Equal Education

Fifty years later, new programs explore the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education
By Mary Eileen O'Connor

May 17 marks the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in the case of Brown v. Board of Education, which ended legalized segregation between whites and blacks in American public schools.

This momentous decree changed the country's education system, and it ultimately ignited the spark that fired the civil rights movement. WHYY presents three new specials on TV12 that profile the people who led the fight for equal education and chronicle the pivotal events that helped change the course of history.

Tavis Smiley

During the week of May 10, Tavis Smiley -- who wrote the introduction to the new book The Unfinished Agenda of Brown v. Board of Education -- and his guests will discuss the landmark decision and examine its impact on American education 50 years later. Monday, May 10 to Friday, May 14 at 11:30 p.m. on TV12.

Sunday, May 16

Beyond Brown: Pursuing the Promise

Award-winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson (American Experience: The Murder of Emmett Till) examines the legal battles that resulted in the end of "sanctioned apartheid" in American public schools and takes a hard look at the contemporary issues -- including busing, funding, and student testing -- that still divide the nation's schools. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and two of the original Brown attorneys share their thoughts about the legacy of the Supreme Court case. 5 p.m.

Black/White & Brown: Brown v. Board of
Education of Topeka

Narrated by journalist Bill Kurtis, the program presents the stories of the individuals, events and circumstances involved in the efforts to establish equality in the American education system, featuring special readings by Walter Cronkite, Jim Lehrer and Bill Moyers. 6 p.m.

Monday, May 17

With All Deliberate Speed: The Legacy of Brown v. Board

This local film by Wilmington-based production company Teleduction examines the strategies used by the NAACP to combat school segregation in Delaware (one of six states represented in the case of Brown v. Board of Education) and across the country. In the film -- which takes its title from the Supreme Court's post-ruling deliberations about when and how schools should be desegregated -- noted scholars debate desegregation's successes and failures and analyze the role of diversity and multicultural education in American today. 10 p.m.

Online Extra: On May 17, 2004 -- 50 years to the day of the Supreme Court's decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education -- the National Park Service will celebrate the grand opening of the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, Kansas. Learn more about this national historic site.