 (1974), with Can v. Montgomery County Board of Education, supra note 9 and Calhoun v. Cook, supra note 9.
  • See Thompson v. School Board of City of Newport News, supra note 55; Northcross v. Board of Education of Memphis City Schools, 489 F. 2d 15 (6th Cir. 1973), cert. den. 416 U.S. 962 (1974); Goss v. Board of Education of City of Knoxville, 482 F. 2d 1044 (6th Cir. 1973), cert, den., 414 U.S. 1171 (1974); Mapp v. Board of Education of City of Chattanooga, 477 F. 2d 851 (6th Cir.), cert. den., 414 U.S. 1022(1973).
  • See Amaker , “ Milliken ”; Bickel, supra note 10.
  • Read , supra at 10–20; Knowles, “School Desegregation,” N.C.L. Rev. 42 (1963):67.
  • See U. S. Comm'n on Civil Rights , Survey of School Desegregation in Southern and Border States , 1965–1966, pp. 30 – 44 51–52( 1966 ).
  • Green , supra at 440–42 and n. 5.
  • E.g., Allen v. Asheville City Board of Education , 434 F. 2d 902 (4th Cir. 1970 ). But see Bell v. West Point Municipal Separate School District, 446 F. 2d 1362 (5th Cir. 1971).
  • E.g., Chambers v. Hendersonville City Board of Education , 364 F. 2d 189 (4th Cir. 1966 ); Singleton v. Jackson Municipal Separate School District, 419 F. 2d 1211 (1970).
  • See, e.g., Children's Defense Fund of the Washington Research Project, Inc., Children Out of School in America ( 1974 ).
  • Jackson v. Marvell School District No. 22 425 F. 2d 211 (8th Cir. 1970 ); Moses v. Washington Parish School Board, 330 F. Supp. 1340 (E.D. La. 1971), aff'd 456 F. 2d 1285 (5th Cir. 1972); McNeal v. Tate County School District, 508 F. 2d 1017 (5th Cir. 1975).
  • E.g., Milliken v. Bradley , supra note 9.
  • Swann , 402 U.S. at 22–31. See also id. at 31–32: Calhoun v. Cook, supra note 9. At some point, these school authorities and others like them should have achieved full compliance with this Court's decision in Brown I. The systems would then be “unitary. …” It does not follow that the communities served by such systems will remain demographically stable, for in a growing, mobile society, few will do so. Neither school authorities nor district courts are constitutionally required to make year-by-year adjustments of the racial composition of student bodies once the affirmative duty to desegregate has been accomplished. … Carr v. Montgomery County Board of Education, supra note 9;
  • 489 F. 2d 15 (6th Cir. 1973), cert. den. 416 U.S. 962 ( 1974 ).
  • The original District Court decision in Northcross was rendered on May 2, 1961 , the court finding no discrimination, 6 Race Rel. L. Rep. 428 (W.D.Tenn. 1961), rev'd, 302 F. 2d 818 (6th Cir. 1962). Twelve years later, after extensive litigation, the court approved the continued segregation of one-third of the black students.
  • See Bell , “School Litigation Strategies for the 1970 's: New Phases in the Continuing Quest for Quality Schools,” Wisconsin Law Review , 1970 , p. 257 . Bell, “Waiting”; Bell, Race, Racism and American Law (New York: Little, Brown & Co. 1973), pp. 574–605.
  • Bell , “ Waiting. ”
  • See Discussion supra pp. 15 – 19
  • See also McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education , supra note 31; Sweatt v. Painter, supra note 33; Mr. Justice Harlan's dissenting opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537, 557, 560(1896).
  • 318 F. Supp. 786 (W.D. N.C. 1970 ), aff'd 402 U.S. 1 ( 1974 ).
  • See Calhoun v. Cook , supra note 9.
  • Supra note 3.
  • 418 U.S. 189, 568–89( 1973 ).
  • See McKay , supra note 8.
  • E.g., Hawley & Rist, supra note 5.
  • See Levin & Moise, “School Desegregation Litigation in the Seventies and the Use of Social Science Evidence: An Annotated Guide,” 39 Law & Contemp. Prob. 50 ( 1975 ); Weinberg, “The Relationship Between School Desegregation and Academic Achievement: A Review of the Research,” 39 Law & Contemp. Prob. 240(1975).
  • E.g., Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education , 402 U.S. 1 ( 1971 ); Davis v. School Commissioners of Mobile, 402 U.S. 33 (1971); Keyes v. School Board of Denver, 418 U.S. 189(1973).
  • 60 U.S. (19Harv.)at 13.

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