TOPEKA, Kansas (May 16, 2014) -- On the eve of the 60th anniversary of the landmark
Brown v Board of Education Supreme Court decision, First Lady Michelle Obama speaks at Senior Appreciation Day in Topeka, Kansas, where the historic civil rights case began.
Statement by the President on the 60th Anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education Ruling
(May 16, 2014)
Tomorrow marks 60 years since the Supreme Court handed down its landmark
Brown v. Board of Education decision, the first major step in dismantling the “separate but equal” doctrine that justified Jim Crow. As we commemorate this historic anniversary, we recommit ourselves to the long struggle to stamp out bigotry and racism in all their forms. We reaffirm our belief that all children deserve an education worthy of their promise. And we remember that change did not come overnight – that it took many years and a nationwide movement to fully realize the dream of civil rights for all of God’s children. We will never forget the men, women, and children who took extraordinary risks in order to make our country more fair and more free. Today, it falls on us to honor their legacy by taking our place in their march, and doing our part to perfect the union we love.
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
Presidential Proclamation -- 60th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education
May 15, 2014
60TH ANNIVERSARY OF BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION
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BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
May 17, 1954, marked a turning point in America's journey toward a more
perfect Union. On that day, the Supreme Court handed down a unanimous decision
in
Brown v. Board of Education, outlawing racial segregation in our
Nation's schools.
Brown overturned the doctrine of "separate but
equal," which the Court had established in the 1896 case of
Plessy v.
Ferguson. For more than half a century,
Plessy gave constitutional
backing to discrimination, and civil rights organizations like the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People faced an uphill battle as they
sought equality, opportunity, and justice under the law.
Brown v. Board of Education shifted the legal and moral compass of
our Nation. It declared that education "must be made available to all on equal
terms" and demanded that America's promise exclude no one. Yet the Supreme Court
alone could not destroy segregation.
Brown had unlocked the schoolhouse
doors, but even years later, African-American children braved mobs as they
walked to school, while U.S. Marshals kept the peace. From lunch counters and
city streets to buses and ballot boxes, American citizens struggled to realize
their basic rights. A decade after the Court's ruling,
Brown's moral
guidance was translated into the enforcement measures of the Civil Rights Act
and the Voting Rights Act.
Thanks to the men and women who fought for equality in the courtroom, the
legislature, and the hearts and minds of the American people, we have confined
legalized segregation to the dustbin of history. Yet today, the hope and promise
of
Brown remains unfulfilled. In the years to come, we must continue
striving toward equal opportunities for all our children, from access to
advanced classes to participation in the same extracurricular activities.
Because when children learn and play together, they grow, build, and thrive
together.
On the 60th Anniversary of
Brown v. Board of Education, let us heed
the words of Justice Thurgood Marshall, who so ably argued the case against
segregation, "None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our
bootstraps. We got here because somebody...bent down and helped us pick up our
boots." Let us march together, meet our obligations to one another, and remember
that progress has never come easily -- but even in the face of impossible odds,
those who love their country can change it.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America,
by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim May 17, 2014, as the 60th Anniversary of
Brown v. Board of Education. I call upon all Americans to observe this
day with programs, ceremonies, and activities that celebrate this landmark
decision and advance the causes of equality and opportunity for all.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of May, in
the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and thirty-eighth.
BARACK OBAMA
