Many people were elated when Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in May 1954, the ruling that struck down state-sponsored racial segregation in America's public schools. Thurgood Marshall, chief attorney for the black families that launched the litigation, exclaimed later, "I was so happy, I was numb." The novelist Ralph Ellison wrote, "another battle of the Civil War has been won. The rest is up to us and I'm very glad. What a wonderful world of possibilities are unfolded for the children!" Here, in a concise, compelling narrative, Bancroft Prize-winning historian James T. Patterson takes readers through the dramatic case and its fifty-year aftermath. A wide range of characters animates the story, from the little-known African-Americans who dared to challenge Jim Crow with lawsuits (at great personal cost); to Thurgood Marshall, who later became a Justice himself; to Earl Warren, who shepherded a fractured Court to a unanimous decision. Others include segregationist politicians like Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas; Presidents Eisenhower, Johnson, and Nixon; and controversial Supreme Court justices such as William Rehnquist and Clarence Thomas. Most Americans still see Brown as a triumph--but was it? Patterson shrewdly explores the provocative questions that still swirl around the case. Could the Court--or President Eisenhower--have done more to ensure compliance with Brown? Did the decision touch off the modern civil rights movement? How useful are court-ordered busing and affirmative action against racial segregation? To what extent has racial mixing affected the academic achievement of black children? Where indeed do we go from here to realize the expectations of Marshall, Ellison, and others in 1954?
Show moreMany people were elated when Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in May 1954, the ruling that struck down state-sponsored racial segregation in America's public schools. Thurgood Marshall, chief attorney for the black families that launched the litigation, exclaimed later, "I was so happy, I was numb." The novelist Ralph Ellison wrote, "another battle of the Civil War has been won. The rest is up to us and I'm very glad. What a wonderful world of possibilities are unfolded for the children!" Here, in a concise, compelling narrative, Bancroft Prize-winning historian James T. Patterson takes readers through the dramatic case and its fifty-year aftermath. A wide range of characters animates the story, from the little-known African-Americans who dared to challenge Jim Crow with lawsuits (at great personal cost); to Thurgood Marshall, who later became a Justice himself; to Earl Warren, who shepherded a fractured Court to a unanimous decision. Others include segregationist politicians like Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas; Presidents Eisenhower, Johnson, and Nixon; and controversial Supreme Court justices such as William Rehnquist and Clarence Thomas. Most Americans still see Brown as a triumph--but was it? Patterson shrewdly explores the provocative questions that still swirl around the case. Could the Court--or President Eisenhower--have done more to ensure compliance with Brown? Did the decision touch off the modern civil rights movement? How useful are court-ordered busing and affirmative action against racial segregation? To what extent has racial mixing affected the academic achievement of black children? Where indeed do we go from here to realize the expectations of Marshall, Ellison, and others in 1954?
Show morePreface: Contesting the Color Line
1. Race and the Schools Before Brown
2. The Grass Roots and Struggling Lawyers
3. The Court Decides
4. Crossroads, 1954-55
5. Southern Whites Fight Back
6. Striving for Racial Balance in teh 1960s
7. The Burger Court Surprise
8. Stalemates
9. Resegregation?
10. Legacies and Lessons
Appendix I; Key Cases
Appendix II: Tables and Figures
Notes
Bibliographical Essay
Acknowledgments
Index
James T. Patterson won the Bancroft Prize in History for Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974. He is the author of numerous books concerning modern American life, he is Ford Foundation Professor of History at Brown University.
"Patterson's new book is a compelling examination of the history
behind the decision and the realities of enforcing it."--Robin
Dougherty, The Boston Globe
"Absorbing book. With admirable balance, Patterson synthesizes much
of the debate. His streamlined rendition reminds us that justices
have always considered the social, political, and legal
consequences of their decisions."--Laura Kalman, The New York Times
Book Review
"Penetrating history-cum-analysis."--Jonathan Yardley, The
Washington Post Book World
"This volume by a widely recognized historian of twentieth-century
America presents a highly readable and well-organized overview of
events leading up to the 1954 Brown decision, the decision itself,
and its aftermath...Patterson does a nice job of sketching the
broad outlines and placing developments in a larger context"--The
Journal of Southern History
"Patterson's new book is a compelling examination of the history behind the decision and the realities of enforcing it."--Robin Dougherty, The Boston Globe "Absorbing book. With admirable balance, Patterson synthesizes much of the debate. His streamlined rendition reminds us that justices have always considered the social, political, and legal consequences of their decisions."--Laura Kalman, The New York Times Book Review "Penetrating history-cum-analysis."--Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World "This volume by a widely recognized historian of twentieth-century America presents a highly readable and well-organized overview of events leading up to the 1954 Brown decision, the decision itself, and its aftermath...Patterson does a nice job of sketching the broad outlines and placing developments in a larger context"--The Journal of Southern History
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