Silent Covenants : Brown V. Board of Education and the Unfulfilled Hopes for Racial Reform

When the landmark Supreme Court case of Brown vs. Board of Education was handed down in 1954, many civil rights advocates believed that the decision finding public school segregation unconstitutional could become the Holy Grail of racial justice. Fifty years later, despite its legal irrelevance and the racially separate and educationally ineffective state of public schooling for most black children, Brown is still viewed by many as the perfect precedent. Derrick Bell here shatters this shining image of one of the Court's most celebrated rulings. He notes that, despite the onerous burdens of segregation, many black schools functioned well and racial bigotry had not rendered blacks a damaged race. Brown's recognition of racial injustice, without more, left racial barriers intact. Given what we now know about the pervasive nature of racism, the Court should have determined—for the first time—to rigorously enforce the "equal" component of the "separate but equal" standard. By striking it down, the Court intended both to improve the Nation's international image during the Cold War and offer blacks recognition that segregation was wrong. Instead, the Brown decision actually enraged and energized its opponents. It stirred confusion and conflict into the always vexing question of race in a society that, despite denials and a frustratingly flexible amnesia, owes much of its growth, development, and success, to the ability of those who dominate the society to use race to both control and exploit most people, black and white. Racial policy, Bell maintains, is made through silent covenants—unspoken convergences of interest and involuntary sacrifices of rights—that ensure that policies conform to priorities set by policy-makers. Blacks and whites are the fortuitous winners or losers in these unspoken agreements. The experience with Brown , Bell urges, should teach us that meaningful progress in the quest for racial justice requires more than the assertion of harms. Strategies must recognize and utilize the interest-convergence factors that strongly influence racial policy decisions. In Silent Covenants , Bell condenses more than four decades of thought and action into a powerful and eye-opening book. When the landmark Supreme Court case of Brown vs. Board of Education was handed down in 1954, many civil rights advocates believed that the decision, which declared public school segregation unconstitutional, would become the Holy Grail of racial justice. Fifty years later, despite its legal irrelevance and the racially separate and educationally ineffective state of public schooling for most black children, Brown is still viewed by many as the perfect precedent. Here, Derrick Bell shatters the shining image of this celebrated ruling. He notes that, despite the onerous burdens of segregation, many black schools functioned well and racial bigotry had not rendered blacks a damaged race. He maintains that, given what we now know about the pervasive nature of racism, the Court should have determined instead to rigorously enforce the "equal" component of the "separate but equal" standard. Racial policy, Bell maintains, is made through silent covenants--unspoken convergences of interest and involuntary sacrifices of rights--that ensure that policies conform to priorities set by policy-makers. Blacks and whites are the fortuitous winners or losers in these unspoken agreements. The experience with Brown, Bell urges, should teach us that meaningful progress in the quest for racial justice requires more than the assertion of harms. Strategies must recognize and utilize the interest-convergence factors that strongly influence racial policy decisions. In Silent Covenants, Bell condenses more than four decades of thought and action into a powerful and eye-opening book. "On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court unanimously declared that separate educational facilities are "inherently unequal" and, as such, violate the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees all citizens "equal protection of the laws". Hailed as a landmark decision, Brown vs. Board Education promised the nation's citizens equality and racial justice at last. Yet despite Brown's promise for what law and society might be and the awe and respect it evokes with the passing years, it has achieved little and is little used as legal precedent. The noble image, dulled by resistance to any but token steps toward compliance, has transformed Brown into a magnificant mirage, the legal equivalent of that city on a hill to which all aspire without any serious thought that aspiration will ever become attainment. In a sure-to-be controversial work, Derrick Bell argues that though Brown has come to be regarded as the Perfect Precedent, its true lesson is that advocates of racial justice should rely less on judicial decisions and more on tactics, actions, even attitudes that challenge the continuing assumptions of white dominance. Turning history on its head, Bell suggests that if we had had more realism in our racial dealings, we might have kept Plessy, kept separate but equal in place, and attacked instead, at its root, the racial discrimination that continues to haunt the nation. It is only by petitioning for racial justice in forms that whites will realize serve their interests, Bell argues, that true equality will ever be achieved." -- From Amazon Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Introduction......Page 12 1. Plessy’s Long Shadow......Page 22 2. Brown’s Half Light......Page 25 3. Brown Reconceived: An Alternative Scenario......Page 31 4. The Racial-Sacrifice Covenants......Page 40 5. The Interest-Convergence Covenants......Page 60 6. Brown as an Anticommunist Decision......Page 70 7. The Role of Fortuity in Racial Policy-Making......Page 80 8. Racism’s Economic Foundation......Page 88 9. School Litigation in the Nineteenth Century......Page 98 10. The School Desegregation Era......Page 105 11. The End of the Brown Era......Page 125 12. Brown as Landmark: An Assessment......Page 141 13. Affirmative Action and Racial Fortuity in Action......Page 149 14. Searching for Effective Schools in the Post-Brown Era......Page 171 15. Moving Beyond Racial Fortuity......Page 191 Conclusion......Page 205 Notes......Page 214 B......Page 234 D......Page 235 F......Page 236 J......Page 237 N......Page 238 R......Page 239 S......Page 240 Y......Page 241 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction 12 1. Plessy’s Long Shadow 22 2. Brown’s Half Light 25 3. Brown Reconceived: An Alternative Scenario 31 4. The Racial-Sacrifice Covenants 40 5. The Interest-Convergence Covenants 60 6. Brown as an Anticommunist Decision 70 7. The Role of Fortuity in Racial Policy-Making 80 8. Racism’s Economic Foundation 88 9. School Litigation in the Nineteenth Century 98 10. The School Desegregation Era 105 11. The End of the Brown Era 125 12. Brown as Landmark: An Assessment 141 13. Affirmative Action and Racial Fortuity in Action 149 14. Searching for Effective Schools in the Post-Brown Era 171 15. Moving Beyond Racial Fortuity 191 Conclusion 205 Notes 214 Index 234 A 234 B 234 C 235 D 235 E 236 F 236 G 237 H 237 I 237 J 237 K 238 L 238 M 238 N 238 O 239 P 239 Q 239 R 239 S 240 T 241 U 241 V 241 W 241 Y 241 Derrick Bell is a civil rights lawyer who personally handled dozens of school desegregation cases. He argues that advocates of racial justice should rely less on judicial decisions and more on tactics, actions and even attitudes that challenge the assumptions of white dominance A major figure in the civil rights movement, eloquently argues that "Brown v. Board of Education should have been decided the other way--that the separate but equal standard should have been upheld, but also strictly enforced Looks at continuing repercussions of Brown v. Board of Education and, despite the original intentions, its frequently negative impact on the educational needs of African-American children. THE SUPREME COURT'S 1896 DECISION in Plessy v. Ferguson served to bring the law into a dismal harmony with the nation's view of race in life.