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Silent Covenants: Brown v. Board of Education and the Unfulfilled Hopes for Racial Reform
When the landmark Supreme Court case of Brown vs. Board of Education was handed down in 1954, many civil rights advocates believed that the decision, which declared public school segregation unconstitutional, would become the Holy Grail of racial justice. Fifty years later, despite its legal irrelevance and the racially separate and educationally ineffective state of public schooling for most black children, Brown is still viewed by many as the perfect precedent.
Here, Derrick Bell shatters the shining image of this celebrated ruling. He notes that, despite the onerous burdens of segregation, many black schools functioned well and racial bigotry had not rendered blacks a damaged race. He maintains that, given what we now know about the pervasive nature of racism, the Court should have determined instead to rigorously enforce the "equal" component of the "separate but equal" standard. Racial policy, Bell maintains, is made through silent covenants--unspoken convergences of interest and involuntary sacrifices of rights--that ensure that policies conform to priorities set by policy-makers. Blacks and whites are the fortuitous winners or losers in these unspoken agreements. The experience with Brown, Bell urges, should teach us that meaningful progress in the quest for racial justice requires more than the assertion of harms. Strategies must recognize and utilize the interest-convergence factors that strongly influence racial policy decisions.
In Silent Covenants, Bell condenses more than four decades of thought and action into a powerful and eye-opening book.
Here, Derrick Bell shatters the shining image of this celebrated ruling. He notes that, despite the onerous burdens of segregation, many black schools functioned well and racial bigotry had not rendered blacks a damaged race. He maintains that, given what we now know about the pervasive nature of racism, the Court should have determined instead to rigorously enforce the "equal" component of the "separate but equal" standard. Racial policy, Bell maintains, is made through silent covenants--unspoken convergences of interest and involuntary sacrifices of rights--that ensure that policies conform to priorities set by policy-makers. Blacks and whites are the fortuitous winners or losers in these unspoken agreements. The experience with Brown, Bell urges, should teach us that meaningful progress in the quest for racial justice requires more than the assertion of harms. Strategies must recognize and utilize the interest-convergence factors that strongly influence racial policy decisions.
In Silent Covenants, Bell condenses more than four decades of thought and action into a powerful and eye-opening book.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
33 people are currently reading
819 people want to read
About the author
Derrick A. Bell
38 books124 followersDerrick Albert Bell Jr. was the first tenured African-American professor of law at Harvard Law School and is largely credited as one of the originators of critical race theory (CRT). He was a visiting professor at New York University School of Law from 1991 until his death. He was also a dean of the University of Oregon School of Law. [wikipedia]
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
June 20, 2011
'Silent Covenants' begins with the all-too-acceptable scene of a graduation crowd applauding the decision Brown v. Board of Education as a, if not the, milestone in breaking down legitimized racial segregation.
Unfortunately, as Bell articulately suggests, the decision may in fact be not only more symbolic than substantive but may also have rippling effects that have worsened, or at least obscured, the efforts of the civil rights activists who fought so hard for this 'victory.'
A major argument put forth in 'Silent Covenants' is that the great assumptions underlying the logic of Brown were flawed from the outset. By fighting for desegregation, the lawyers, a team to which Bell himself contributed, wrongly assumed that equality would be a direct benefit of integration. However, for a number of reasons, many of which stem from the country's systematic racism, this was never the case.
In fact, in mandating that separate but equal was inherently inequitable, the Court essentially leveled the playing field of race in the minds of the public. Through Brown, equality was 'granted,' but never guaranteed. By legalizing a color-blind society, Americans were free to assume that in the lack of legal barriers, any failures of minority communities would be due wholly to their own personal failures.
Brown was not decided in a vacuum and Bell sets out to illustrate that the Court may have had reasons for rendering their decision other than purely racial altruism. In explaining the title of the book, Bell describes much of the civil right legislation as being the result of silent covenants, or compromises made by the ruling classes to appease the masses while maintaining political, economic and social control. The author shows that throughout the history of our Courts, decisions have been rendered in favor of minorities not when they benefit all parties involved, but when doing so can placate a growing issue while, again, maintaining and inequitable balance of power.
The points raised in this book speak not only to taking a critical eye to Brown but to our society as a whole. Bell's writing compels one to question the effectiveness of law in brining about justice. If law is in the hands of the ruling classes that have forever used it to protect the property of those who 'matter most,' then how can legal victories ever truly bring justice or equality to those who have been forever subordinated by such a system?
It takes enormous courage to question such widely held beliefs and even more resilience to reexamine that which one once fought so adamantly for. Outside of the book's substantive qualities, Bell's tackling of this subject is an incredible testament to his ethical ambition and the need for constant critical evaluation.
Unfortunately, as Bell articulately suggests, the decision may in fact be not only more symbolic than substantive but may also have rippling effects that have worsened, or at least obscured, the efforts of the civil rights activists who fought so hard for this 'victory.'
A major argument put forth in 'Silent Covenants' is that the great assumptions underlying the logic of Brown were flawed from the outset. By fighting for desegregation, the lawyers, a team to which Bell himself contributed, wrongly assumed that equality would be a direct benefit of integration. However, for a number of reasons, many of which stem from the country's systematic racism, this was never the case.
In fact, in mandating that separate but equal was inherently inequitable, the Court essentially leveled the playing field of race in the minds of the public. Through Brown, equality was 'granted,' but never guaranteed. By legalizing a color-blind society, Americans were free to assume that in the lack of legal barriers, any failures of minority communities would be due wholly to their own personal failures.
Brown was not decided in a vacuum and Bell sets out to illustrate that the Court may have had reasons for rendering their decision other than purely racial altruism. In explaining the title of the book, Bell describes much of the civil right legislation as being the result of silent covenants, or compromises made by the ruling classes to appease the masses while maintaining political, economic and social control. The author shows that throughout the history of our Courts, decisions have been rendered in favor of minorities not when they benefit all parties involved, but when doing so can placate a growing issue while, again, maintaining and inequitable balance of power.
The points raised in this book speak not only to taking a critical eye to Brown but to our society as a whole. Bell's writing compels one to question the effectiveness of law in brining about justice. If law is in the hands of the ruling classes that have forever used it to protect the property of those who 'matter most,' then how can legal victories ever truly bring justice or equality to those who have been forever subordinated by such a system?
It takes enormous courage to question such widely held beliefs and even more resilience to reexamine that which one once fought so adamantly for. Outside of the book's substantive qualities, Bell's tackling of this subject is an incredible testament to his ethical ambition and the need for constant critical evaluation.
April 21, 2013
This book gives a great overview of the seminal court cases leading up to Brown, and paints a grim picture for how far we haven't come since the ruling. Morever, Bell provides a compelling argument for the fact that the Supreme Court's decision was influenced not by an interest in civil rights for people of color, but by interest convergence and the socio-political context of the time. He walks back his integrationist stance from years prior when he worked as a lawyer in conjunction with the NAACP to enforce de-segregation, and instead wonders if maybe separate, but (truly) equal is the ideal. A thorougly enlightening, but also depressing read.
March 23, 2022
They do the same thing with Bell they do with every Black academic on substance, generally ignore him and, when they must cite him, engage only straw man characatures of his arguments and his early, less biting work. This is his definitive text, though according to thus site 10 times less engaged than his more fictional/hypothetical Face at the Bottom of the Well. He sets out the clear case that brown v boad was an example of interst convergence and that a strategy of fully funding black schools would have prevented its many negative results. After pretty extensive scholarship and historical analysis, He defenses independent Black schools,challenges teachers unions, and says Black people must reject the vision of white omnipotence and black inferiority. This is why you probably haven't read this book. It directly implicated the New York times crowd, which many get their book recommendations from, for celebrating the corpse of the dead brown decision without actually addressing black education the way the celebrate dead civil rights leaders without actually engaging their politics. Sadly, this book being ignored is essentially predicted by Bells theory of interst convergence, by challange the democratic party to actually do something he challenges the economy of sybolism without substance dominate liberal institutions depend on.
April 25, 2010
"Rule 1. The interest of blacks in achieving racial equality will be accommodated only when that interest converges with the interests of whites in policy-making positions. This convergence is far more important for gaining relief than the degree of harm suffered by blacks or the character of proof offered to prove that harm."
"Rule 2. Even when interest-convergence results in an effective racial remedy, that remedy will be abrogated at the point that policymakers fear the remedial policy is threatening the superior societal status of whites, particularly those in the middle and upper classes."
"Rule 2. Even when interest-convergence results in an effective racial remedy, that remedy will be abrogated at the point that policymakers fear the remedial policy is threatening the superior societal status of whites, particularly those in the middle and upper classes."
October 19, 2013
The Supreme Court decision of Brown vs. Board of Education (1954)set the pace for educational reform as it declared public school segregation unconstitutional. Bell, a hands on participant in school segregation cases during the 60s, shatters the image of the Supreme Court ruling. Instead, he defends the theory and appropriateness of enforcing the "equal" component of the "separate but equal" standard and the effects that would have had on moving towards racial justice.
An interesting approach that definitely encourages thought as you read.
An interesting approach that definitely encourages thought as you read.
August 30, 2012
A qualitative masterpiece. Bell takes his readers on a journey up through Brown and beyond providing some jewels along the way. He takes us behind the scenes when critical social justice and legal decisions were made, along with sociopolitical insights that drove those decisions.
September 10, 2023
As a 4th grade teacher in a predominantly Black charter school in an "urban center," I am aware of the debates surrounding charter schools and "segregation." For instance, a few years ago Beverly Daniel Tatum wrote an article called "Segregation worse in schools 60 years after Brown v. Board of Education," and many see "school choice" as a big part of the problem. I knew anecdotally that some strands of "Critical Race Theory" grew out of the realization that the so called "gains" of the Civil Rights movement, including Brown v. Board, didn't actually achieve the ends they intended, and I knew that Derrick Bell was a key thinker along these lines, so when I saw this book, I know that all of these interests of mine were starting to converge (pun intended ;)
This is the first book I've read by Bell, and it most definitely will not be the last. Bell is a brilliant scholar with a mastery of history and law. His endnotes cite the best historical sources, primary and secondary, and a number of court case citations as well. His scholarship is impeccable, in other words.
The book is a deep dive wrestling specifically with the lack of educational progress decades after Brown: “How could a decision that promised so much and, by its terms, accomplished so little have gained so hallowed a place among some of the nation’s better-educated and most-successful individuals?”
Coming from an armchair quarterback, this question might be easily dismissed as unwarranted griping. But Derrick Bell was no armchair quarterback. He cut his legal teeth in the 1960s traveling to the South to argue anti-segregation cases for the NAACP in states like Mississippi. Crucially, he persuaded Black parents, teachers, and school leaders to give up their schools in order to fight for integration into schools where their students were not wanted and were subsequently ill-treated. Sure, we rightly celebrate the courage of those pioneers like Ruby Bridges who broke barriers--but what were the actual gains for Black children? Now, nearly 70 years later, after the segregation academies, white-flight, red-lining, and a massive and slow-moving educational establishment, we're still largely in the same place. Maybe worse.
This is a powerful, penetrating work, that develops "interest convergence" as it applies to schools; "fortuity"; a broad sweep of American history, and school litigation in particular; affirmative action; and a survey (from 2004) of other educational options on the landscape, including Black-led culturally affirming charter and private schools.
Do I love this book because it affirms my current vocation? Goodness no--there's nothing about this situation to "love." The "opportunity gap" (fka "achievement gap") is a travesty, not something to celebrate. But what I appreciate so much about this book is Bell's clear-eyed analysis, no sugar-coating, and his call to dig deep and do something real about it. He just has his doubts about the gains of accomplishing that through the legal system.
I’m low key almost angry at the Anti-Wokeness crusaders who have cast such a pall over Bell, his work, and Critical Race Theory as a whole.
Derrick Bell was a brilliant scholar and his work deserves the widest possible audience.
This is the first book I've read by Bell, and it most definitely will not be the last. Bell is a brilliant scholar with a mastery of history and law. His endnotes cite the best historical sources, primary and secondary, and a number of court case citations as well. His scholarship is impeccable, in other words.
The book is a deep dive wrestling specifically with the lack of educational progress decades after Brown: “How could a decision that promised so much and, by its terms, accomplished so little have gained so hallowed a place among some of the nation’s better-educated and most-successful individuals?”
Coming from an armchair quarterback, this question might be easily dismissed as unwarranted griping. But Derrick Bell was no armchair quarterback. He cut his legal teeth in the 1960s traveling to the South to argue anti-segregation cases for the NAACP in states like Mississippi. Crucially, he persuaded Black parents, teachers, and school leaders to give up their schools in order to fight for integration into schools where their students were not wanted and were subsequently ill-treated. Sure, we rightly celebrate the courage of those pioneers like Ruby Bridges who broke barriers--but what were the actual gains for Black children? Now, nearly 70 years later, after the segregation academies, white-flight, red-lining, and a massive and slow-moving educational establishment, we're still largely in the same place. Maybe worse.
This is a powerful, penetrating work, that develops "interest convergence" as it applies to schools; "fortuity"; a broad sweep of American history, and school litigation in particular; affirmative action; and a survey (from 2004) of other educational options on the landscape, including Black-led culturally affirming charter and private schools.
Do I love this book because it affirms my current vocation? Goodness no--there's nothing about this situation to "love." The "opportunity gap" (fka "achievement gap") is a travesty, not something to celebrate. But what I appreciate so much about this book is Bell's clear-eyed analysis, no sugar-coating, and his call to dig deep and do something real about it. He just has his doubts about the gains of accomplishing that through the legal system.
I’m low key almost angry at the Anti-Wokeness crusaders who have cast such a pall over Bell, his work, and Critical Race Theory as a whole.
Derrick Bell was a brilliant scholar and his work deserves the widest possible audience.
February 27, 2025
This book was so incredibly illuminating - I’ve been thinking about it for days since finishing it. It tells such an important history and thought-provoking counterfactual history that challenges our cultural understanding of the perceived success of Brown v Board of Education. I don’t agree with all of Bell’s proposed solutions, but overall I love this book for how it made me think.
May 15, 2016
Overall, very good, but a few definite "issues" at the same time, which I'll note at the end.
That said, I largely agree with Bell, and with other authors who have also raised some of the same points.
"Equal" is about more than just physical integration, to the degree that was ever possible. It's also about equality in financial and other resources, and within integrated classrooms, equality of student treatment by teachers. None of that comes easily, and much of it hasn't come much further than physical integration.
He (as do other authors) note that much of the problem lies with the Supreme Court's "Brown II" ruling, which imposed no timetables and led to Southern behavior dilatory at best, intransigent at worst. (It's interesting as a historical counterfactual to wonder what would have happened if Warren had junked the desire for unanimity in remedy on Brown II, and even dropped hints that 7 votes were fine and he'd accept 6. Frankfurter would have either become more truculent, or let himself be drug along into something more than "all deliberate speed," and other holdouts might have taken note.)
From here, Bell looks at alternatives, such as African-American specific charter schools and even homeschooling. He notes both their promises and perils while encouraging an open mind to all alternatives.
That said, I did have a few "issues" with the book, generally related to Bell's Critical Race Theory background.
1. In things like Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, he seems to almost always treat improvements in racial issues in American life, when offered by white Americans, as a zero-sum game, namely that they're always done for white self interest. Why can't something be seen as, say 85 percent white self interest but yet 15 percent true benevolence.
2. "Privilege" and related issues, which have spilled into today's "social justice warrior" world. It's a relatively useful generalization, and generalizations, as compared to stereotypes, are of real value. But, generalizations can be pushed too far, and even way too far, to the point of becoming stereotypes. Plus, when dealing with individuals as individuals, it's usually better to try to remove generalization lenses.
3. Bell at one point in the book, in discussing reparations (an issue that is "fraught" among many African-Americans as well as liberal whites) claims that American Indians have received reparations. Other than small reparations to small individual tribes that don't stick out on my radar screen, this is definitely news to me — and, I venture, to millions of American Indians.
That said, I largely agree with Bell, and with other authors who have also raised some of the same points.
"Equal" is about more than just physical integration, to the degree that was ever possible. It's also about equality in financial and other resources, and within integrated classrooms, equality of student treatment by teachers. None of that comes easily, and much of it hasn't come much further than physical integration.
He (as do other authors) note that much of the problem lies with the Supreme Court's "Brown II" ruling, which imposed no timetables and led to Southern behavior dilatory at best, intransigent at worst. (It's interesting as a historical counterfactual to wonder what would have happened if Warren had junked the desire for unanimity in remedy on Brown II, and even dropped hints that 7 votes were fine and he'd accept 6. Frankfurter would have either become more truculent, or let himself be drug along into something more than "all deliberate speed," and other holdouts might have taken note.)
From here, Bell looks at alternatives, such as African-American specific charter schools and even homeschooling. He notes both their promises and perils while encouraging an open mind to all alternatives.
That said, I did have a few "issues" with the book, generally related to Bell's Critical Race Theory background.
1. In things like Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, he seems to almost always treat improvements in racial issues in American life, when offered by white Americans, as a zero-sum game, namely that they're always done for white self interest. Why can't something be seen as, say 85 percent white self interest but yet 15 percent true benevolence.
2. "Privilege" and related issues, which have spilled into today's "social justice warrior" world. It's a relatively useful generalization, and generalizations, as compared to stereotypes, are of real value. But, generalizations can be pushed too far, and even way too far, to the point of becoming stereotypes. Plus, when dealing with individuals as individuals, it's usually better to try to remove generalization lenses.
3. Bell at one point in the book, in discussing reparations (an issue that is "fraught" among many African-Americans as well as liberal whites) claims that American Indians have received reparations. Other than small reparations to small individual tribes that don't stick out on my radar screen, this is definitely news to me — and, I venture, to millions of American Indians.
January 7, 2008
I am a little biased in giving this book 5 stars because I am mentioned in the acknowledgements (shout out from my professor/employer Derrick Bell). My self interest aside, I'd still highly recommend this book because of its fascinating reflections on modern civil rights and post-Brown jurisprudence from a man who once worked as a prominent civil rights attorney along side Thurgood Marshall. His conclusions may surprise many but Prof Bell has always been on the edge (which is why I love him!).
February 5, 2013
great exploration of the failures of brown v board. would have been five stars except 1) his alternative decision in brown was uncompelling and suffered from many of the flaws he identified with the actual decisions and 2) his limited focus of white v black, rather than white v black, latino, asian, native american, etc.
November 28, 2008
Harsh critique of what was accomplished in Brown v. Board but from a voice that can not and should not be ignored.
May 10, 2013
This book literally changed my life and way of thinking about the legacy of education litigation in America.
September 23, 2017
Brilliant un-white-washing of Brown v Board of Ed, important counternarrative.
March 23, 2018
Dr. Bell analyzes the 1954 Brown decision and how that decision failed to solve the issue of an equal education for black children in this nation
April 25, 2022
I recommend this to anyone remotely interested in or agitated by CRT. Some might read this book to arm themselves to join in the arguments that are so divisive, especially when confronting school boards. I anticipate that proponents from "both sides" will thoroughly agree with Bell's assessment.
Bell reflects and re-examines the NAACP legal challenges to separate but equal in public education. He concludes in hindsight the multiple ways that children and black communities were not well served, and diagnoses the unintended consequences of the litigation surrounding Brown vs. Board of Education. Bell quotes an older woman who observed "we got what we were fighting for, but lost what we had".
It is so incredibly difficult to find ways to make American society more just and equitable. I admire Bell's humility in relating that zeal sometimes trumped efforts to align goals better to each community's situation. Bell acknowledges the foresight of leaders who cautioned the passion for integration could backfire or ignite a counter movement too horrific to have been imagined.
I believe that sensible and basically educated readers will gain a broader understanding of critical race theory here, calming the anxieties poured on us by media and politicians. A major factor of CRT is to examine litigation and legislation from the past, comparing its proposed goals with the actual far-reaching outcomes and consequences. This is how we learn about ourselves and our society, and guides us to take more discerning steps in the future.
I appreciate that Bell also addresses consumerism and how it devastates individuals, groups, and our national attitude.
Bell reflects and re-examines the NAACP legal challenges to separate but equal in public education. He concludes in hindsight the multiple ways that children and black communities were not well served, and diagnoses the unintended consequences of the litigation surrounding Brown vs. Board of Education. Bell quotes an older woman who observed "we got what we were fighting for, but lost what we had".
It is so incredibly difficult to find ways to make American society more just and equitable. I admire Bell's humility in relating that zeal sometimes trumped efforts to align goals better to each community's situation. Bell acknowledges the foresight of leaders who cautioned the passion for integration could backfire or ignite a counter movement too horrific to have been imagined.
I believe that sensible and basically educated readers will gain a broader understanding of critical race theory here, calming the anxieties poured on us by media and politicians. A major factor of CRT is to examine litigation and legislation from the past, comparing its proposed goals with the actual far-reaching outcomes and consequences. This is how we learn about ourselves and our society, and guides us to take more discerning steps in the future.
I appreciate that Bell also addresses consumerism and how it devastates individuals, groups, and our national attitude.
June 29, 2022
A great critique of Brown v. Board that shows that desegregation was not the final solution. Racial justice is much more than that.
“Color blindness, now as a century ago, is adopted as the easy resolution of issues of race with which the Nation would rather not wrestle, much less try seriously to resolve. It is an attractive veneer obscuring flaws in the octet that are not corrected by being hidden from view. Brown v. Board of Education was a dramatic instance of a remedy that promised to correct deficiencies in justice far deeper than the Supreme Court was able to understand. Understanding those deficiencies more fully an suggesting how we should address them is the challenge of this book” (10).
People of color must refuse to accept white dominance — even from their own friends.
“Nobody can free us but ourselves.” — Preston Wilcox
Bell says, “His admonition has meaning for every aspect of life for African Americans and all those deemed as ‘others’” (201).
“Color blindness, now as a century ago, is adopted as the easy resolution of issues of race with which the Nation would rather not wrestle, much less try seriously to resolve. It is an attractive veneer obscuring flaws in the octet that are not corrected by being hidden from view. Brown v. Board of Education was a dramatic instance of a remedy that promised to correct deficiencies in justice far deeper than the Supreme Court was able to understand. Understanding those deficiencies more fully an suggesting how we should address them is the challenge of this book” (10).
People of color must refuse to accept white dominance — even from their own friends.
“Nobody can free us but ourselves.” — Preston Wilcox
Bell says, “His admonition has meaning for every aspect of life for African Americans and all those deemed as ‘others’” (201).
February 4, 2021
Criticism of Critical Race Theory has become something of a cottage industry among conservatives and among some American Christians. This book was recommended to me as essential reading by someone with expertise in the field. There are thought-provoking and cogent arguments in the book, and many things I have questions about as well. I'd encourage anyone who is interested, hearing secondhand critiques and defenses of critical race theory, to check out this book. I plan to keep reading in this area, but this is a good place to start.
October 18, 2021
Poetic Justice & Creativity In Motion
Deep Calls To Deep! Professor Bell liberate my perspective on the impossibility of conquering racism. However, he help me to see my Black life not in a linear I but in circumspectual kaleidoscope. He injects a bit of fresh oxygen into a conditioned Black mind. Zero sum total is not the answer for Blacks in a racial game that is rigged. We must do the things that bring Blacks the greatest benefit in the context of the moment. Proactive and pragmatic. I digress!
Thanks
Professor Bell
Deep Calls To Deep! Professor Bell liberate my perspective on the impossibility of conquering racism. However, he help me to see my Black life not in a linear I but in circumspectual kaleidoscope. He injects a bit of fresh oxygen into a conditioned Black mind. Zero sum total is not the answer for Blacks in a racial game that is rigged. We must do the things that bring Blacks the greatest benefit in the context of the moment. Proactive and pragmatic. I digress!
Thanks
Professor Bell
June 22, 2020
Read for my master's thesis on the role of the Black male educator and subsequent course on critical race theory. Bell's stance that Brown v. Board was perhaps one of the worst decisions (given context of time and world events of the time) of the U.S. Supreme Court remains one of my personally adopted beliefs. His article on the interests convergence of White Americans is foundational to acquiring a new perspective with regard to the world and how decisions are made.
February 11, 2022
Derrick Bell worked on hundreds of school desegregation cases in the 1960's. Fifty years after Brown v. Board, he looks back at the effects. His reflections are interesting and thought-provoking, but also at times discouraging. He gives some realistic suggestions for a path forward.
March 18, 2023
Unique and fascinating interpretation of Brown v. Bd of Ed.
It specifically challenges the common notion that Brown was great for African-Americans and for America. Many valid points are raised and made. Lots of stats and legal references, but definitely a worthwhile read.
It specifically challenges the common notion that Brown was great for African-Americans and for America. Many valid points are raised and made. Lots of stats and legal references, but definitely a worthwhile read.
August 25, 2020
Thoughtful and informative look at the legacy of Brown vs. Board of Education and whether it has lived up to its promise. Still as relevant today as it was 17 years ago, sadly.
June 20, 2021
Derrick Bell has written excellent history of American education law and its affects. It is far from dry, if you are a teacher, I’d recommend it.
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October 8, 2025I only read his his law review comment “Brown v Board of Education and the Interest-Convergence Dilema”
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews