Radical Brown: Keeping the Promise to America’s Children

A rallying cry for equitable education informed by a revolutionary re-reading of Brown v. Board of Education, on the 70th anniversary of the ruling.

In Radical Brown, renowned developmental scholar Margaret Beale Spencer and critical legal analyst Nancy E. Dowd offer a fresh perspective on the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Noting that decades of flawed implementation have subverted Brown’s great promise of educational equality for K-12 public school students, Spencer and Dowd propose a bold framework for a new interpretation of the Supreme Court decision, one that is inclusive, identity affirming, and culturally sensitive.

Even as they envision a more equitable future for US students, Spencer and Dowd look critically at the historical context of Brown v. Board of Education, examining the roots of the inequality and segregation the ruling attempted to address, the resistance that the resulting school integration met, and the legacy of attempts to enforce the ruling. They trace the ways in which post-Brown policies have reinforced race privilege for white students and race subordination for Black and marginalized students and show how structural and cultural racism in education have impeded youth development and caused collective identity injury for all.

Ultimately, this galvanizing work introduces a way forward that upholds the Brown ruling’s intended meaning and mandate. Radical Brown offers suggestions for action, from everyday practice to policy change, to help legislators, school boards, scholars, and educators correct course and enact the decision’s true intent--of safeguarding rights based on a common humanity.

Margaret Beale Spencer is Charles F. Grey Distinguished Service Professor Emerita and Marshall Field IV Professor Emerita of Urban Education and Life Course Development in the Department of Comparative Human Development at the University of Chicago. Nancy E. Dowd is University of Florida Distinguished Professor Emerita and David H. Levin Chair in Family Law Emerita at the University of Florida Levin College of Law.