Seventy years ago, on May 17, 1954, in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that segregated schools were unconstitutional.
In the landmark ruling, the high court overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson precedent, holding that “in the field of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.”
On this 70th anniversary of the landmark ruling, ESSENCE is examining what has changed and what hasn’t in conversation with Carmita Semaan, CEO and Founder of education non-profit The Surge Institute. We discussed this milestone anniversary, how a dearth in the diversity of educational leadership is impacting student outcomes and the progress our country has made since the landmark Supreme Court case.
As a Black woman working at the executive level for a school district, Semaan says she “witnessed first-hand a glaring lack of diversity at the leadership level as well as the direct impact of that disconnect on the predominantly students of color the district served.” Tired of this being the status quo, she founded the Surge Institute, a nonprofit aimed at educating and developing leaders of color within the educational sector.
“Surge Institute was born out of the belief that we have a diversity gap in children and education leaders. 50% of children are of color, 25% of teachers are of color and even less for superintendents and CEOs.
Diversity benefits everyone (not just students of color),” Semaan told ESSENCE. Research backs Semaan’s assertions. In a report on Teacher Diversity in American Education, it was found that teachers and leaders of color are more motivated and have higher expectations for underrepresented and disadvantaged students. Additionally, exposure to diverse races and ethnicities can help reduce implicit biases and stereotypes.
“So many studies show that multicultural learning environments support greater critical thinking skills, creativity and reduced prejudice,” continued Semaan. “When you think of young people who are exposed to different experiences, these cross-racial friendships allow people to work better together. On the heels of Brown v. Board, this doesn’t just benefit one group – it benefits all.”
What is the current state of segregation in public schools in America? Researchers at Stanford University and University of Southern California (USC) recently launched the Segregation Explorer, which provides “data on segregation trends and patterns across the United States.” Their findings after “analyzing data from U.S. public schools going back to 1967,” was “that segregation between white and Black students has increased by 64 percent since 1988 in the 100 largest districts, and segregation by economic status has increased by about 50 percent since 1991.”
“As a country, we are still hyper-segregated in our schools. 60% of Black students and 60% of Latino/a students attend schools that have 75% or more students of color. Nearly half of white students attend schools where they are more than 75% of the population. We’ve come a long way, but we have to acknowledge that we still have a long way to go,” added Semaan.