The brown decision in retrospect: Commemoration or celebration

The 1954 Brown decision has been celebrated by many as the catalyst for the great civil rights movement of the 20th century. The Supreme Court should be applauded for the bold step it took in rendering a unanimous decision in overturning the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896. Yet, on numerous subsequent opportunities for social, political and economic progress; the High Court was conspicuously silent. Nevertheless, the Brown decision laid the legal foundation for ending segregated schooling throughout the country and considerable progress can be traced directly to Brown. Despite this fact. many African American scholars lament the lost of black businesses and cultural traditions that accompanied desegregation and the fact that quality desegregated education for African American youth has never been fully achieved.