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For Immediate Release: May 16th, 2004 Contact: Contact: Jordan Isenstadt (c) 516.991.3842 (w) 212.490.9535 (f) 212.490.2151 ***PRESS RELEASE*** State Senator Liz Krueger
Commemorates 50th
Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education New York, NY – Tomorrow marks the 50th Anniversary of the groundbreaking Supreme Court decision known as Brown v. Board of Education. With regard to Brown, State Senator Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) said, “the reason that Brown v. Board of Education was such a milestone in American history is the simple fact that education is a civil right. To deny that right is to cancel all other rights. An educated child is a child who can grow up to be a full participant in society - voting, finding meaningful work, getting involved in the community, and working to achieve his or her own dream.” On May 17, 1954, in the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the Supreme Court of the United States declared that segregating children in schools solely based on their race “[violated] the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees all citizens equal protection under the law.” Brown not only overturned the precedent of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which had stated that “separate but equal facilities” were constitutional, but also provided the legal foundation of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The majority opinion echoed the testimonies of expert witnesses, stating that for African American schoolchildren, segregation “generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely to ever be undone.” The decision went on to say that segregation had no valid purpose, was imposed to give blacks lower status, and was therefore unconstitutional based on the Fourteenth Amendment.
“The struggle of Brown and of the Civil Rights
Movement was a hard-fought battle for equality,” said Senator Krueger. “However, we must push beyond the
roadblocks that are still being put before us in terms of educational
equality. The best example is the
Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) lawsuit, which established that the State
Legislature must reform the educational funding system. Much like Brown, the CFE lawsuit
took over twenty years for a decision to be made and now that there is a
decision, the State leadership has chosen to ignore the court order. As Brown exemplified, true change
does not come easily, but no matter what obstacles are thrown in your way,
you must continue to fight for what is just.” |
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