Abstract

Beyond Black, White and Brown

This section presents responses to questions about race relations in America by Adolph Reed Jr., Pedro Noguera and Robert Cohen, Mari Matsuda, Frank H. Wu, Asa Hilliard III, Patricia Sullivan, Jacquelyn D. Hall, and Jonathan Kozol. The Editors: Thanks to the civil rights revolution, de jure segregation is dead. But vast social, economic and educational inequalities continue to plague American society. Moreover, while the black-white paradigm has never fully described American race relations, we are far more aware today than in the past of the multiracial nature of our society. With this in mind, we asked a range of scholars, writers and activists to reflect on the legacy of Brown and the prospects for future change. Should education be the primary focus of social activism? What strategies will most effectively promote educational betterment in black and other communities? Can we expect the courts to play a role at the forefront of change, as they did for much of the 1950s and '60s, and if not, what other institutions are positioned to adopt that role? Is the goal of educational desegregation irrelevant today?