ntegrated with or separate from each other. This time the Supreme Court unanimously ruled to overturn the Plessy v. Ferguson decision. In his opinion, the Chief Justice wrote, "We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." The Brown case signaled the end of segregation of public places mandated by law. Once the Brown decision was handed down, the African-American community, along with progressive white Americans, placed sufficient pressure on the legal and political system to bring an end to state-supported segregation in all public facilities.Forty-six years removed from the Brown v. Board of Education decision formally desegregated public schools, African-American youth have made enormous progress in high school completion, in better test scores, in greater college enrollment, in obtaining college degrees and in careers. The endless stream of negative statistics tends to overshadow the individual accomplishments of those who found their way around the barriers and through the closed doors. The statistics support these positives. In 1967, the U.S. Census found that 54% of African-Americans between the ages of 25 and 29 had completed high school. By 1987, this number had risen to 83%. African-Americans also made some progress on achievement tests given by the National Achievement Education Program. Their reading scores had risen from 238 in 1971 to 274 in 1991. African-American student scores have risen on the SATs also, while other ethnic group scores have either lagged or remained unchanged. A few years back there was a decline in the numbers of African-Americans attending college, but that has turned around, particularly among women. These statistics are encouraging, but there are other facts that cannot be ignored. First, while African-American educational attainment has improved, the amount of education n...
