Talking About Race in Schools Post-Brown: A Public Relations Challenge

Abstract

The Brown v. Board of Education of 50 years ago was perhaps the most significant school reform implemented in American education. The goal of this landmark decision was to end public school segregation and introduce racially integrated schools. Now in the 21st century and clearly in the shadows of this decision, we argue that the hope and promise of Brown v. Board of Education has not been realized. Many public schools are still segregated and those that are racially and ethnically integrated face segregated classrooms as a result of white flight and college tracking. We argue that Brown v. Board of Education, the most racially explicit school reform enacted in 50 years, can be made more effective through additional racially minded and social justice re-forms. Specifically, public school administrators and teachers can pro-mote racial equity academically and socially by promoting learning opportunities, shaping the discourse about race, and developing multicultural curriculum.