In 1954's Brown v Board decision, the Supreme Court ruled that separate was inherently unequal. However, the Brown II decision a year later said that fixing our separate education system should happen with "all deliberate speed." The deliberate speed in most places was glacial, leading many local communities to file law suits demanding action. These local desegregation cases happened across the country following similar patterns, but varying due to local contexts. We are going to dive into several of these local stories in the coming months, and we are starting today with Denver, CO. 

In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in Keyes v. Denver Public Schools, requiring Denver to desegregate its schools. This led to 21 years of court ordered desegregation, including through the use of busing. A local educational advocacy organization, Park Hill Neighbors for Equity in Education, recently hosted an event to commemorate the anniversary and reflect on the promises made at the time of the case, and the ways we have failed to live up to them. 

Over the next three episodes, we will be bringing you audio from that event. Our hope is that by understanding local stories, we can see national themes emerge that may help chart a path forward. 

If you have a local story of desegregation to share, let us know! Record a voice memo and email it to [email protected], or visit Speakpipe.com/integratedschools.

LINKS:

A video of the full event - Integration and Equity in DPS 50 Years After Keyes

Park Hill Neighbors for Equity in Education's website - PHNEE.org

The slideshow from the event

Comments from the participants at the event

Pat Pascoe's book - A Dream of Justice: The Story of Keyes v Denver Public Schools

A visual timeline of the Keyes case prepared by Laura Lefkowits

Andrew on Brother Jeff's show talking about Integrated Schools and the event

Milliken v Bradley - which includes Justice Thurgood Marshall's powerful dissent

Our episode with Michelle Adams about the Milliken case

More resources from PHNEE

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Join our Patreon to support this work, and connect with us and other listeners to discuss these issues even further.

Let us know what you think of this episode, suggest future topics, or share your story with us – IntegratedSchools on Facebook, or email us [email protected].

The Integrated Schools Podcast was created by Courtney Mykytyn and Andrew Lefkowits.

This episode was produced by Andrew Lefkowits and Val Brown. It was edited, and mixed by Andrew Lefkowits.

Music by Kevin Casey.

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