Was Brown V. Board of Education Correctly Decided?
This question has become a standard one asked of nominees to the Supreme Court and Federal Judgeships to assure onlookers that if confirmed, the Judge/Justice will be fair to members without regard to race. The standard answer used to be, “Of course, it’s a landmark decision declaring segregation was Unconstitutional.” Now, the answer has become something like, “It would be inappropriate for me to comment on a matter which might come before the Court. That’s the kind of answer Wendy Vitter gave today during her confirmation hearing. She needn't have worried about anything she said. Senate Republicans confirmed her anyway. She’s also given speeches saying abortion causes cancer and Planned Parenthood kills 150,000 women a year so there’s that.
A cynic might suggest that reply is a wink and a nod to those who support segregation and would like to see it return even faster than it already is. I suspect that no one will ever give the correct answer. That while Brown V. Board could not help but declare segregation Unconstitutional, the decision which called for its decision to be implemented, “With all deliberate speed,” made the decision not a landmark one but one of the weakest of all-time, in some cases almost useless.
On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court made equal opportunity in education the law of the land. But it was a law without…
