50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board decision
OFFICE OF THE INTERNATIONAL GRAND BASILEUS
May 2004
Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the
Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court Decision
On May 17, 1954, our nation took a major step toward the promise of equality when the United States Supreme Court handed down an opinion declaring "separate but equal" in public education unconstitutional. The Court, in its landmark decision, Oliver L. Brown et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka et al. (Brown v. Board), reversed 58 years of segregation sewn into the legal fabric of this nation since the infamous 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision.
On that day 50 years ago, the dreams of the common man gave strength to the celebrated “to do the right thing” by ending legal segregation in public education and tearing at the foundation of “Jim Crow” in America.
We owe much to the heroes of that struggle from the parents who wanted complete access to the nation's public educational system and the attorneys who championed their cause to many others who have refused to give up no matter how powerful the opponent or how unfair the odds. Brown v. Board speaks to our history of hope and perseverance. It demonstrates the strength and character of ordinary people determined to make a change for a cause that is just.
On May 17, 2004, Zeta women around the world will commemorate this historic legal victory by reflecting on the blessings of education and opportunity. We have much for which to be thankful. Many of our educational and economic achievements are the direct result of the gains ushered in by the Brown v. Board decision and our involvement in the Civil Rights victories that followed.
We also recognize that the fight for equal educational opportunity did not end with Brown v. Board. In 2004, we find ourselves debating issues such as:
•Disparate funding of education
•Disproportionately high drop-out rates among Black and Hispanic/Latino youth
•Re-segregation of schools
These challenges are threats to the future of the public education system and can not be ignored if we are to fulfill the promise and spirit of Brown v. Board.
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority is an organization of more than 100,000 college educated woman whose professions within the arts, letters, business, government, science, law, social services, medicine, and education leave no area untouched. We remain vigilant in our commitment to work in the spirit of Brown v. Board to ensure that all children are properly educated. We stand together with organizations such as the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Urban League, the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund, and others who continue to work toward opportunity and access for all.
These words taken from the Brown v. Board opinion are just as true today as when they were written 50 years ago:
In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.
We must continue the fight to make it so.
Barbara C. Moore
International President
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.
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Posted by:
Gigail "Gail" Cureton
National Director, Marketing Communications and Public Relations
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.
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