It's been 65 years since the Brown v. Board of Education changed public schooling throughout a large portion of the United States. In his opinion, Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote that public education was important to democratic society and the "very foundation of good citizenship." Integrated schools, the Court argued, would expose children to new cultures and prepare them for an increasingly diverse world.
How do you balance the public good against the inherent desire every parent has to do what's best for their children? It's a question that schools across the country are still wrestling with today.
To help us understand the history of integration and the Brown decision's impacts on public policy, we're talking this week with two experts at Penn State. Crystal Sanders is an associate professor of history and African American studies and director of the Africana Research Center. She's an expert on 20th century African American history. Erica Frankenberg is a professor of education and demography and an expert on the connection between school segregation and public policy.
Frankenberg and Sanders co-chaired the Brown@65 National Symposium for the 65th anniversary of the Brown decision.
