Eyes still on the prize

By Casey Lartigue, Jr.

I took a trip down memory lane when I gave a speech on May 17 in Seoul to mark the 60th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education ruling overturning America's segregationist policy. A decade ago, I co-edited the book "Educational Freedom in Urban America: Five decades after Brown v. Board of Education."

It was a wonderful time back in 2004 ― I had been a major player in helping to increase educational freedom for low-income children in Washington, D.C. Former Secretary of Education Rod Paige praised me during the keynote address at a conference I organized about Brown. My location (Seoul instead of Washington, D.C.) and particular focus (North Korean liberation instead of creating opportunities for low-income children) have now changed, but the goal is still freedom.

In Seoul on May 17, I addressed three main questions. One, why was the Brown decision so important? I argued that it was the most revolutionary, monumental and important Supreme Court decision in American history. It emboldened oppressed black Americans by giving them legal backing to challenge the horrible, evil American system of segregation that had been based on the 1896 "separate but equal" Plessy v. Ferguson ruling.

Blacks didn't suddenly get tired of segregation in the 1950s when Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. showed up on the scene, there had been previous freedom fighters and advocates who risked (and lost) their lives. The difference was that the law was on their side as they launched the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s-60s. About my current focus, on North Korea, I noted that North Koreans similarly have probably been fed up with their dictators for quite some time. They lack a Brown decision to help them.

A second question: Why did the system of segregation ― typically referred to as "Jim Crow ― survive for so long? The main problem wasn't racism ― it was that racists abused government power to force their beliefs on others. There were always white people and companies willing to associate with, marry and do business with blacks ― after all, laws aren't needed to prevent something that won't happen.

Many companies opposed government regulations mandating they segregate and separate their customers by race. Private companies opposed segregationist regulations when they were proposed, resisted implementing them, and lobbied to have them eliminated. Bus drivers, restaurant owners and others in business were arrested, lost jobs and socially shunned when they failed to enforce government-mandated segregation. It wasn't necessarily out of love for black people. Businesses were concerned with the bottom line (in the day of Brown, one major issue was the extra expense of providing separate facilities).

As if on cue for the 60thanniversary of Brown to demonstrate the civilizing aspect of the competitive marketplace, NBA owner Donald Sterling drove home the point when he made disparaging comments about black NBA players. Despite his private beliefs, Sterling knows that the customer is always right in the market. He could choose to hire white players instead of black players, but he willingly pays black players millions of dollars annually. He may be a racist who prefers his own group, but he prefers himself most of all.

A third main question: Why were there mixed emotions among some black Americans to the Brown decision? As part of my research about Brown, I joyfully read black newspapers of the day. The jubilation was literally jumping off the pages. But there were mixed feelings. Some complained that black schools were being demeaned. One case was the Dunbar school in Washington, D.C., a high-achieving black school founded in 1870, just five years after the end of slavery. By 1892, it had already surpassed other schools in the city and remained a top school until a few years after integration.

Black Americans realized they had caught a tiger ― their children would be going to schools with the children of bitter white parents (Prince Edward County in Virginia even shut down its schools for five years rather than integrate). Black teachers and administrators worried that school consolidation meant they would be squeezed out of jobs. As I noted on May 17 ― John Milton wrote in the 17th century that it is better to rule in hell than serve in heaven (a point that probably also guides the elite in North Korea). People may like progress, but not when they lose power or status.

Another Brown anniversary has passed, with another generation unaware of the significance of the seismic court ruling. Even if people remain unaware, I hope that by the time the 65th or even 70th anniversary of Brown arrives that the world will be able to celebrate the liberation of North Koreans and others around the world.

The writer is the director for international relations at Freedom Factory Co. Ltd. in Seoul and the Asia Outreach Fellow with the Atlas Network in Washington, D.C. He can be reached at cjl@post.harvard.edu.

Site Map E-paper Subscribe Register LogIn
Site Map E-paper Subscribe Register LogIn