The effects of the Brown decision on equal education for minority groups in America and the contemporary social context in which the decision is applicable are the subjects of this paper. The author contends that as we have not yet reached the stage in American society where equal opportunity exists and race ceases to be a factor in the distribution of social and economic resources, the Brown decision is still relevant to current educational issues. In this context, she discusses (1) strategies that can be employed by minority group leaders to achieve equal educational access; (2) expansion of the implications of the Brown decision beyond a black/white issue, to include Native Americans, Hispanics, and other minorities; (3) competition for educational resources between different"special needs" populations; (4) problems of equal access particular to urban areas; (5) the issue of postsecondary desegregation with regard to black colleges; and (6) the question of race versus social class as indicators of educational disadvantage and, thus, special need. This paper was intended to provide background for a series of panels, seminars, field trips, and other events scheduled for 1979 by the sponsoring organization. (GC)