This episode of Justice Above All examines how the Supreme Court interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), and how today’s legal arguments decontextualize the Amendment’s historical context in which it was ratified—during Reconstruction, to secure full citizenship and legal equality for formerly enslaved Black people.  Today, multiple Supreme Court decisions reflect an inaccurate and ahistorical reading of the Reconstruction Amendments—the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth—which were enacted to dismantle the legacy of slavery and secure full citizenship and equal protection under the law for all people of African descent.

Today's host is Karla McKanders, Director of the Thurgood Marshall Institute. She is in conversation with the following guests: 

• Lynne Adrine: Alumna, Ludlow Elementary School and President, LKA Strategies
• Joel Motley: Civil and human rights advocate, filmmaker, and the son of Constance Baker Motley
• Kenji Yoshino: Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law, NYU School of Law and Faculty Director, Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging

For more information on this episode, please visit https://tminstituteldf.org/brown-v-board-ii-fourteenth-amendment-myth-of-neutrality/.

This episode was produced by Jakiyah Bradley and Lauren O'Neil. It was hosted by Karla McKanders. Resonate Recordings edited the episode.

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