A progress report on the 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education

Sixty years ago, the United States Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision stripped away constitutional sanctions for segregation by race, made equal opportunity in education the law of the land and legally challenged segregation in all aspects of life – from the workplace to city buses to public drinking fountains. The fearless efforts of lawyers, community activists, parents and students redefined the nation’s ideals.

Sixty years later, however, we are witnessing a tragic return to the circumstances that inspired those great efforts of our forefathers. Nowhere, perhaps, is it more pronounced than in metropolitan Milwaukee, where our neighborhoods remain some of the most segregated and impoverished in America.

Economic and racial inequalities are on the rise, while public schools suffer under the weight of voucher encroachment and funding neglect. Segregated schools and housing are the norm. And black-white disparities in infant mortality are among the country’s highest.

No less than the future of our city – and Wisconsin as a whole – hinges on our ability to find a solution. Brown v. Board of Education recognized the importance of public school in the quest for equality and opportunity. It’s time we fulfill the promise of Brown.

Join AIGA Wisconsin, Schools & Communities United and the national Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools at a Unity Parade celebrating public education on Saturday, May 17, 2014. Click here to register and see below for more event details.

Unity Parade
Celebrating Public Education
Saturday, May 17, 2014 | 10-11 a.m.
One mile walk from Martin Luther King Park (14th & Vliet St.) to Milwaukee High School of the Arts (2300 W. Highland Blvd.)

Fulfill The Promise
Creating the School & Communities Our Children Deserve
Saturday, May 17, 2014 | 11-12:30 p.m.
2300 W. Highland Blvd.

Working Lunch & Organizing Session
Saturday, May 17, 2014 | 12:30-2 p.m.