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Article
Protecting the Dignity and Equality of Children: The Importance of Integrated Schools
UF Law Faculty Publications
  • Sharon E. Rush, University of Florida College of Law
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2010
OCLC FAST subject heading
Civil rights
Abstract

The primary goal of this Article is to motivate equality-minded people to renew their commitment to the goal of invalidating the race myth – a belief in white superiority and black inferiority – that has plagued this country far too long. When the Supreme Court ruled in Brown that “separate is inherently unequal,” it understood that integrated schools were necessary to achieve racial equality because only by teaching children to respect each other’s dignity, is it possible to debunk the race myth. This Article suggests that “integration” is about more than ensuring that children have the opportunity to physically share public spaces; it also is about protecting their dignity by ensuring that they actually do share public spaces. The resegregation of our schools, particularly in light of the Court’s decision in Parents Involved, provides an excellent opportunity to reexamine and reaffirm Brown’s core message about dignity and equality and the role of integrated schools in protecting those basic democratic values.

Citation Information
Sharon E. Rush, Protecting the Dignity and Equality of Children: The Importance of Integrated Schools, 20 Temp. Pol. & Civ. Rts. L. Rev. 71 (2010), available at http://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/facultypub/287