Commentary; Posted: 4/14/04

Did Brown vs. Board of Education serve its purpose?

By Christina Nowicki

In 1954, the Supreme Court made a ruling about segregation. They felt that the schools were giving blacks unfair education by splitting the two ethnic groups of black and white apart.

That was 50 years ago.

Did that ruling eliminate the segregation? Read on to discover if I think that ruling solved all of the segregation problems in the United States.

Schools are not as segregated today as they were before 1954, but they still have some segregation problems.

I think that when the Supreme Court made the Brown versus Board of Education ruling, it only solved a portion of the problems. There are some schools that donít outwardly say that they are just for whites, or just for blacks but they still give off that message.

This is especially true in certain colleges of the nation. Segregation is not as evident in schools across the United States present day, but in other areas, integration is not commonly seen.

One of these places would be church. The churches today are very segregated between blacks and whites. Some congregations are totally white, while others are totally black. It has been this way for a long time, and I think some more integration should be in order for coming years.

I think that segregation is very prominent today in the workplace. Some jobs are set on hiring only the minority. This is a very unfair thing to do, but it is still common all around the United States. Some programs elect only blacks or only whites. There are musical groups, too, that sing lyrics that oppose integration. This shows that segregation, although outlawed, is still here. It will never leave the United States because it has become too common.

To promote desegregation in my school and society, I could do a variety of things. I could be sure to include everyone in projects and groups. Integration would be achieved through this. Perhaps other people would see my example and follow what I am doing.

If this effect were achieved, everyone would feel a part of something.

They would learn that everyone is equal. I could also treat everyone the same. I donít feel that just because your skin color is different, you should be treated unequally. I have never felt that it was right to discriminate against another person. No matter if the person were black or white, I would treat them equally. Maybe there wouldnít be as much segregation between people if others saw my point of view and were fair to everyone.

I could also promote integration in my school by sticking up for everyone.

If I saw someone being teased because of his or her skin color, I would tell the bully to stop. It very well could be that a reason for segregation is because of teasing. People get hurt because of racial comments made to them. If I were to stop some of the teasing before it started, this could promote integration in my school and in my town. People of all colors might feel more comfortable around each other if they knew that they would not be discriminated against.

In conclusion, no one deserves to be treated unequally. The Supreme Court made a ruling in 1954 that eliminated some of the problems of segregation. Unfortunately, I do not think that it took care of all of the problems. However, I believe that through time and people who want to make a difference, integration could be achieved even more in the United States.

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