Date: 2014-05-19
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the gentleman very much for his leadership on this very important night and for this very important opportunity to discuss equality in America. And we are joined by our colleagues. Mr. JEFFRIES of New York and. of course. our chair. Chairwoman FUDGE. The CBC has led on issuestopical issues but painful issues. issues that are important not only to the people of color but certainly to people around the Nation and. I might say. as they look upon the United States as a beacon of light. to people around the world. Often when I travel internationally. I will hear people speak of the work that we do on the floor of the House. So I. too. come to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Brown v. The Board of Education and remind my colleagues that some 60 years ago. the Supreme Court unlocked the schoolhouse doors. broke down yet another barrier to equality. and beat the long arc of moral history toward justice. But we come now 60 years later. And I just want to speak to a few points. for many of my colleagues have already been on the floor of the House. I wanted to express some of the consternations that really unwind. if you will. the goodness of the Warren Court and its efforts to make a difference in the lives of so many Americans. Let me just read these words that were in Newsweek 60 years ago about this decision: It was the most momentous court decision in the whole history of the Negros struggle to achieve equal rights in the United States. and the result will be nothing short of social upheaval. The challenges: Personal prejudice against the Negro will. of course. linger on. for although a court decision can restrain the actions of man. it cannot change overnight the way he thinks. Prejudice. however. no longer will become institutionalized. "Jim Crow" will become an outlaw. In the backdrop of Cliven Bundy. Donald Sterling. and the recent affirmative action decision by the Supreme Court. one would wonder how we are moving forward and how this Supreme Court decision Brown v. Topeka cannot be undermined. Quickly. I want to say that the Court got it wrong in the affirmative action decision. and Brown lays the framework for equality and opportunity and exposure. and the affirmative action decision took away the polio vaccination. if you will. for this ongoing divide between people of color. And as you can see in higher education at the University of Michigan and Michigan State. you will see the numbers going down of people of color. African Americans. At Berkeley. in California. the numbers are going down. So affirmative action was not a handout. It was a partner to Brown v. Topeka. It was. in fact. the opportunity to carry out the dream that Dr. Martin Luther King had. So all of us have to come together and experience each others experiences. We have to stand in the shoes of young people who want opportunity. whether they are Hispanic or African American or Asian or whether they are. in fact. Anglo. In the State of Texas. there is a sizable segregation of Hispanic children. and it is because of their regional location. But what I would argue is that excellence has to go beyond that. As we stand here looking for integration. we must stand here demanding excellence in education for our children. and we need to ask the Supreme Court for its reconsideration in the affirmative action decision which undermines Brown v. Topeka. Let me celebrate this great decision. Brown v. Topeka. and commit ourselves to working continuously to make a difference in childrens lives. Mr. Speaker. I rise with my CBC colleagues and others in commemoration of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. As you are well aware the case that came to be known as Brown v. Board of Education was actually the name given to five separate cases that were hear by the U.S. Supreme Court concerning the issue of segregation in public schools. These cases were Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Briggs v. Elliot. Davis v. Board of Education of Prince Edward County (VA.). Boiling v. Sharpe. and Gebhart v. Ethel. These cases came about because unfortunately. as a result of the Plessy decision. in the early twentieth century. the Supreme Court continued to uphold the legality of Jim Crow laws and other forms of racial discrimination. It was a very perilous time for Black Americans in this country. It is one thing to allow legalized separation on a de facto basis. but the Plessy decision all but codified segregation. This deprived Black Americans and others of the ability to pull themselves up by their bootstrapsbecause they could not even go into the store to buy some boots. Or receive an education. You may recall the case of Cumming v. Richmond (Ga.) County Board of Education (1899). for instance. where the Court refused to issue an injunction preventing a school board from spending tax money on a white high school when the same school board voted to close down a black high school for financial reasons. The facts of each case were different. but the same principle holds: it was time that the Court revisited this issue. The main issue in each was the constitutionality of statesponsored segregation in public schools. Once again. Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund handled these cases. The threejudge panel had already ruled in favor of the school boards prior to the cases going up to the Supreme Court. When the cases came before the Supreme Court in 1952. the Court consolidated all five cases under the name of Brown v. Board of Education. Thurgood Marshall personally argued the case before the Court. A number of legal issues were raised on appeal but the most common one was that separate school systems for blacks and whites were inherently unequal. and thus were in violation of the "equal protection clause" of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Furthermore. relying on sociological tests. such as the one performed by social scientist Kenneth Clark. and other data. he also argued that segregated school systems had a tendency to make black children feel inferior to white children. and thus such a system should not be legally permissible. Because of the difficulty in reaching a decision the cases were held over until the next term. On May 14. 1954. he delivered the opinion of the Court. stating that "We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of separate but equal has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal Although it took many years for the Courts plan of desegration with "all deliberate speed." Brown paved the way and the struggle continues in the Houston Independent Schools District and elsewhere around this great nation. I urge my colleagues to take a moment to reflect on the importance of this great yet troubled period in our great nation. [From Newsweek. May 14. 2014]