More than forty years have passed since Congress, in response to the Civil Rights Movement, enacted sweeping antidiscrimination laws in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. As a signal achievement of that legacy, in 2008, Americans elected their first African American president. Some would…

Tracing the history of black schooling in North America, this book emphasizes factors in society at large--and sometimes within black communities--which led to black children being separate from the white majority. This separation was continued and reinforced as efforts by European immigrants to provide separate Catholic, Lutheran, and Calvinist…

"From the Courtroom to the Classroom" examines recent developments pertaining to school desegregation in the United States. As the editors note, it comes at a time marked by a "general downplaying of race and ethnicity as criteria for the allocation of public resources, as well as a weakening of the political forces that support…

This biography for younger readers describes the life of A. Philip Randolph, the civil rights activist who organized the labor union for Pullman car porters, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. The book presents an overview of the civil rights movement in the United States while documenting the part Randolph played as advocate for African…

This biography for younger readers describes the life of Rosa Parks, the Alabama black woman whose refusal to give up her seat on a segregated bus helped establish the civil rights movement. The book is introduced by an overview of the movement by Andrew Young and a timeline indicating major historical events from 1954 through 1968. Highlights in…

Basic research findings, concepts, ideas, and insights are explored in considering what is believed to be an old yet still crucial issue today--equality of educational opportunities. This document is said to serve seven purposes; introduction to the issue, analysis and illustration of major elements in the issue, illumination of the major role…

Society in the Delta region of Mississippi is still rigidly segregated. A vast social and economic gulf yawns between the dominant white and subordinate black. Yet one group in Mississippi, a "third race," the Chinese, has managed to leap that chasm. This book focuses on the causes of their changes in status, the processes by which it…

On April 10, 1994, The Metropolitan Center for Urban Education at New York University's School of Education sponsored its third conference on the impact of the famous "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka" decision. Fourteen discussion groups analyzed the following questions: What was the promise of "Brown," and has that…

This book examines the history of 20th century racial segregation in Kentucky higher education, the last state in the South to enact legislation banning interracial education in private schools and the first to remove it. In five chapters and an epilogue, the book traces the growth of racism, the period of acceptance of racism, the black…