The Paradox of the Promised Unfulfilled: Brown v. Board of Education and the Continued Pursuit of Excellence in Education

Greene's article here makes the interesting assertion that although Brown v. Board was the right decision regarding "separate but equal's" inherent inequality, the procedures used to solve the problem only cemented already racist ideas, and in some ways actually hurt black communities.

Greene first explains that many black teachers and administrators lost their jobs following the decision. This is due to the fact that in response to the decision many black schools simply shut down and their students were bussed to formerly white schools in the area. To this day there are far more minority students than teachers, and Greene shows numbers from many cities across the country that are a little astounding. Along with the lost jobs there was the idea in the shutting down of black schools that they were, in fact, inferior to the white schools, and the only way for black's to get a proper education was for them to learn from the whites.

It's very interesting to me, because while I understand how structurally it was probably easier for things to work out as they did, I never really considered the alternate ramifications that Greene explains here. Despite this I still have a hard time believing that the case was decided incorrectly, but it does make me consider the idae that maybe they should have spelled out in a little more detail how the desegregation would happen, and keep a closer eye on the process.