70 Years After Brown v. Board, Black Girls Are Still Fighting for Access to an Equal Education

By New York Amsterdam News Originally appeared in Word in Black The images and stories are indelible. Ruby Bridges walking out of school surrounded by U.S. Marshalls. The Little Rock Nine high school students entering school escorted by the U.S. Army and the Arkansas National Guard. I picture my mother, who, at 17 years old, was bused to a high school in a white neighborhood 45 minutes away, only to be confronted by people rioting in front of the school and officers with German shepherds stationed inside the school.  The civil rights era brought us countless examples of young Black girls trying to get access to—and often risking their safety for—an equal education. In the wake of the Civil Rights Movement, the integration of schools was heralded as a triumph for equality. However, in the 70 years since Brown v. Board of Education, a landmark decision advancing education justice in the U.S., it has become painfully clear that the promise of desegregation and racial equality has not been fully realized. Instead, our U.S. education system continues to perpetuate inequalities, particularly for Black girls.  While overt discrimination may no longer be sanctioned, the insidious biases that once fueled segregation have merely...