Guest Opinion | Brown v. Board of Education: Building a Better America

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

By: Emma Lazarus, (July 22, 1849 – November 19, 1887) an American poet born in New York City.

This sonnet was written in 1883; its lines appear inscribed on a bronze plaque in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.

 

As my wonderful visit to New York City comes to an end today, like other momentous anniversaries, the 62nd anniversary in May of the landmark Brown v Board of Education decision triggers reflection and provides a reminder of the need to avoid complacency in the never ending battle to protect the civil rights of all.

As you may recall, the United States Supreme Court in Brown v Board of Education held that racially segregated education is inherently unequal and therefore unconstitutional.  Brown v Board of Education overturned the 1896 Plessy v Ferguson ruling that sanctioned “separate but equal” segregation of the races.  Brown v Board of Education laid the groundwork for further Supreme Court decisions and legislation that have moved our country along the frustratingly slow, moral arc towards equality and freedom for all citizens.  Without Brown v Board of Education, one can reasonably state that President Johnson would not have signed the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibited discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion or national origin and that Congress would not have passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that made it easier for all citizens to register to vote.

Interestingly, there was an indirect link and later a direct link between Brown v Board of Education and Pasadena.  The indirect link reflects the reality that courts do not decide cases in a vacuum; prevailing trends and culture influence decisions.   Brown v Board of Education was decided against a backdrop of a growing civil rights movement that exposed America’s moral failings, if not original sin, in relegating some of its citizens to second class status and earlier no status.  Each breakthrough in various arenas – political, cultural, business and sports – helped paved the way for the next.   An extremely high profile breakthrough occurred in 1947 when Pasadena’s own Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball, America’s then most popular sport.  The following year and not so coincidentally, President Truman integrated America’s armed forces.

More directly, Brown v Board of Education provided the precedent for the landmark 1970 decision in Spangler v Pasadena City Board of Education. In Spangler, the United States District Court, Central District California explicitly cited Brown v Board of Education in holding that as a result of the defendant’s failure to carry out their announced policies of integration of students and faculty, there was segregation in the student bodies and faculties of the Pasadena Unified School District at all levels.  This school segregation reinforced the housing segregation practices of restrictive racial covenants and Pasadena area realtors who refused to sell houses to Negroes (the then acceptable term) in areas other than Northwest Pasadena, West Altadena and a portion of Southwest Pasadena just west of Fair Oaks, south of Colorado and north of California, not so coincidentally the location of the 710 Freeway spur.  The district court ordered the Pasadena school board to submit a plan to reduce racial segregation that would take effect in September 1970.   Ultimately, the Pasadena school board devised a plan to desegregate schools via crosstown busing that began in September 1970 and racial balance considerations have guided the Pasadena district since that time.

What is the importance or significance of Brown v Board of Education and Spangler v Pasadena City Board of Education in 2016?  These cases remind us of the ever present need to be vigilant not to allow subtle, and at times not so subtle, erosion of civil rights that will perversely return us towards a segregated society.    The Spangler decision symbolically and literally moved the district in the aspiring hope of building “one community.” We do a disservice to the legacy of Brown and Spangler if we allow our public schools to deteriorate and become the reluctant default for those who lack the resources to secure better options for their children.  The often overlooked reality is that Pasadena schools are providing first rate, innovative educations to their students; it is incumbent on all of us, whether we have school age children or not, to become familiar with the good things happening in and supportive of our public schools.  Additionally, the Spangler court noted that “racial integration provides positive educational benefits” that include preparing “children for living in our society, which is a multiracial society.”

Housing has been a historic focus for civil rights legislation.  Unfortunately, market economics have made it increasingly difficult for residents of modest means to continue to live in Pasadena.  Average rents and housing prices have soared.  I am proud that the city of Pasadena has an affordable housing ordinance that requires that new housing developments include a percentage of affordable units or the developer must pay in lieu fees to be used for preserving or developing affordable housing.  While praiseworthy, these efforts fall short of aiding the many Pasadenans who struggle to afford housing or who have had to move away from the area. As a councilmember, I am motivated and guided by the important legacy of Brown v Board of Education as well as Spangler v Pasadena City Board of Education to seek creative ways to leverage private and public resources to expand and preserve the amount of affordable housing in Pasadena.

On a broader, national level, we must not allow voter ID laws to disenfranchise citizens and prevent them from voting.  Our democracy functions best when all have unfettered access to full participation.  Anyone with any doubt about the real motive behind voter ID laws need look for accompanying efforts (or the lack thereof) to assist those who lack the required ID to obtain them.  The absence of those absolutely essential companion efforts to enable securing required IDs highlights the real motive, which is to disenfranchise those who tend to vote differently from those who take the low road and pass these laws.

Recent legislation and court orders have led to the early release of prisoners in California – some of whom have returned to this area.  Integrating these recent parolees into society requires the efforts of all of us – employers, government officials, community groups, nonprofits, churches, synagogues, Buddhists, citizens, etc.    Part of that integration effort entails allowing full participation by parolees in all aspects of our society, including voting.  The recent action by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe to restore the voting rights of over 200,000 former felons must be applauded, not opposed as certain less than honorable Virginia legislators have done. Additionally, as concerned and informed citizens we must all be mindful of the realities of for profit prisons.  Instead of emphasizing rehabilitation, education, restoration and the as soon as possible return to free society, for profit prisons by definition have a perverse incentive to seek to keep prison beds filled to generate their profits.  

The landmark Brown and Spangler decisions have changed America for the betterment of all citizens, not just minorities. All of us have benefitted from: the 1-gigahertz computer processor invented by a team led by African American Mark Dean; the x-rays of a person’s circulatory system invented by Latino Jesus Maria Sanchez-Perez; the USB port invented by Asian American Ajay V. Bhatt;  baby bottles and formula invented by the Seneca Native American tribe; refrigerated truck systems invented by African American Frederick McKinley Jones; the proof that bacteria could be persuaded to make insulin by Latina Lydia Villa-Komanoff; the artificial liver invented by Asian American Dr. Kenneth Matsumura; and oral contraceptives invented by the Shoshone tribe and the Potawatomi nation.  Additionally, Americans and American companies compete in an increasingly global economy.  American companies can most effectively compete worldwide when their workforces reflect the global marketplace and when their decision making incorporates those valuable, diverse perspectives.  Diversity is a competitive advantage, not a government imposed burden.   In business schools across the country, when our best and brightest students form study groups, they seek group mates from diverse backgrounds to infuse a breadth of perspective in problem analysis and solving.

In closing, I am compelled to address an issue of topical concern as I prepare to leave one of the greatest cities on the planet, New York, to return to one of the greatest states in our imperfect Union, California.  Regardless of one’s political ideology or affiliation, the unintelligent, hateful, misogynistic, and juvenile rhetoric of presumptive Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump cannot be allowed to divide us.  We must not allow an “us verses them” mindset to gain transaction or any degree of mainstream acceptance.   We study history for a compelling reason – if we fail to learn from our past, we are doomed to repeat it.  Alarm bells are ringing not only in the minds and hearts of those directly affected, but also in the minds and hearts of anyone who believes in equality, fairness and democratic ideals. As a society, we are better than that and are enlighten to act accordingly.  The Statute of Liberty, a welcoming site, represents the essence of our better selves.

Our better angels lead us to a simple guiding principle – treat our fellow human beings as human beings who have the inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  If we fail to do so, we desecrate the enduring legacies of Brown v Board of Education and Spangler v Pasadena City Board of Education.

 

John J. Kennedy
Councilmember
City of Pasadena
31 May 2016